Last weekend marked the autumn equinox (Australians just bookmark this and read it in 6 months), which means I can now talk about orange leaves and fluffy socks without a delusional summer stan in my ear telling me to kill myself. September ‘23 was near hell on earth tbh, but I am determined to fight back and reclaim my favourite season by remembering what I usually love about it. So, as a self-proclaimed connoisseur, I have taken it upon myself to collate some of my opinions and recommendations for the season’s lovers and haters alike (if you can’t find even a shred of joy or whimsy in an acorn and some fairy lights maybe your misery is bone deep idk). The following content serves as a somewhat-comprehensive guide to my favourite ‘fits, activities and must-see movies to help you make the most of the autumnal months!
made with love 💌🍂☕🧣🧸🔮
i am going to create a vibe that is so autumnal
First thing’s first… Candles! Put them everywhere. Ignore that tweet that said it’s bad for your lungs, the big light is bad for your heart. If your room isn’t a glaring safety hazard, you’re not optimising the vibe. The great thing about candles is that you can melt & scrape out any residual wax and reuse the pots for literally anything: makeup brushes, stationary, plants, smaller candles…. endless use. And if you have any old wine bottles or tall glass jars, pop a few candlesticks in there to mix up the heights. Now throw up a bunch of fairy lights a la Joyce Byers, put on a fleece and tartan bottoms, grab a hot beverage, slide into a freshly made bed, and bask in the warm glow.
plan like caitlin covington
If your interests lie mainly outside of media consumption (what’s that like?) here are a few ways to keep busier than Alison DiLaurentis on the night she disappeared.
Take a leaf out of Miss Autumn’s book, and do a photoshoot around your neighbourhood. I’m mostly joking with this one, but taking photos/reframing your perspective can actually be a great way to appreciate where you live a bit more, especially if you’re still in your hometown and have a complicated relationship with it. Go on a walk or bike ride without a specific destination. Revisit a childhood hobby - because autumn is already about trying to survive under the crushing weight of nostalgia. Write a letter to someone you miss. Send it, or don’t. Host a murder mystery game night. Learn & cook a new recipe, or try making a meal with things left in your cupboard. Visit a flea market/indoor antiques sale. Attend a play - the smaller and more local the better. Bake a pie or some cookies. Doesn’t matter if they’re terrible, just put some music on and have some fun, or cry into the batter. Go to your nearest library and judge the books by their covers, or pick out the most autumnal sounding titles; if with a friend, choose a book for each other. Clear out your wardrobe/room: never mind a “spring clean”, I’m here for an autumn overhaul. Take part in a pub quiz! Literally an undefeated activity, but it just hits different in autumn. The warmth of a pub, light-hearted arguments over pints, the rush of getting a question right. Inject it into my veins.
read like a recovering academic
I feel like the activity of reading in and of itself can be made autumnal by doing it in an old library, or on a park bench under the falling leaves. But titles that are particularly appropriate to read or revisit as the nights close in include: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, or selected poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Also, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu is an underrated vampiric predecessor to Bram Stoker’s more widely-known classic Dracula. Honestly, any Gothic tale or murder mystery will do!
Alternatively, pick a literary-leaning character in an autumnal show of your choice (e.g. Jess Mariano, Spencer Hastings) and select a book from their reading lists. Whether it’s classics such as East of Eden and The Metamorphosis, or contemporary bildungsroman High Fidelity, there’s bound to be something in there for you to enjoy. Whatever you choose, make sure to consume it in a completely obsessive, narcissistic manner to really channel the vibes of those kids from The Secret History.
watch like lorelai gilmore
“So… it’s a show?”
“It’s a lifestyle. It’s a religion.”
There is perhaps no person from pop-culture more well-versed in pop-culture than Lorelai. But if you’re looking for a break from the Gilmore girl’s antics this year - or never fancied watching them in the first place - here are some different shows to get obsessed over and reference constantly instead. And I’ve got a little bit of everything, folks.
The Dark
Interview with the Vampire: Exactly what it says on the tin - plus a few gut-wrenching surprises. Adapted from Anne Rice’s novels, the show is built around journalist Daniel Malloy’s interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac, who narrates the history of his creation at the hands (well, fangs) of vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and their turbulent romance across the 1900s. Lovers of an unreliable narrator, rejoice! This show is overflowing with them. The Haunting of Hill House / The Haunting of Bly Manor / The Fall of the House of Usher: if there’s one thing Mike Flanagan knows how to do, its create disturbingly gothic shows set in haunted houses about families that are falling apart. Perfect for the countdown to Halloween.
The Demonic (and deeply unserious)
One thing about me, I’m going to devour a long-running show with a mythological monster-of-the-week format. Charmed (1998-2006): three sisters in San Francisco become aware of their dormant supernatural abilities, which they use to defend their home from evil spirits, while dodging unwanted attention from the FBI. Supernatural (2005-2020): a show that became infamous in its last season but truly ran the internet in its heyday, and for good reason. Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester hunt monsters across America in their ‘67 Impala; themes of family trauma and appropriately autumnal horror. Grimm (2011-2017): homicide detective Nick Burkhardt discovers he’s descended from a line of monster hunters and strives to protect Portland from a series of unhinged creatures (based on fairy tales mostly from German folklore), with deadly ramifications for his personal life. As the first and only show my family watched together from start to finish, it has a special place in the Flo Nation Hall of Fame. [The fact that none of these shows would likely make it past season 1 if they started airing today… a moment of silence for #my golden age of TV, please.]
The Downright Weird
Twin Peaks: Everybody say thank you David Lynch. Partly influenced by a real-life murder case, and pitched during the 1988 Writer’s strike, this show follows FBI agent Dale Cooper (everyone’s chronically online fave, Kyle MacLachlan) who travels to Twin Peaks, Washington, to investigate the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (inspiring an excellent Bastille song of the same name btw). Of course, everything is decidedly not what it seems. I absolutely love an off-putting mystery set in small-town America - the first season (the only one that I watched) of Riverdale was good precisely because of its evocation of similar themes and vibes. The X-Files: I simply have to include the series that pioneered shipping as we know it today. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny (with insane behind-the-scenes lore of their own) star as FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, a scientific sceptic and ardent conspiracy theorist respectively, who take on unsolved cases linked to the paranormal.
Campus Nostalgia
A lot of teen shows are inherently autumnal to me for the back-to-school vibes, or because they started airing during term time, but some especially hit the spot once the leaves start falling. Pretty Little Liars, with its small-town setting and the increasingly convoluted murder mystery plots. I’m including Gossip Girl for its Thanksgiving episodes alone, although I don’t remember seeing Blair Waldorf so much as touch a textbook. I finished Dawson’s Creek during my first semester of university, so by that point I really felt like I’d grown up with the characters, and as such, thinking of this show feels like sitting under a warm blanket with a cup of tea. Simpler times. Felicity is a slightly underrated campus series, but it has a host of autumnal outfit inspiration, and melodrama in abundance. How to Get Away With Murder is a slightly darker show set in a Philadelphia university, about a defense attorney (Viola Davis devouring every single scene as Annalise Keating) and 5 of her students who become entangled in a messy murder plot. Whilst it gets a bit goofy near the end, as a lot of shows do, I wish I could watch the first few seasons for the first time again… that was excellent tv.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Teen Wolf set the supernatural in school, if you were looking for a bit of both, and act as bookends to the 90s-2010s fascination with vampires & werewolves. Buffy is potentially the best female protagonist of all time, and that’s a hill I’m willing to fight a particularly gruesome battle on. And if you’re a person of taste I won’t need to explain why Season 3 of Teen Wolf is one of the greatest seasons of television ever. Lives were changed, including that of Dylan O’Brien, whose acting career was launched by his turn as fan-favourite Stiles Stilinski.
Seasonal Serotonin
If the seasonal depression is becoming a bit too much, Fleabag can get you through a tough time (by making it worse). No, but it actually is a show I used to gravitate towards in November; Fleabag’s chaotic, self-destructive approach to life is particularly relatable during deadline season, striking the perfect balance of devastating and humorous. Just twelve short episodes, this is the perfect show to make you feel better about your own disastrous state of affairs, and the familial relationship between Claire and Fleabag is equally as touching as Lorelai and Rory’s.
90s sitcoms just scream comfort ! pick literally any show from that era and let the grainy camerawork and antics of a struggling friend group in New York wash over you (no I will not accept Friends slander in my house. I’m currently rewatching the early seasons, whilst also attempting to get into Seinfeld after seeing Elaine Benes’ outfits on Pinterest).
Style Spotlight: Louis de Pointe du Lac and Buffy Summers
Even though he’s a vampire, and Buffy is designed to kill him, I like to think that these two divas would bond over their impeccable fashion sense. Louis has the autumnal palette covered: his pinstripe cream and red suits, his array of brown ties, and chocolate brown overcoat. A statement coat is something Buffy knows a thing or two about; some of her best looks are cemented by a leather jacket or fur trim. And one cannot chase after the supernatural monster of the week in anything but a knee high boot. There’s a reason she’s one of the best dressed heroines in TV history.
movies used to have meg ryan in them :(
Is Meg Ryan October’s Mariah Carey? Well, yes. When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Kate & Leopold … need I go on? Mother of the autumnal romcom genre. (WHMS is a top 10 film of all time, and if you haven’t seen it you need to rectify that immediately).
Speaking of icons, Practical Magic & The Craft are both stacked with style inspiration and whimsical witchy vibes from the likes of Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock and Robin Tunney. The former film is about two cursed sisters, Sally and Gillian, who use their powers to foil Sally’s abusive boyfriend; the latter centres troubled teen Sarah (Tunney, my queen) as she moves to San Francisco and befriends a trio of girls, rumoured to be witches.
Beautiful Creatures is an underrated book-to-screen-adaptation about a depressed boy Ethan, and Leila, the witch he falls in love with when she moves to town. It had all the right ingredients to become a popular series, but witches were tragically steamrolled by the vampire/werewolf debate of the 2010s, and the rest of the books never made it off the page. It’s worth watching for Viola Davis’ role alone, though.
Mystic Pizza has started popping up in fall recommendations on social media but I just need everyone to know that I have loved this movie before TikTok was invented and these people will never #get it like I do. Three friends fall in and out of love whilst working in a charming pizza shop in Connecticut. Stepmom is another autumnal Julia Roberts hit, but have your tissues ready.
Anyone cultured will recognise Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting as two of the greatest movies of all time, all-year round, but maximise the misery by waiting until a particularly rainy day to bury yourself under the covers and watch them.
The Devil’s Advocate is a supernatural horror set in New York, playfully drawing inspiration from iconic works such as Paradise Lost and Dante’s Inferno, about an aspiring defense lawyer who gradually loses his soul - metaphorically and literally - after starting work at a top law firm. You can’t really go wrong with a cast comprised of Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, and a demonic Al Pacino. Reeves and Theron reunite to make a wonderfully attractive but depressing pair in Sweet November. Éric Rohmer’s A Tale of Autumn, and An Autumn’s Tale from Mabel Cheung, are another couple of films to help you romanticize fall in the truest sense of the word.
Knives Out is one of the only recent movies that evokes a suitable amount of fall whimsy: an ensemble murder mystery set in a grand house with mahogany corridors for days, it contains everything I’m looking for in my autumn media, including Chris Evans in a giant knit sweater. Goosebumps is one I come back to close to Halloween; it’s a fun adaptation of R.L. Stine’s creepy books, starring Dylan Minnette, Jack Black and Odeya Rush. Fantastic Mr Fox and the Wallace and Gromit films are delightfully charming animated selections that provide no small amount of warm feeling as the days get colder.
Last, but by no means least, I can’t ignore the classics. Say what you want about Twilight but those movies are perfect to watch - whether mockingly or with 100% sincerity - during the darker months. Plus, the New Moon soundtrack is unironically one of the best movie soundtracks of the past few decades. I need Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson to maximise their freak on a new project together as a matter of extreme urgency.
Style Spotlight: Gillian Owens and Harry Burns
As a fellow redhead, Gillian Owens has long been my hair inspiration, but if only I could steal her wardrobe too…. Her bohemian skirts and flowery tops would pair perfectly with one of Harry Burns’ famous knit jumpers, or a hoodie for a more relaxed look. Alternatively, her cozy cardigans could complete an outfit comprised of a shirt and Levi’s jeans with trainers. Lest we forget Harry’s blazers, which make him, in my opinion, one of the most effortlessly best dressed movie characters. The quality of clothes has decreased so dramatically since then, that any attempt to recapture his full look these days would fall flat. But a girl can dream.
girl, put your records on!
And now for the regularly scheduled music section… here’s a few songs I have on repeat from September 1st. Whether riding the bus to a meeting, speed-walking to your next lecture, studying late at the library, or cooking by lamplight in the kitchen (not very practical, but incredibly ambient), these tunes will get you through even the worst autumn rainstorms.