Seattle is a city of fashionable people. Fashionably deconstructed people, that is. They buy expensive, used boots and scuff them up. They buy perfectly deconstructed jeans and turn them up at the bottoms. They cut their own hair. They borrow their grandfather’s big sweaters, and never return them.

I like watching the way people in Seattle dress, but I’m completely intimidated and worn out by it. Most of the time, I don’t want to artfully piece my hair and layer four things on top of each other to go type on my laptop at a coffee shop. But I can appreciate the people who do.

The best place that I know to appreciate the style fiends of Seattle from a removed vantage point is by looking at the blog It’s My Darlin’. The blog, photographed and created by Dana, skews heavily towards the fashion of Capitol Hill and downtown, but also sometimes includes Dana’s food and travel adventures.

Here are some of the fashion trends from It’s My Darlin’, or, how to dress in Seattle in the fall:

Woolen caps. I don’t understand Seattleites’ fascination with woolen caps. It rains a lot here, and wool starts to smell like something that died in your closet waaay before last season when it gets wet. Most people don’t even pull them down far enough to cover their ears. Dude, do you have a perpetual bad hair day? I want woolen caps to be practical, and they can be. So if you buy one this fall, make sure it’s more than a fashion statement.  

Skinny jeans, fancy socks and soft-looking, flat-soled leather shoes. This is a must-do for Seattleites in all seasons, and is more than well represented on the blog.

Pea coats. Again with the smelliness of wool in the rainy/snowy winter time, but pea coats are a bit more forgivable. You can buy a heavy-duty pea coat and it will last you for seasons and seasons. But you will also smell like a wet dog for seasons and seasons, too, even if you get it dry-cleaned. Take it from someone who knows the fickleness of this fabric in the wet outdoors.

Frowns. Be happy, people on It’s My Darlin’! Someone thinks your fashion is awesome! Remember, you aren’t a model yet.

Big and bold sweaters. This a perfect trend for fall because there’s no complicated layering, it’s cozy and you get to look like your grandpa/Bill Cosby. I wish that this weren’t quite so popular here, though, because I can never find any worthwhile, mondo-sized sweaters at the Goodwill.

Mini-dresses and tights. A bit cold, a bit cold. But, if you’re going to do it, buy some heavy duty tights and a long coat so you won’t freeze your ass off this fall/winter.