“Gilmore Girls” aesthetic and the fueled romanticization of fall

There is something about autumn that induces the feminine urge to buy an expensive coffee or tea, read books, study well and maybe fall in love. 

They have become the requisites for a wonderful and fulfilling fall season somehow – but why?

The television series “Gilmore Girls” presents one of its main protagonists, Rory Gilmore, in the throes of teenage life as she navigates her relationships, both familial and romantic, and above all else, her studies. The town she lives in, Stars Hollow, is both cozy and beautifully decorated by the foliage of September, October and November.

Rory, as a result, becomes the ideal aesthetic for the fall season. 

I wanted to be like Rory when I was just a 13-year-old girl watching the series for the first time. I wanted to live her life and attend her high school, especially as I was unsure about the certainty of my own future and where I would end up. 

Even now, I still want to be like her as I learn to handle classes and social pressures. But I must clarify – I am lamenting about the Rory Gilmore of the first few seasons –– most definitely not her college years. Regardless, I think a lot of people find some comfort in Rory, they find her to be a sort of aspirational figure.

But once again, I ask, why?

I find myself now in the middle of October, not having perpetuated this aesthetic intentionally at all. There lies the issue: the cultivation of the “fall aesthetic” which presents issues with wish fulfillment and the added stressor of erasing future nostalgia one might feel about a certain period of time. 

I have consumed an unreasonable amount of coffee this semester, read a few novels and poured over my notes for hours in the library –– yet, it feels like there is something missing. The parts never seem to create a whole, nor do they equate to the image I have built up in my head.  

Rory Gilmore is not real, she is a curated figure. And with that, there is a tendency to feel pressured to fulfill an aesthetic that is entirely fictional.

Drink coffee because you feel tired or because you like the taste, not for the sake of becoming the image of someone else. A latte will not fulfill you with that same sweet feeling unless you are genuinely enjoying the brew.

Can cultivated aesthetics ever truly be authentic when there is an end goal in mind? 

Is the foliage only beautiful when you realize it is the perfect backdrop?

I myself cannot help but feel a disappointment when the autumn leaves change like little hourglasses reminding me that fall is only temporary. Similarly, I am saddened when I lose out on a moment to accomplish an aesthetic —for whom I do not know. 

Maybe the romanization of fall, and the “Rory Gilmore Aesthetic,” is a disguised derivative of the romanization of youth. Perhaps the aesthetic we are so bent on achieving won’t even be observable until months or years later. Then the bittersweetness of nostalgia will become an entirely separate issue.

Appreciating the moment is a good piece of advice, until all you can think about is how quickly it will be over before you even realize. 

The idea of a curated aesthetic tempts us with its ability to enjoy the nostalgia of a moment while it is still occurring, but inversely, strips the moment of its value and simple pleasure.

To enjoy life is to exist fully entwined within the present, and for me personally, I think I will not waste the time acting out a performance, but enjoying the time in full.