Kermit wasn't wrong: fall is time to really start dressing. What is autumn, after all, if not a reward for making it through the sweat-soaked days of summer—and the opportunity to dust off every lightweight jacket you put in storage way back in April? To paraphrase another fictional green menswear god: it's not just onions that have layers, and the onset of peak layering season brings answers to life's most pressing questions. Do I look like a creep in this trench coat? (No.) Can I pull off derbys with these jeans? (Yes.) Is this T-shirt too long for this jacket? (Maybe.)
To celebrate the changing foliage, we compiled a handy guide to the fall wardrobe essentials that'll carry you through the season in superlative fashion. Many of them—hardy jeans, slick boots, a solid rain jacket—are relevant every single September. This year, though, we also convened a special meeting of the GQ Recommends braintrust to discuss the categories that feel genuinely essential for the totally precedented meteorological event they're calling…Fall 2025. Here’s where to start.
