Thanks to a popular saying, most people in New York expect April showers. Almost just as predictable: the confusion over how to dress in the transitional weeks of spring, when the temperature can go from cold to warm to hot, sometimes in a single day.

The style on the streets over the past few weeks has been all over the place. People in winter coats were standing next to people in shorts. The most telling sign of spring might have been that, with many outfits, there was an umbrella.

But there were other sartorial cues that signaled the arrival of warmer days. Beige and white became more ubiquitous shades than gray and black. Bare shoulders shared the street with many oversize blazers.

Most people seemed to follow few if any rules when getting dressed, except for embracing the season’s unpredictability. As one passer-by in SoHo put it, “It’s going to be nice for two weeks, and then we’re going to get killed by the summer heat.”