What’s on my back to school shopping list

Alaskan back to school

In Alaska, summer comes to an end in mid August. At this time, we get dark nights again. This means exchanging all the broken bulbs, back to school for most of the teachers, professors and students. In rural villages that live a subsistance lifestyle, school starts later so the kids can help their parents with berry picking and the hunting season.

The start of the new academic year means wearing fall clothing. The closet has to be overhauled to create a working wardrobe for the cold season. Except when living in the Anchorage area, most Alaskans have to rely on online stores to update their wardrobe.

In Fairbanks and Juneau, the two other cities of Alaska with more than 30000 inhabitants, only special niche stores exist. Think along the lines of wedding attire as well as outdoor and harsh weather clothing. In Fairbanks, there is also a Walmart, Old Navy and FredMeyers where you sometimes may find some basic pieces. However, when these stores have something nice, Alaskans buy it in all colors.

Well there is also Value Village. But you can’t rely on them to do your cold season shopping prior to the season’s arrival.

Like these outfit ideas? If so, please feel free to pin them to your own Pinterest board.

My back-to-school Must-haves

After taking the inventory what kind of clothes have to be replaced, are missing and what trends could be added to update old pieces, I came up with the following list.

• A new bag (replacement of an old one)
• Three new sheath dresses (replacements)
• A fit-and-flare dress (replacement )
• A jacket/coat for fall
• A cozy cardigan
• A coat dress (trend update)
• New black ankle boots or have the old ones repaired (The repair is hard as there is no shoe repair shop in Fairbanks.).

What’s missing here are new underwear, socks and tights, but that’s available locally. Moreover, you are probably not interested in seeing a selection of long-Johns 😉 .

What items are on my short-list

Dresses

I ordered the dresses except the red one pictured and the skirt in this Fashom styling box to try them on. I really love their service. In case you missed the review post on my first Fashom box.

Note that Fashom has a friend referral. When you use my referral link both you and I get a $10 credit on our next purchuase. How cool is that? Set up your personal style profile now.

I am also looking at these Karina Dresses fit-and-flares. When you are a regular reader you know that I have owned a couple of them over the years (see for instance the examples in the giftguide). I love the quality of their dresses and the great classic style. They are machine washable, i.e. easy to care for. Plus the micro-fiber fabric is wrinkle-free, i.e. perfect for business travel. Moreover, it is made in the USA. Thus, the carbon footprint from transport is not so large as if it were made far away.

Karina Dresses Megan Dress – Secret Garden $88.00 $108.00 USD

Karina Dresses Ruby Dress – Carriage House $108.00

Jackets/Coats

Speaking of fall jackets, these ones from Leafy Souls are on my short list.

Leafy Souls Caroline vegan women’s long sleeve cardigan. Available in green and gray. Here the green one is shown. $53.97 $235.00

Leafy Souls Madeline women’s cotton classy coat $49.99 $123.99. I love that this duffle coat is tailored at the waist and not straight up-and-down

What I already bought

The first item to cross of my Must-have list was the bag. I bought a Bellorita designer bags orange fish satchel. You may have even already seen it on the blog, but look how I styled the orange bag if you missed it. I already carried it after its arrival in July. Why waiting for the leaves to fly? 😉

Don’t let the right outfit be a random thing. Wear the right look in every situation by looking up what to wear when in How to Dress for Success in Midlife. Buy my book now.

Look of the day: Summer to fall transition

The LOTD is my first summer-to-fall transitional outfit. I wore it on a windy rainy day. We were lucky to catch a break between showers to take the photos. I wore my layered blush tulle skirt with mules and a utitlity jacket. The latter served as a top.

Top of the World Style Linkup party

Welcome to the 219^th Top of the World Style linkup party! Great you are here. The awardees are:

Cheryl

Cheryl of Cheryl Shops is the Top of the World Style Winner. She blogged about her Copenhagen vacation wardrobe.

Grace

The post by Grace Liang of Color and Grace was clicked the most. Thus, she became Top of the World OOTD readers’ fav. She participated in a breast cancer campaign.

Claire

Claire at Fashion on a Shoestring caught my eyes with her pretty print summer dress.

Congrats Ladies! Grab your buttons for your awards page or sidebar.

Click here to enter the party room

To throw your own party, start here.

Photos of me: G. Kramm

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