With Labor Day right around the corner, I’m giddily thinking of fall clothes, fall foliage, hot mulled cider and tartan wool blankets (Ralph Lauren ad, anyone?). Honestly, I’m beginning to tire of my summer uniform of t-shirts, cotton skirts and sandals, and I’m eager to wear more polished and pulled together outfits. For me, the first day of fall won’t start on September 23rd, the date of this year’s autumnal equinox. No, it will officially begin with the imminent arrival in my mailbox of Vogue‘s weighty September issue with waifish Kate Moss gracing its cover.

As you might imagine, the hyper-organized, detail-obsessed project manager in me comes out in full force as I gear up for fall shopping. I like to approach the endeavor logically and with a plan of attack. (After all, I live in the real world and have limited “resources”—both time and money.) My first step is to sort through the season’s top trends and determine which ones I want to adopt and which ones are best left to others.

Since my copy of Vogue inexplicably hasn’t arrived yet (is the postman playing a cruel trick on me?) and the publication’s website is decidedly not user-friendly, I had no choice but to turn to New York Magazine, T Magazine and style.com.* And of course I glanced at slideshows of many of the Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear collections myself.

Based on my analysis so far, here are my five personal “Nays”:

• Mixing prints

Rag & Bone 2011 RTW. Too much going on, but I dig the orange color.

• Bright-colored fur

Vionnet Fall 2011 RTW. I love the color but don’t have the budget or lifestyle to rock these pelts. Maybe I’ll go with a faux fur stole.

• Capes and ponchos (are ponchos really flattering on anyone? Refer to my Tory Burch post)

Chanel Fall 2011 RTW. Stella Tennant’s hands look strangely disembodied.

• Maxi coat

Rodarte Fall 2011 RTW. Not very practical for my 5’2″ frame, or for public transportation.

• Lace

Bottega Veneta Fall 2011 RTW. Exquisite but not my taste. Actually looks a little matronly.

Jason Wu Fall 2011 RTW. His whole collection was gorgeous, but even in small doses, lace just isn’t “me.”

Next up: the Yeah Yeah Yeahs—I mean, the “Yeas”!

Note: All runway images from style.com