Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise Demonstrate How to Layer Fall Jackets, Two Ways

I may be a fashion editor, but I've never quite figured out how to layer fall jackets the right way. I either miscalculate the strength of a photogenic but thinly insulated coat, or I mismatch a bulky sweater to a barn jacket and suffer the overheated consequences. But my days of layering let-downs are over, now that Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise have delivered how-to-layer-fall-jackets formulas I can follow from now until Christmas.

The mother-daughter duo delivered a silent fall layering demonstration during a walk around Manhattan on Thursday, Oct. 17. It's the first time the pair has reunited in the public eye since Suri left for college over the summer, and it's the first glimpse at their turn-of-the-season styling techniques.

Katie Holmes thought it was chilly enough to break out her favorite camel coat by The Frankie Shop, in place of the quilted jacket she's otherwise relied on this October. She placed the oversize style over a gray sweatsuit, chunky Pony sneakers, and a white tote bag by Bevza. Her longline coat's power shoulders would pair just as easily with the evening dress she wore to her Our Town Broadway premiere last week. Over a laid-back (and lightweight) matching set, it's just the kind of juxtaposition her easygoing errand outfit needed.

Suri Cruise clearly got her mom's styling genes. She carried on Katie Holmes's oversize, casual-cool agenda in an exaggerated denim trucker jacket lined in white sherpa fleece, plus a pair of twill navy pants and leather Chelsea boots.

The hand-me-down layering expertise comes into play with Cruise's jacket's texture. Owning to the comfy-cozy warmth of her jacket's fleece lining, she only needed to wear a T-shirt underneath.

From afar, there's no telling what the pair caught up on during their walk. (I imagine Holmes filled her daughter in on all the relaxed denim trends and slingback flats she's tried.) At this distance, I can at least tell that my pre-lined jackets don't need heavy layers underneath.