Why Are Fashion Girls All Wearing Windbreaker Jackets With Boho Lace? – Charm

Now and then, the fashion set sinks its teeth into an outfit formula and won’t let go. A timeless white skirt with a little black top. Beachy flip-flops and big, baggy jeans. Currently, it’s a windbreaker jacket worn with anything vaguely boho-coded. A slip skirt, breezy silk pants, or a broderie anglaise Bermuda short—any relaxed, romantic piece that juxtaposes against the nylon track jacket you’d wear as armor against gale-force winds.

A windbreaker trend has been brewing since last spring, when luxury brands like Prada, Burberry, and Miu Miu styled weather-proof anoraks with sequin party dresses and micro-minis. It was fashion first introducing the idea that the best windbreaker outfits were those that flirted with a so wrong, it’s so right approach. We were to forget the jacket’s gorpcore associations and play with unexpected pairings instead.

Now, on the cusp of fall 2025, fashion folks have found their contrast of choice for the hard-working windbreaker: A blend of track star meets modern bohème—a woman who worships at the altar of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and pays for a boutique gym membership (whether she actually goes and gets sweaty is another matter entirely).

The outfit template is unexpected, yes, but ubiquitous all the same. On the hunt for pre-New York Fashion Week outfit inspiration, I recently logged onto Pinterest, and my home page showed me three iterations of the same look: a tech-y windbreaker with a swath of lace peeking under the jacket’s hem and super slouchy, wide-leg trousers.

Capri pants are another popular element in the outfit trend sweeping the fashion circuit. In August, supermodel Elsa Hosk wore a waxy black windbreaker with a mini ivory lace slip, cropped leggings, and mesh Mary Jane flats—a quirky combination I’m now seeing replicated all over, from NYC’s sidewalks to Copenhagen street style.

Elsa Hosk wearing a black windbreaker, a white lace slip, white capri leggings, and black Mary Jane flats

Uniqlo

Cotton Blend Short Parka

FP Movement

Field Tripper Jacket

Alo Yoga

Origin Full-Zip Track Jacket

Like most recent, all-consuming trends, the origin of boho-slanted windbreaker outfits points to The Row’s Spring 2025 collection. There, the sisters styled their Jilly Jacket, a $9,500 hooded windbreaker made of black leather, with white wide-leg trousers and suede sneakers. The hem of a white tee and something light and gauzy peered out under the jacket’s drawstring hem, underlying layers that hinted at what the fashion world already knows: The Row woman contains multitudes.

The coveted luxury brand also makes an insulated nylon anorak, named the Althena, that tastemakers are partial to pairing with Leset’s satin trousers or Chloé’s balloon pants that look like Victorian-era bloomers.

The Row Spring 2025 look of a black windbreaker and white pants

(Image credit: The Row)

The Row

Althena Oversized Windbreaker

FP Movement

Singin’ in the Rain Packable Jacket

Sea

Mira Windbreaker Jacket

On paper, with each piece separated, you wouldn’t think a boho-esque windbreaker outfit would go together—some would say even when it’s assembled altogether it still doesn’t. But there is a certain coolness to the contrast that makes the styling compelling. Tension is, after all, often the secret ingredient to a great outfit. Take, for instance, the wrong shoe theory, which has inspired thousands of fashion girls to pair riding boots with sheer skirts and kitten heels with track pants.

In the interest of good old-fashioned fashion journalism, I tried the outfit trend myself to see if I, too, could tap into the aura of an on-the-go Olsen twin. Ahead, here’s how I styled the two windbreakers in my wardrobe, as well as more looks from fashion girls and designer runways to add to your fall fashion bank.

Dark and Stormy

Marie Claire fashion features editor Emma Childs wearing a grey windbreaker jacket, black lace trim shorts, and black knee-high boots

This dark gray windbreaker from Uniqlo’s collaboration with Lemaire has been the cornerstone of my fall jacket rotation for a handful of years now. Typically, I wear it with dark denim or a long column skirt, but these lace-trim satin shorts from J.Crew add a softness that’s well-aligned with my free-spirited personal style. (My exact J.Crew shorts are on the verge of selling out, but Reformation sells a similar, albeit shorter, pair.) My Khaite knee-high boots (one of my first Big Adult Purchases) were a no-brainer shoe to go with the Bermuda short.

Uniqlo

Uv Protection Pocketable Parka

Reformation

Fern Satin Short

KHAITE

Marfa Leather Knee Boots

Copy Kallmeyer

In recent seasons, Daniella Kallmeyer has become the designer to know out of the NYC fashion scene. Her uncomplicated, minimal-but-never-boring clothing has that key element we all want when getting dressed: easy elegance. Personally, I haven’t stopped thinking about this look from Kallmeyer’s Pre-Spring 2025 collection: an ivory silk taffeta windbreaker with a liquid-like midi skirt and wrap-around sandals.

Kallmeyer

Suri Windbreaker in Silk Taffeta

Madewell

Satin Maxi Slip Skirt

2025’s Track Suit

Div Ravindran in a white windbreaker, white pants, black tassel necklace, and black handbag

No crushed velour needed—all you need to get the tracksuit effect in 2025 is a tech-y nylon jacket and lightweight loose trousers in a coordinating color. Add a pendant necklace to break up the tonal pairing, like Juju Vera’s viral shell or something fringed and fun.

Quince

Water Repellant Windbreaker Jacket

COS

Cotton Tapered Drawstring Pants

petit moments

Opalwave Necklace

Marie Claire fashion features editor Emma Childs wearing a pink windbreaker jacket, with a black pinstripe skirt with grey lace and black heels

With one boho windbreaker outfit under my belt, I felt confident enough to introduce a new challenger into the formula: a transitional fall sock. Using a blush-colored tencel bomber jacket from Exquise (the same brand responsible for last summer’s viral Tobie dress) as the base, I added a vintage, lace-panel A-line skirt with lace panels (thrifted in Paris, sorry!), Madewell kitten heels, and baby pink Bobmas socks.

FP Movement

Happy Camper Pullover

The Emilie Slingback Pump

Pedal Pushing

Dilara Ugur wearing a tan windbreaker, white lace top, black capris, and black pointed toe shoes

A Dad-like khaki windbreaker and lacy tunic likely don’t come first to mind when thinking about how to style capri pants, an already controversial silhouette with residual early-aughts cringe. Still, if your mind and heart are open, it ends up being a well-balanced combination with a soft sensitivity that aligns with the overarching boho revival.

Free People

Lacey Essential Tunic

SNDYS

X Revolve Capri Pants

Rainy Gray Days

Yara Michels wears grey zipper jacket, black laced skirt outside Munthe during Copenhagen Fashion Week day three on August 06, 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Take inspiration from the sky you see on rainy days and use moody gray as the starting point. A smoke-colored windbreaker will be your anchor, while a black lace-trim slip skirt and silver metallic pumps will act as additional complements.