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.
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.
The first time I dyed the sweatshirt, I didn’t know what I was doing. I reused a dye mix from a batch earlier that day, just let it soak for half the time, only added half the bottle, and didn’t use a dye fixative. You must use a dye fixative unless you want the color (and your hard work) to ooze out. For a short while, I tried to convince myself that the dyed sweatshirt looked like an artisanal tea neutral, but soon realized that it too closely resembled my pale skin tone; I felt like I was in a Cronenberg body horror where I finally became one with Fila. It’ll happen someday. After the second, more deliberate, attempt, the sweatshirt is now a true dark brown.
Using dark brown again, I changed this beloved THE KIT top from “smokey lilac” to a brownish, smokier lilac. The Potato Professor background is also still beloved and continues to make an appearance.
As another win (and maybe the favorite), I dyed my Thakoon for Target dress a Sage green. The original print thankfully still comes through.
My foray into non-brown or green colors has proven less successful in my attempts to autumn-up my wardrobe. The swatches below show a dress’s fabric turned from a black/white/brown print to an intended deep eggplant (but now fuchsia).
Do you know any Clear Winters who need a flowy summer dress? Fuchsia / haute pink is all the rage.
Love,
Em
P.S. A lot of my Fila love comes from my switch to ostentatious flats after my first MS attack and the need for the comfiest fashion shoes ever. Disease Is a Mirror, my lyric memoir about diagnosis, publishes as an eBook on October 3, 2023 and includes excerpts from our DorEm Answers shenanigans. Save the date.
I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was lying, but this IS happening. In part, I keep motivated by the mix I complied with songs that mostly have an electronic beat or a slight tinge of dissent or both.
It’s a lot of Crystal Castles. Like, if “Fleece” by Crystal Castles doesn’t make you want to get up and move, then this mix isn’t for you. As an aside, this “Fleece” music video is the vibe I get from the Honored Matres of Heretics of Dune.
If you’re still with me, then M.I.A.’s “Meds and Feds” is especially effective at getting me moving, and I sometimes need to remember to slow myself down.
I also always delight in hearing Aja’s lament on the wave of praise washed over Valentina in Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I remember watching this moment on screen and then finding Adam Joseph’s “Linda Evangelista” track immortalizing it the very next day. It was a gloriously quick turnaround and a savage burn.
Alternatively, if you ever need a good cry, I also have a solid catalog of songs that make me weep instantly; just let me know. There’s a lot of upbeat songs in the Cry mix. Here’s one that overlaps with the Work It Out mix: “Let’s Go Surfing” by The Drums.
What music gets you moving? Do some upbeat songs also make you sob deeply?
Love,
Em
P.S. Out to lunch recently, the restaurant played a mix of classic 90’s songs. Pete and I started uncontrollably (yet quietly) singing along to “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C+C Music Factory. And then a couple tracks later, Pete remarked “Another C+C Music Factory song; already?!” It took me a couple beats to correct him. It was “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I broke out into a fit of laughter. I wasn’t laughing at Pete; I was laughing at the “tough guy” Mark Wahlberg, making a song barely indistinguishable from a pop dance hall mix.
I’m excited to hear that you think you’re a Winter. Bright colors abound!
Let me introduce you to hot pink and start with its disciple, Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino. See Valentino’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection, in which Piccioli shows that hot pink is an equal staple to black.
Valentino Pink PP is now it’s own Pantone shade. According to British Vogue, Pierpaolo Piccioli was:
“… fuelled by a desire to create a lasting shade that would communicate the legacy of Rosso [red] Valentino through a modern lens.”
And so he did. Hot pink is redder than red; it’s vibrant, daring, goth.
Hot pink is like science fiction. There’s a hot pink pigment that technically exists, but its vibrancy can’t be captured in film.
I wish I could twin with you on a hot pink quest.
Leaning into my Soft Summer palette of muted colors, greys abound and hot pink is currently relegated to the furthest reaches of my body. For example, these hot pink sneakers from Fila are especially comfortable and the mini heel backpacks hold enough change for the parking meter and the arcade at our local movie theatre.
If you’re looking for options closer to your face, I point back to our At Least Two Pair correspondence, where I piled on the wishful thinking and multiple bright sweaters from Loft. They’re still on sale, and the Fuchsia looks especially bright.
The most recent Valentino Haute Couture collection (Spring/Summer 2023) still includes pops of neon in yellow, green, teal, orange, blue, and the beloved hot pink. However, the vibrancy is no longer head to toe. I especially connected with the looks that paired the neon with muted tones, so us Summers aren’t completely left in the dark.
DorEm Answers 