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.
Love,
Em
P.S. But seriously, I currently own nine bird shirts.
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.
DorEm Answers 