I hope you had a happy Halloween! Last year, during breast cancer treatment, I couldn’t put together my grapes costume, an intended nod to when I was a tomato. This year, I was determined, but then I got a cold, so I only had enough energy for three grapes. One of the trick-or-treating teens thought I was maybe just “wine?”
Did you clock my costume in a costume? I’m three grapes, yes, but my chemo curls also inspired me to be Connor Storrie from the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Here’s me without the grapes, but also with an added beauty mark. I’m on the left.
So, I came across this video, and it sent me on a journey.
I thought, “Oh, a new The Green Knight movie, and with an all-female cast?! Fabulous!” I loved the 2021 version, so why not bring on the next? I found the director, Julia Jackman, but I couldn’t find The Green Knight on her IMDb page.
Instead, I found that she directed 100 Nights of Hero, so I watched it. Lovely movie; highly recommend. It validates my need for many bird shirts.
After watching 100 Nights of Hero, I now really wanted Jackman’s The Green Knight in my life. So, I rewatched the initial video and slowly realized my mistake. It’s not a movie trailer; it’s an elaborate ad for a company called Ffern. They sell perfume.
Specifically:
“We create a new natural fragrance four times a year, one for each season. Each fragrance is released on a solstice or equinox, turning points in the year as the Earth orbits around the Sun” (Ffern).
As you know, I already hunted for the perfect scent here, here, and here, so how could I not answer the greenish knightly call of a mythical, seasonal, small-batch fragrance that’s “exclusively for our ledger members” (Ffern)? It’s on order, and I am now a ledger member. We’ll see.
Also, have you seen the ads for a drawing of your soulmate? It’s a scam, so I asked ChatGPT instead.
While it’s not an exact rendering of Pete, I get it.
Today I’m wearing a sweatshirt in a color that perfectly mixes our autumn palette’sKingfisher and Marine Navy, with a hint of Peacock.
Some might say it’s just turquoise.
I say it’s a vintage 90s deep teal, and it may as well be covered in tears. I picked up this used sweatshirt from Etsy in a whirlwind of purchases after I learned (too late) that my beloved Fila has closed its U.S. operations. Fila was my go-to late-night shopping indulgence, my yearly birthday shoes, my dye bases, my every sweatpant short. I own three Grant Hills. What do I do now?!
Fila’s U.S. website says they’re “taking a break,” but I don’t trust they’ll be back any time soon.
So, what’s your favorite fashion brand these days?
Love,
Em
P.S. Also… do you have any recommendations for a nostalgic, sporty streetwear brand with cloud-comfort, ostentatious shoes and any hope of purchasing in the U.S.?
After over a year, I’m still figuring out how to best navigate life as a Soft Autumn.
Muted earth tones are very hard to find outside of a sandy beach. Like, when picturing a brown shirt, you may think of a deep, rich chocolate or a warm, sophisticated cinnamon. Now take that clean top off the hanger and throw it directly in the middle of any beach. Let the elements and wildlife take hold: sun bleaching, sand muck, various species of urine, “accidents.” After a year, this once brown garment will arrive at a shade of dusky filth that’ll make my olive skin glow. Soft Autumn is the post-apocalyptic glamour.
Thankfully, the lovely folks at Pantone have removed these extra, unsanitary steps by releasing their 2025 Color of the Year: Mocha Mousse 17-1230. I feel seen.
Pantone recently announced their color of the year: PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz. It’s not simply Peach, not Warm Blush, not 1980’s Shell, not even Tawny Sunset. It’s Peach_Fuzz. That load-bearing space between Peach and Fuzz does nothing to make me forget KMD’s “Peachfuzz.”
To me,Peachfuzz (or, I guess, Peach Fuzz) can only ever be the insult used for teasing someone who can’t yet grow in their hair. Period.
The thing is, this Pantone color, this particular shade of peach, is pretty.
It deserves a name that doesn’t conjure up playground ribbing. If you absolutely can’t just call a color of the year by its singular name, Peach, then I suggest:
#1: PANTONE 13-1023 Cherie Wins Miss Adorable Dress
I guess I just prefer the name of a color to conjure up thoughts of Mr. Andy Gibb pairing a sequin blazer with red leather pants, while crowning the clear winner of Miss Adorable. Margaux’s “I’m strictly a female female” be damned.
What do you think? Will you wear Peach Fuzz this year? If you do and if you feel compelled to rub your chin, think of Cherie winning Miss Adorable in that fabulous dress and your posture may become regal.
Spooky season is in the air, and I’m here for it. Through the recent years, my Halloween costumes were usually decided by two factors: 1) What does my hair currently look like, and 2) What was I wearing when someone said to me, “You look like so-and-so in that outfit.” Then, any Halloween costume purchasing just boiled down to some accessories, but mostly shopping my own closet.
After someone told me my summer dress reminded them of The Wizard of Oz, I couldn’t unsee it. Then, a couple years ago, Halloween fell on the same night as a local event, “Witches Night Out,” an evening where folks visit the downtown shops dressed as witches. I dressed as Dorothy Gale.
This is me as Miss Frizzle, wearing my outer space sweatshirt with a Valentino-inspired print that cannot be worn with a skirt. Wearing this sweatshirt with a skirt means I will be getting Magic School Bus comments all day. In addition to a skirt, I paired this Halloween costume with school bus socks, a Liz, and curled hair, using the tiniest curling iron I could find on the open market.
This is me as a background actor in Midsommar. Evil. Pure evil. The costume idea started with the floral head wreath, which I picked up at a Renaissance fair. Did you clock the pin?
I thought I was getting quite the deal, purchasing this tan Tory Burch dress from Poshmark, but I soon realized my error when I received a couple Troop Beverly Hills comments. Harrumph. I admittedly used this scout leader costume a couple times. I was never a Girl Scout growing up, so I had to guess at the patches and pins to put on my sash: Bert and Ernie, shoes, tarot cards, rainbow, eyes, death.
I won a costume contest with this Moira Rose look. I think reciting her wine commercial helped. This was a costume I actively chose to compile and had most of the necessary pieces, including the necklace. I did get the wig, lipstick, and matching lip pencil especially.
Top (Brooks Brothers) | Dress (Modern Citizen) | Wig (Amazon) | Lipstick and Lip Pencil in “Ruby Woo” (MAC) | Necklace (a gift from Pete from a shop in Milwaukee that’s no longer around)
This was a last-minute costume. I’m The Sun tarot card; complete with curling-iron-burned forehead. I initially got the headband for the Moira costume, but then found I didn’t need it. For this look, I just pulled everything I owned that was yellow or gold.
For this year, in the brief moments of platinum hair, I made plans to be Principal Weems from Wednesday: grey all-business dress, broach, chignon, disdain. Now that I’m back to mostly brunette, I switched to Holly Hobbie: patchwork dress (which sparked the idea), 70’s colors, bonnet, pride pin. If only I could be as cool as this:
Do you have plans for a costume this year?
Love,
Em
P.S. To get in the spooky mood, Pete and I are watching Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone and Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone. I hope I don’t wake up one day to realize that I’m actually a statue or a turnip or something. Although, those would make good Halloween costumes.
