NEW YORK – In a perfect world, you’d conduct your fall fashion shopping spree with style. You’d do it with elegance, with sophistication, maybe even with panache.

How about doing it with Glamour?

Glamour magazine’s executive fashion editor-at-large Suze Yalof Schwartz recently spent a morning picking out her favorite seasonal items and offering advice on getting the best bang for your buck.

Her top picks: dresses, platform boots and a new tan handbag.

Yalof Schwartz’s own style is classic – for a fashion editor. She wears a wrap-style top with bell sleeves in a black and white floral print edged with red to jazz up crisp white pants and a cropped black blazer. If it weren’t for her belly, one would hardly notice she was eight months pregnant with her third son.

No frumpy Peter Pan collars and smocked tops in this maternity wardrobe. But she’s already doing some window shopping, and even buying a few things for when she’s back to her petite frame.

First, she eyes the purses. A Marc Jacobs bag that’s a twist on a classic quilted Chanel style is a contender. She likes the thicker chain. Trends for this season include quilting, appliques, python, thick chains and knits.

Another bonus? The Marc Jacobs bag comes in tan, which is even more versatile with black, Yalof Schwartz says, because it can be worn with navy and brown – colors that sometimes are tricky with black.

Moving on to coats, Yalof Schwartz stops at a leather trench by Tracy Reese. It’s tan and, she says, the same argument for tan purses applies here – you can wear it with anything.

“A great coat is the only thing you can wear every single day and get away with it.”

The contemporary shoe department is nearby and she goes right for the metallic ballet flats. Another chameleon accessory since it goes with dresses or skinny jeans.

She then swirls around to find the classic Jimmy Choo slingback pump with a 3 1/2-inch heel that she calls “the editor’s choice.” The fashion industry loves this $495 shoe because it works with dresses, pants, skirts and jeans, she says. It transitions from summer dresses to fall. And it comes in tan!

Next, Yalof Schwartz actually does add to her wardrobe: two shirtdresses by up-and-comer Nili Lotan.

The garments could either be tunics over skinny pants or worn on their own.

Yalof Schwartz says that, just like with shoes, women are being offered flattering, attractive and practical dress choices this year. Dresses aren’t too revealing to be worn to the office but they’re not too dowdy for evenings out, she says, highlighting a Temperley London knit dress. “Whether you’re a 24 or a 2, there’s a dress out there for you.”

She adds: “I’d love to see everyone in dresses this season. Even if you have bad legs, wear boots. I’m declaring no more jeans to work – you can do better than that.”

“I hate shorts but love gauchos,” Yalof Schwartz says as soon as she sees the store’s front-and-center display. “You can dress up a gaucho.”

She proceeds to demonstrate with a slim jacket with a ribbon around the waist and an embellished camisole that she holds above a pair of green gauchos plucked from a dizzying array of cropped-pant choices. “You have to wear them with really high heels, maybe gold or silver heels,” she says.

As for skinny jeans, Yalof Schwartz says if you want to get in on the trend, buy them now and buy inexpensive ones – such as Old Navy’s $30 version. They’re definitely a trend but they’re unlikely to be a lasting trend, she explains.

Use Sienna Miller or Kate Hudson as a fashion role model when it comes to skinny jeans, she adds. She predicts they’d tuck the jeans into boots and wear a menswear-style vest.

Sweater vests are cool right now, Yalof Schwartz says. As proof, she offers up Carolina Herrera’s fall runway show, which offered sweater vests under crisp white shirts. It’s a look that also plays into the menswear movement, she says.

Her advice is timeless: Splurge on accessories, scrimp on very trendy items.