The Best Fall Fashion in the Media

Fall is without a doubt my favorite season. I will forever get excited by watching the leaves start to turn, preparing my Halloween costume and ordering every pumpkin-flavored treat I can at my favorite coffee shops. Part of the reason I feel so refreshed by the fall is it allows me to tear back into my favorite articles of clothing in my closet and start to layer again.

Anyone who’s ever met me knows that my outfits are at their most creative when I have access to my jackets, sweaters, tights, boots and vampy colors and I get so bored in the summer when I am forced to prioritize staying cool when I get dressed. As me and my friends get geared up to return to one of our favorite fall routines of getting cozy and binging our favorite movies and tv shows, I am feeling inspired to write about all the fictional characters that inspire my love of fall and fall fashion.

Starting off strong with probably my favorite fictional character of all time: Blair Waldorf. In a show that generates the best drama and plot lines when the characters are in high school or college, it is natural to associate “Gossip Girl” with fall, also known as the start of the school year. Not to mention, every “Gossip Girl” fan knows that Thanksgiving is Blair’s favorite holiday, in part because it always falls around her birthday. So, it is natural to associate Blair with the season, especially when Serena is so obviously a summer girl.

Blair’s style is riddled with deep plaids, hundreds of different stockings, expensive, neutral coats and sweaters and tweed outfits. I try so hard to emanate her with everything I wear and she has recently been inspiring me to try out some fresh fall trends like colored tights and wool-blended capes. Although vintage clothes are my favorite, it hurts my soul a little bit to refer to Y2K fashion as vintage. As time continues passing and my favorite shows get older and older, it’s harder to deny that wearing certain Blair outfits now would be a statement. Plus “Gossip Girl” characters have been known to sport iconic designers like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Valentino and Chanel, so there is true vintage artwork woven into the episodes. Blair’s dark hair always compliments her signature headbands and completes her fall-aura perfectly, but as much as I love her I don’t think I’d make a good brunette.

Now I’m passing the torch over to the undeniable queen of Halloween, Winona Ryder, specifically Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer. Honestly, Ryder has never played a character without style and I could’ve picked any one of them, but Veronica of “Heathers” is probably the most reflective of my aesthetic, no matter how fond I am of Lydia Deetz. “Heathers” is remarkably slept on for being such a cult classic ’80s high school hit and it’s one of the perfect movies to watch for Halloween. “Heathers” was doing coordinated, clique uniforms long before “Mean Girls” and I will fawn over an academia, preppy aesthetic every single time.

The iconic blazers and appropriately matched skirt in each Heather’s assigned color of red, yellow or green and blue for Veronica fit in perfectly with the exaggerated, elitist high school hierarchy that pushes the movie’s murderous conflict forward. Veronica’s looks always had slightly more edge and individuality than her frenemies, and her desire to stand out from the Heathers shows both in her outfits and ambition to survive high school with her dignity. Vintage fashion has always been a penchant of mine and even though the ’80s get stereotyped by bold colors and clashing patterns, it’s nice to see another end of the spectrum that isn’t just an excessive amount of denim. 

For my last one I’m going to go a little off the rails and do something obscure. Seeing as this article has already gotten progressively more niche and I need more people to watch it, now I’m talking about the beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy’s Sandie in “Last Night in Soho.” Director Edgar Wright has such a specific sense of grit and style as seen in one of my all time favorites “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,” another good contender for powerful fall energy and bold identifiable fashion choices.“Last Night in Soho” is no exception; it’s colorful and unique and slightly violent and does such an intense dive into the fashion world, the modern London club scene and the ’60s lounges all with phenomenal fashion design and a little bit of bloodshed.

I blame Covid-19 for this movie being so slept on because it has everything that a Halloween/fall movie needs, creativity, style and just the right amount of horror and gore to keep it tasteful and necessary. This movie blends vintage ‘60s aesthetics with modern aesthetics, not to mention our main character Eloise is a London fashion student. The clothes are woven so beautifully into the plot that I’m sure you’ve seen Sandie’s pink chiffon dress with the blonde bouffant hairstyle even if you haven’t seen the movie. Flattering silhouettes, bold color pops and statement jewelry working in tandem with the backdrop of the edgy, avant garde individualism of London fashion. Five stars for vintage fashion and murder.

I could keep going forever and justify how “Cruella” and “Clueless” also count as ideal fashionable fall movies because this is my list and I said so. Mostly anything that makes an iconic, stylish Halloween costume counts as a movie that combines fall and fashion. My group’s main costume this year may or may not be talking point number two and I cannot wait to get started building it. Watching these projects at any time of the year brings me constant joy, but there’s something about associating a show or movie with a season makes watching it at that time all the more special. Happy practically Halloween and please watch “Last Night in Soho.”

• fall
• gossip girl
• halloween
• Kent State University
• ksu
• olivia weber
• winona ryder