One of my favorite things to do every night before bed is fill my online cart with tons of clothes. Call me delusional or a dreamer, but I love to think about what I would buy in an ideal world. Spending all this time window shopping also helps me figure out what’s trending, and what styles might be surging into popularity soon.
I’ve always been the type of person who emphasizes the importance of a bomb outfit. Nothing impacts my confidence like what fit I’m rocking. It’s my duty to serve.
With New York Fashion Week in full swing, the streets of the city are flooded with luxury-clad off-duty models showing us the ropes. Fashion Weeks are a good indicator of what everyone else will be wearing soon enough.
The stylish cohorts walking the streets of FW are already sporting future trends - like when everyone was wearing the MSCHF Big Red Boots around. Before you know it, we’ll be ditching our linen sets and fluorescent colors for whatever Bella Hadid is wearing. It’s a never ending rollercoaster, but we prevail.
Fall fashion 2023 will have elements of the familiar, plus a few dark horses. There will be pieces that look like an old friend to you, buried deep in your closet from when they were last trending, and pieces that will soon flood fashion store floors in mass quantities.
If you’re feeling a little lost shopping for those fall fits, here’s what I’ve found:
Denim
Every season, it feels like I’ve included denim being a popular trend. And I haven’t been wrong, don’t get it twisted. But this season, there’s an emphasis on the popular jean fabric now more than ever. You’ll see denim take form in shoes, dresses, tops, skirts, really anything.
An all denim moment can be a fun way to switch up your normal arsenal of outfits. Here are my favorite denim pieces:
We’ve seen a rise in Western-chic. No longer is it costume-y to wear your favorite pair of cowboy boots paired with a cute little vest. Going hand-in-hand with the all denim look, cowboy boots are everyone’s favorite going out shoe nowadays.
Luckily, I’ve held onto mine for over 10 years now. Resurrecting them every time it’s socially acceptable to wear them post-Halloween. But if you’re searching for a pair, here are my recs:
Normally, when Skims announces a new color drop on their website…it’s the trending color of the upcoming season. Think about the bubblegum pinks just in time for Barbie, Kim Kardashian doesn’t do things by accident.
This season, it’s an aubergine color that is great for your fading tan. Richer colors like reds and deep-hued purples will dominate the market because they’re great on your rapidly paling skin tone. Here are my picks:
She’s baaaaack. We’ve seen a revival of peplum-esque shapes and asymmetrical hemlines, so why not bring out the off-the-shoulder look. What’s next? Keyhole shoulders circa 2016? I wouldn’t be shocked.
I actually like the off-the-shoulder vibe because it can give a certain classy elegance to a top. It’s a fun way to show off the elusive clavicle bone, what more can a woman want? My only qualm is that it always rides up, so hopefully someone’s fixed that by now.
Good for work or play, here are the off-the-shoulder pieces you don’t want to miss:
One of the main points I’ve gathered during my search is that brands have started to emphasize wearability. Ready-to-wear lines have become ever-popular, and comfort is emphasized. It’s a more relatable approach to fashion- that sometimes it isn’t flashy or avant-garde, but wearable and practical.
Here are my favorite conventional pieces for fall:
Believe it or not, next week marks the first day of winter.
Until then, it's still technically fall, meaning it's still time to light your candles, put on your sweaters, and set the autumn mood with some good tunes. There's no better way to mark phases in time than a themed playlist. Below, we've compiled our 10 favorite songs to welcome in the best season of the year.
Yo La Tengo, “Autumn Sweater”
Much of Yo La Tengo's discography is perfectly suited for fall weather. But as its name suggests, "Autumn Sweater" is their most explicitly autumnal song, driven by a subtle electronic groove that evokes the comfort of slightly chillier weather. The song's lyrics pine for a romantic getaway, and it's easy to picture a secluded cabin or a beach house on a cloudy day. "We could slip away / Wouldn't that be better? / Me with nothing to say / And you in your autumn sweater," vocalist Ira Kaplan sings.
Neil Young, “Harvest Moon”
Few genres evoke the earthy ambience of fall like '70s folk rock. While Neil Young's album Harvest Moon was released in the early '90s, its sound harks back to the legendary songwriter's recordings after his departure from Crosby, Stills & Nash. Its title track, a tribute to Young's wife, is complete with a harmonica solo, slide guitar, and background vocals that are perfectly suited for campfire gatherings.
Fiona Apple, “Pale September”
As much as many of us embrace the arrival of fall, the season still carries the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye to the salad days of summer until next year. Fiona Apple's "Pale September" posits the changing of the seasons alongside grief. Few lyrics are as quintessentially fall as "the autumn days swung soft around me like cotton on my skin."
Broadcast, “Echo’s Answer”
Before the untimely death of vocalist Trish Keenan in 2011, British group Broadcast earned themselves a cult following as a leading act in electronic pop. One of their first singles, "Echo's Answer," is a spare, synth-driven tune that serves as a fitting soundtrack for welcoming in a new season. "Oh, the wind will come, blow answer, echo's answer," Keenan coos, as if watching leaves turn brown across mountain ranges.
girl in red, “we fell in love in october”
We might still be in quarantine, but the temperature drops only mean one thing for some people: cuffing season. If we weren't still at risk of contracting a deadly virus, this time of year would normally be the time many folks set out to find a partner before the holidays roll around, so we can finally appease our families when they inevitably ask if we have a significant other. The music of young indie pop phenomenon girl in red is heavily associated with love, and her most popular song, "we fell in love in october," is a heartwarming tribute to autumnal flings: "We fell in love in October / That's why I love fall."
Fleet Foxes, “Blue Ridge Mountains”
If curling up in a sweater with a hot coffee or chai latte had a sound, that sound would probably be Fleet Foxes. The Seattle band's lush indie folk has solidified their status in the "cold weather music" canon, and "Blue Ridge Mountains"—a highlight from their 2008 self-titled debut album—feels especially autumnal. The sprawling production and acoustic guitars paint images of driving through its titular mountains, while the subject matter of missing one's sibling is a perfect predecessor to family reunions come Thanksgiving.
SZA, “Sweet November”
Whether it's her early material or her latest single, the mellow, R&B-infused pop of SZA is an appropriate companion to fall weather and activities. While the lyrics of "Sweet November" are decidedly morbid—they reference SZA's illness that she said nearly killed her—its jazzy drums and Marvin Gaye sample pair nicely with the smell of fresh-baked pumpkin bread.
Nina Simone, “One September Day”
Before Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong was begging us to let him sleep all September, jazz icon Nina Simone was wishing to relive a certain 24 hours that occurred in the same month. Though whirlwind romances are typically associated with summer, Simone's sweeping love song "One September Day" sounds like wandering in parks, holding hands with a special somebody as the leaves begin to turn brown.
Bon Iver, “Holocene”
Arguably no contemporary musician is as elusive as Justin Vernon, the leader of Bon Iver. On his Grammy-nominated single "Holocene," he reckons with finding his place in the world, feeling insignificant compared to the incomprehensible size of the universe. The song welcomes personal reflection, and echoes the strange comfort of realizing your existence is both unique and trivial in the grand scheme of things.
Local Natives, “Wide Eyes”
The beginning guitar notes and group background vocals of "Wide Eyes" echo like they're bouncing off a canyon in the mountains, with the sort of refreshing crispness that only autumn weather can bring. "All the men of faith and men of science had their questions / Could it ever be on earth as it is in heaven?" goes one of the track's most poignant lines, sparking your own contemplations as the season changes.
Taylor Swift, “cardigan”
Let's be real: Taylor Swift definitely scheduled the surprise-release of folklore with just enough time for all of us to get acquainted with the new songs by autumn, right? While the entire album recalls woodsy, autumnal scenery, the longing piano number "cardigan" feels most closely connected with the season. Especially if you're spending fall in New York City, Swift's depictions of "high heels on cobblestones" and twirling under streetlights feel especially scenic.
This autumn, our world is grappling with a bevy of horrors—an ongoing pandemic, relentless unchecked racial injustice sanctified by our legal system, the gaping void of an open supreme court seat, and an election that could potentially unravel all of American democracy.
Of course, October also brings with it a far more pleasant kind of horror: The blissfully distracting, transportive, folky wonder that is Halloween season. This October, we'll all have to intersperse pre-election phone banks and protests with some spooky autumnal entertainment in order to avoid burnout and keep our spirits alive.
"We found that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during the pandemic and that fans of 'prepper' genres (alien invasion, apocalyptic, and zombie films) exhibited both greater resilience and preparedness. We also found that trait morbid curiosity was associated with positive resilience and interest in pandemic films during the pandemic. Taken together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to frightening fictions allow audiences to practice effective coping strategies that can be beneficial in real world situations," it reads.
So that's all the reason you could ever need to binge horror during this coming month, as the leaves turn red and the fault lines in American democracy begin spewing hot lava.
Fortunately, if you're having trouble picking, we've designed a schedule of movies for you to watch every day of the month. Start with some charming autumnal films to help ease you out of your summer daze, and you'll find that as the month progresses and sh*t inevitably gets weirder and weirder, this list will guide you down the labyrinth of slow descents into madness and ghostly encounters—and just maybe some of these films will illuminate pathways through the darkness.
October 1st: When Harry Met Sally
It's the beginning of October, and you're optimistically waiting for the leaves to change and dreaming of romantic walks in Central Park that will never happen because, well, pandemics happen. Usher in the month with this classic starry-eyed rom-com, enjoy the last flickers of summer, and let your heart believe in love and possibility.
October 2nd: St. Elmo's Fire
With October comes memories of first days of school, but wait—you're out of school and likely not going back unless they decide to make grad school free. But you're not alone: Remember that many 20-somethings before you have experienced these same unmoored feelings with this 90s classic starring Demi Moore and several of the cast members of The Breakfast Club as they grapple with disillusionment following a recent graduation.
October 3rd: Dead Poets' Society
As the weather gets colder and you become increasingly lost in your nostalgia for your school days—nevermind that you actually hated school—it might be time to dive into some old Romantic poetry and, of course, Dead Poets' Society. Secret cults, poems, the ache of adolescence, and a tough but loving teacher make this film the perfect way to celebrate autumn.
October 4th: Election
At this point it's probably time to remember that we're in an election year, perhaps the year of the most important election of our lifetimes, one that has the ability to determine the fate of our planet, our human rights, and America at large. To get in the spirit of politics, try the back-to-school autumn classic Election, which stars Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon as an overachieving wannabe student body president. You might recognize the desperation in Witherspoon's eyes in the increasingly desperate tones of the recruiting texts and emails that you receive at least ten times each day. Hell, maybe Witherspoon's tenacity will inspire you to get on the campaign trail yourself.
October 5th: Carrie
Maybe Election made you violently nostalgic, or maybe it made you remember everything you actually hated about school, which translated to a lot of what you actually just hate about the world at large: power structures that dictate where you have to be every day, ego-obsessed politicians with no vision for actual change, and, of course, cruel bullies. At this point, you've probably also been subjected to another bout of Trump headlines. Personally, Trump always reminds me of someone very specific: the boys who bullied me in middle school. There's no better revenge-against-the-bullies film than Stephen King's Carrie, which tells the vicious story of a misfit girl who—spoiler alert—is doused in a vat of pig's blood then goes on a murderous rampage. Hey, it's better to process your impulses in film, right?
October 6th: Pet Sematary
Since you're already on a Stephen King kick, why not watch the classic horror flick Pet Sematary? Sure, the film might utilize the hackneyed, problematic trope of the haunted Indian burial ground, but at least Stephen King supports trans rights, and since you can't watch Harry Potter anymore without getting in a Twitter war with a J. K. Rowling TERF army member, this seems like a good option to get you in the Halloween mood.
October 7th: The Shining
Day 3 of your Stephen King kick should certainly end with The Shining. This movie is Stanley Kubrick at his most iconic, and needs no real introduction, but the eerie series of events leading to Jack's total breakdown always lingers a long time after the screen goes dark.
October 8th: Coco
Possibly one of the most heartwarming, devastating children's movies of all time—hell, one of the most heartwarming, devastating movies of all time—Coco is a must-see (just be sure to bring the tissues along). This film tells the story of a boy named Miguel who dreams of becoming a musician, but on the Day of the Dead he accidentally slips into the ghostly realm. This triggers a series of events that involve a lot of fabulous music. As the veil between the worlds grows thinner and the Day of the Dead grows closer, this movie is sure to get you in the spirit while also reminding you of the power of memory and the ways we're all connected to our ancestors and to our past.
October 9th: Coraline
The film Coraline is animated like Coco, but it presents a slightly darker look at family ties. This oddly spooky, macabre delight has a way of gripping the mind, and it's sure to remind you that even though you love your family, the fact that some of them do support Trump is a difficult factor to ignore.
October 10th: Practical Magic
By now the trees may be fringed with red and you're probably remembering that it's autumn, and aching to get into the mystical spirit. It's definitely not too late to become a witch, and Practical Magic is an ultimate classic in the witch-flick genre.
October 11th: Hocus Pocus
Staying with the witch theme, Hocus Pocus is simply a must-watch to get into the autumn spirit. It takes place in Salem on Halloween night and involves three nefarious witches, namely Bette Middler. There's a reason why this is a Halloween cult classic. Plus, it's great inspiration if you're looking for an excuse to send some curses towards our president.
October 12th: The Vvitch
If you're feeling burned out by all the twee magic and vintage spell-casting of the past two films, why not watch The Vvitch, a movie that is about Satan, puritan American colonists, and ultimately, female liberation at its most diabolical.
October 13th: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Now that the weather is getting colder, it's time to slip into the world of purer horror. This vampire story made waves at Sundance in 2014. It follows a female vampire, and overall the story places a vengeful feminist spin on the classic narrative of the blood-sucking killer.
October 14th: Nosferatu
Now that the previous film has inspired you to dive deeper into vampire films, head back in time for one of the horror movie classics that started it all with Nosferatu. Pour some cider with a bit of whiskey and let the Old Hollywood horror sweep you away into the horrors of a time before vaccines and racial equality—oh wait.
October 15th: The Conjuring
At this point you probably are hungering for a truly spine-chilling scare, and believe me, the slow-burning eeriness of The Conjuring will scare even the most seasoned horror fan. If you're feeling particularly masochistic, try watching it at night alone, in the dark, as loud as you can get it, with your windows open, then go for a walk outside without a flashlight.
October 16: Friday the 13th
So, there's not a Friday the 13th in October (though there is a full moon on Halloween), but still, the second Friday in October feels like the right time to watch this slasher classic.
October 17th: Poltergeist
Now that you're in the second half of October and all these movies have you completely on edge, it's time to truly invite the nightmares in. (Remember, horror movies promote resilience!) And what could be scarier than a film that's believed to be legitimately cursed? From start to finish, Poltergeist was a horrifying experience for its cast and crew; now it can be a horrifying experience for you.
October 18th: The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project was one of the pioneers in the found footage genre, and it's a beautiful film from start to finish. As its protagonists are pulled deeper and deeper into the woods, you'll find yourself glued to their screens, watching them meet their inevitable ends at the hands of a looming evil that never quite emerges but somehow seems to pervade every shakily filmed frame.
October 19th: Get Out
Jordan Peele's Get Out is arguably one of the best horror films ever, with its richly complex, slightly sci-fi narratives and its stunning performances. It also is a devastating critique of systemic racism, a horror that is truly greater than any ghost you'll find in these movies.
October 20th: It Follows
Now that you've entered the realm of truly great modern horror narratives, why not lean into the murky and bone-chilling chaos of It Follows? This film tells a story about a monster that's basically the most terrifying STD ever. If you feel like you're being followed by a perpetual malaise or are living in 2020, this film might resonate.
October 21st: Donnie Darko
It's now mid-October, the election is rapidly approaching and things are beginning to feel strange and out-of-proportion as the shadows grow longer. It's probably time to watch Donnie Darko, a film that will ease you into the surreal gore-fest that this election season is sure to be. The apocalypse occurs on Halloween in this film, which is close enough to November 6.
October 22nd: Hereditary
If Donnie Darko has you feeling unsettled, Hereditary will rip the ground out from under your feet. Ari Aster's nightmarish film revolves around a cult, and it'll feel relatable to anyone staring at the dumpster fire that is QAnon and wondering what demon has possessed America. It's also really about familial trauma and the chaos wrought on the world by Boomers, which both are likely at the root of QAnon anyway, but that's a conversation for another time.
October 22nd: Hausu
Enter the world of the surreal with Hausu, a Japanese film that tells the story of a group of girls who go visit one of their grandmothers. Its writer explained that the film is all about the horrors and trauma experienced by victims of the nuclear bomb. As you wonder whether the US is really the bad guy, this film might provide some convincing arguments for the case that we are—or at least definitely have never been truly "great".
October 24th: Green Room
Are you scared of Trump's neo-Nazi followers? Scare yourself even more by watching Green Room, a film about (spoiler alert) Nazi punks who go on—what else—a murderous, gory rampage. At times this film is a complete bloodbath, but the characters are just charming enough to make it work.
October 25th: Saw
Diabolical plots to sabotage America. Corrupt police officers committing legally sanctioned murders. Solutions to the climate crisis that aren't being used because oil companies keep sabotaging them to make more profits. Sometimes it can feel like America is being guided towards its own destruction at the hands of a diabolical system that only benefits the people controlling it. If that sounds familiar, you might enjoy Saw, the gleeful, classic depiction of one villain's wicked plot to totally destroy the minds of his victims as he destroys their bodies.
October 26th: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
By this point, you probably need some relief, as well as some fun at-home entertainment because all the Halloween parties you would've gone to were canceled because of, well, the pandemic. Rocky Horror is a must-see for the week before Halloween. Give yourself over to absolute pleasure, pull out the old fishnets, do the time warp, and let your true self emerge from the shadows. There's really nothing like Rocky Horror and there never will be.
October 27th: The Babadook
If Rocky Horror has you longing to celebrate your queerness or if the season is inspiring you to unleash some of your baser impulses, The Babadook will certainly resonate. Originally a dark and haunting film about grief, The Babadook's title monster became a queer icon a few years ago, and the film's message will help you accept your latent queerness or come to terms with your grief over the end of the American dream or maybe a little bit of both.
October 28th: Fox News
The scariest thing you can possibly watch on TV is the news, specifically Fox News, which not only does what every news station does and describes the horrors of our world: It also propagates lies and a narrative that seems like it literally comes from a parallel dimension. Feel the true fear, then be brave and take action in the election. Believe that you are the horror movie protagonist and not the first person to die, and then create your own narrative.
October 29th: Alien
Amidst all the chaos of 2020, the facts that the Pentagon has a UFO division and signs of life possibly discovered on Venus made few waves. But really, could aliens be the way out of all this? At this point, so far gone and so close to the horrors of election season, an alien savior could be what we need—Starseeds certainly think so.
October 30th: Train to Busan
Rumors of an epidemic spreading across the country quickly blossom into a narrative about bloodthirsty zombies overtaking a train. This film is a cathartic thriller that might hit too close to home given the pandemic, but at this point, few of us would be surprised if zombies started emerging.
October 31st: Halloween
Well, it's finally actually Halloween. You survived October, and now it's time to face the fire and fury of the next few months. Since you won't be going out this year, it's really the ideal night to watch a spooky Halloween classic, then perhaps perform a few rituals under the full moon. With these horror movies under your belt, you'll be well-prepared to battle the real evil ahead.
This summer, my partner and I visited a record (for us) number of wineries. We bought wine from nearly every vineyard, hoping we'd amass a substantial collection for the colder seasons when we have less time for vineyard-hopping and more time to cook hearty meals.
Of course, the wine was so good that by the time Fall came, our stash was depleted.
Rather than heading back to all those wineries and trying to figure out our favorite bottles, we decided to look online to see if there was a sort of wine marketplace to find local wines.
At first, we kept finding wine clubs, but they're so obsessed with trying to help you discover your palate - my partner used to manage a restaurant, and we've been drinking wine together for decades, so we generally know what we like. Also, we're willing to pay the right price for a magnificent bottle!
When looking up some of our favorite vintages from our travels, we found one on a site called Wine Access. We were sure it was the bottle because they had in-depth tasting notes, along with a blurb about the winemaking process that included a wonderful story about their unique winemaking process - our tour guide had told us about it, but there were some new facts we hadn't known!
Impressed, we looked at their other bottles and found that their team of wine experts, including a Master Sommelier, specializes in curating a selection of local and rare wines from all over the world. We added the 2015 Halpin Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon we loved to our cart. Next, we were asked to enter an email address.
We paused. They had a wine membership, but we didn't know if we were interested in paying a yearly fee. Thankfully, the membership is completely free. Only 1 out of every 18 bottles make it onto the site, and some of the bottles are so rare and coveted; they only have a small inventory -through our membership, we would be notified by email about the new, limited stocks.
Before we purchased our Cab Sav, we found another from a Napa Valley vineyard we'd always wanted to visit. We'd heard of this bottle - only 5 barrels of it were made, and it's supposed to be excellent. Since we knew the first bottle was gold, we had faith in the second and decided to purchase them both. Everything would be shipped directly to our place in climate-controlled packaging, and they guaranteed it would arrive in perfect condition.
That weekend, we had our neighbors over and prepared beef tenderloin with a blackberry and goat cheese salad - Mmm. It was delicious, and after polishing off the first Cabernet Sauvignon, we opened the second, the 95-point 2014 from Three Twins Vineyard; the corkscrew lifted the cork out to reveal a magnificent burgundy color. I poured, and we drank it down. It was marvelous.
As Fall transitions to Winter, we plan on getting all our bottles from Wine Access. Each bottle comes with meal pairing suggestions, so we can shop by recipe. Not to mention, they have an excellent staff of writers to tell the stories of the wines. I highly suggest reading them to inform or enhance your purchases.
Wine Access is the only marketplace for wine I've ever come across that caters to a higher-end palate.
In the latest installment of the Trump-controlled reality TV show we're all living in, our President now has beef with Warner Bros. Studios because he posted a campaign video that included a selection from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack.
The video advertisement first appeared on Twitter on Tuesday. It featured Hans Zimmer's "Why Do We Fall," and even used a font from some of the film's advertisements.
By Wednesday morning, Warner Bros. had threatened legal action. "The use of Warner Bros.' score from The Dark Knight Rises in the campaign video was unauthorized," the company said in a statement. "We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed."
Within a few hours, the video—which had already amassed over 2.3 million views—was taken down. Later, a Trump aide stated that the video had actually been made by a supporter and not the administration itself.
Trump's 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale also had plenty to say on the matter, even arguing that Warner Bros. is "positioning themselves as a weapon of the left."
— (@)
This isn't even the first time that Trump has been in hot water over attempts to capitalize on popular culture. He also tried to reference Game of Thrones in his November sanctions announcement, leading HBO to threaten him with legal action.
Overall, the Trump clan does not seem to have issues with copying others—after all, it's hard to forget the time Melania Trump effectively stole a speech by Michelle Obama. On the other hand, this is one of the first times that the administration has faced fallout from their legal infringements.
Eden Arielle Gordon is a writer and musician from New York. Follow her on Twitter @edenarielmusic.