Span the seasons with some careful choices

Can you offer any tips on how to stretch a spring-summer wardrobe into fall or beyond? I usually wear slacks to work, so I’m wondering how to mix cotton and cotton-blend pants with fall tops. Is it necessary to replace cotton with wool as soon as the snow flies?

The best way to stretch a wardrobe between the seasons is to make wise decisions when you buy your clothes. That means shopping for the long haul, with an eye to what you have and how it will work with what you want to buy.

Perhaps the best way to make a garment span the seasons is to buy it in a dark color. That’s especially true for pants and skirts. Dr. Fashion is partial to black for its amazing versatility, but you can work the same magic with navy blue, dark brown or charcoal gray.

Let your tops be a more specific marker of the season. In spring, perhaps you wear your dark pants with a rose cotton sweater set. In the summer, you switch to airy blouses and tank tops in summery prints and pastels. In the fall, it’s turtlenecks in autumn colors. Or you start with a long-sleeved T-shirt and layer on a jacket that matches the pants.

Get out your seasonal clothes when the weather — not the calendar — tells you it’s time to do so. Personally, Dr. Fashion is happy to switch to wool when the snow flies, but if you’re still comfortable in your dark cottons when winter descends, by all means keep wearing them.

Clothes for the older figure

Dr. Fashion recently asked readers to suggest stores and brands that suit a figure that is common to older women: wider waist, narrower hips.

Readers overwhelmingly suggested Chico’s, which has stores in many malls and in local suburban downtowns. There also were votes for Coldwater Creek, which has a stores nationwide, and for the St. John’s Bay line at J.C. Penney.