Cardigans, Cable Knits, And Coziness: Fall Fashion in Film and TV

Autumn lovers, our time has come! The sun’s reign of terror is finally over, and we can rejoice in our turtlenecks and cardigans once again. Gone are the days of wanting to rip your skin off just to feel some relief from that flaming ball of space fire’s torturous rays, now we are free to wear as many layers of wool, corduroy, and cotton as we wish. Hell, we can even wear velvet cloaks if we are so inclined! The age of sunburns and mosquito bites is over. Yes, fellow haters of the heat, the fall season is upon us, also known as the best season for fashion.

It tends to prioritize comfort as well as style to suit the transitional weather. This is where we see a lot of people finding ways of incorporating layers into their outfits of the day. Because of this, there’s more versatility in fall clothes, with layering it means more pieces to use. Pairing denim skirts with cotton sweaters, tights, and leather belts makes for an outfit that is both breathable and will keep you warm if the weather starts to get colder. Additionally, fall fashion is about using what you already have in your closet. Since most of us probably keep our cool weather gear stored away, fall gives us a chance to dig through and find those hidden gems.

Of course, the back-to-school season has some influence over popular fall trends. Dark/Light Academia was practically made by fall people for fall people. The aesthetic leans heavily into autumn marking the beginning of a new school year. As we get older there is a sense of nostalgia for our old school days. If you’re looking to channel the academic vibes then look no further than the movie “Dead Poets Society”. Taking place in a boarding school in the 1950s we see the characters wearing argyle sweaters, button-up shirts, khaki pants, and corduroy. The boys wear loose-fitting sweaters and comfortable trousers that are perfect for both running around late at night or spending the evening in the study hall. The costumes in the movie also make good use of darker colors and earth tones. Much like the leaves that fall on the ground, the color scheme of the fall is typically, orange, black, brown, beige, and darker shades of blue and green. However, by strategically layering warmer and cooler colors underneath neutral shades, the clothes channel the academic style without looking boring.

While the colors of the fall may be warm, the temperature is severely cold. After fall comes winter, and Mother Nature is planning accordingly. But, just because we have to start piling on the layers, doesn’t mean we should resign ourselves to cosplaying as the Marshmallow Man every day. The short-lived, but well-loved TV show “I Am Not Okay With This'' showcases some understated yet memorable looks from Sophia Lillis’ character, Sydney Novak. Sydney’s androgynous style is often in solid colors with little to no patterns. We see layering being a major part of fashion because the movie takes place during the fall/winter semester which is a great source of inspiration for fall wardrobe choices. Outfits are made visually appealing through differences in texture rather than relying heavily on prints. Sydney’s gray, knitted sweater and brown corduroy jacket pair well because of how the textures complement one another. Details are very subtle, we don’t see too many accessories, so all the focus is on the actual clothes being worn. We also see Sydney re-wearing articles of clothing but paired with different items. Again, fall is a lot about working with what you have, so it is refreshing to see a TV character finding new ways of making outfit combinations.

We can’t forget about the classic fall rewatch “Gilmore Girls”. Taking place in an idyllic small town, the show is the TV equivalent of being wrapped in a warm blanket with a cup of coffee (preferably from Luke’s). If you don’t feel particularly inclined to dress up like a boarding school student in the 1950s or a Pennsylvania teenager with burgeoning superpowers, Gilmore Girls has some outfits that play into the aesthetic of the season without asking for too much. The clothes remain on the casual side and lean into Gen Z’s love of Y2K styles. While Rory Gilmore made some questionable life choices during the show’s run, her sense of style is something that most people can get on board with. Most of the time, Rory is simply in a shirt or sweater, jeans, sneakers, and depending on the weather a jacket or coat. We don’t see her deviate too much from this blueprint, but we do see her finding small ways of making each outfit different from the next. Rory’s oversized beige sweater sounds basic on paper but is arguably one of her best looks. The sweater’s chunky knit pattern is what stops it from looking too boring and its color gives the outfit a touch of elegance. Plus, there is no denying how cozy that sweater must feel. Then there is the ever-iconic Lorelai Gilmore whose leather blazer is practically a necessity for the fall season.

Lastly, I want to talk about a movie with outfits that deserve a little more appreciation; “Coraline”. This is a weird one, but hear me out– that star-studded turtleneck lives in my head rent-free. Coraline is all about individuality. From her dragonfly clip to her brightly patterned gloves and black flat-topped cap, her style takes pieces that are delightfully random and makes them go together. Coraline’s trademark yellow raincoat and matching boots are perfect for when it rains in the fall and her style has a childlike quirk. Part of what makes them go together is the confidence with which she wears them. I mentioned going back and finding hidden gems in an old pile of cold-weather clothes to bring back for the fall. Instead of sewing buttons onto your eyes, I suggest finding hand-me-downs that can be re-worn or random accessories that you loved wearing as a kid. Fall makes the passing of time more concrete, and as we get older it loses the charm it had on us as children. So, why not bring back something from the fall seasons of your youth?

Written by JD Valdepenas

Photography by Leonardo Amaral

Movement Directed by Claire Goldes

Styled by Ka'enaaloha Watson

Production Management by Mark Bluemle

Casting, Production Assitance by Jake Pranian

BTS Content Jazzi Almestica

Hiding in the Closet and Watching TV

I’m 15 years old and it's around 11:00 pm. The whole house, except for me, is

asleep. I’ve been keeping something to myself and now it is stuck in my throat. I tried to push it down, make it go away, but it won’t. So, I wake up and wander around trying to ignore the urge to blurt it out. This has happened before, it goes away on its own. I turn on the lights and curl up onto a blue chair. I hug my knees, but now there is an ache. An ache that grows more painful the more I keep it in. I’ll make a voice memo then, yes, that is the solution. I’ll say what I am keeping inside in a recording and then I’ll delete it. No one will ever have to know. It starts smoothly, then gets rougher, and finally, it breaks me into pieces. I’m muttering the words “I just want to come out” as if I could magically wake up and have it be real. I hold my phone up to my mouth, saying the words over and over, trying my best to keep my crying to a minimum.

I’m queer. Maybe that isn’t very specific, but it’s all I choose to say for now. I’ve known

since I was 12. I’ve had crushes on guys and girls and people who don’t identify as either. I’m

currently in a relationship with a male partner, but that doesn’t erase my attraction to women. I

have gone through periods of wondering why I couldn’t just be “normal” to then being proud of myself and then back again. Naturally, I turned to my favorite TV shows for any kind of guidance or reassurance. Unfortunately for me, many of the shows I could find either pigeonholed their queer characters into the “gay best friend” trope, gave them an incredibly tragic story, or sometimes killed them off. Of course, as the years have gone by I have managed to find forms of representation that assured me that I could be understood and deserved love like everyone else.

One show that comes to mind is “Sex Education”. A British teen comedy-drama

that openly addresses the sex lives and sexualities of young people. Eric Efiong (Ncuti Gatwa)

is an openly gay character who embraces his femininity in the way that he dresses and his

makeup. However, as part of a religious family with a conservative father, he often feels out of

place and judged for the way he chooses to express himself. This leads to peers calling him

names and being bullied by Adam Groff (Connor Swindells). While walking home at night

dressed in drag, Eric is harassed by a group of men in a car. One of them gets out of the car

and assaults him. The attack leaves him deeply traumatized and pushes those around him

away. His father tells him to “toughen up” and the next day Eric stops dressing up and starts

wearing more toned-down, masculine-looking clothes. One of his sisters remarks that he looks “normal”. I’ve never gone through anything like that and I hope that neither I nor anyone close to me does either. However, being judged for not “properly performing” your gender is sadly something that I’ve heard a lot about, especially growing up in an Asian culture. When I first cut my hair short, it felt right. I had been wanting to cut my long, and extremely heat-damaged hair off for years. I was comfortable in my skin. I wouldn’t have to get up early to style it or bring extra hair ties for gym class. The long, wavy, feminine hair was like wearing a ridiculously heavy, hot wig every single day that broke bobby pins in half. Mostly, I enjoyed my

androgynous appearance. Of course, this came with being told “You look like a boy” in addition to relatives mistaking me for a boy. But it didn’t matter to me because, like Eric’s brightly colored wardrobe, my short, boyish hair was part of how I embraced myself.

As strange as it may sound, I had to practice saying the word “queer”. Something about

the “q” and “ee” sounds being so close together made me trip over the word. I would say “kee” instead of “quee”. My accent would switch back to British and pronounce the "r" too softly. I would hesitate to say it out loud. I would say it so stiffly, it wouldn’t sound natural. I knew my friends would accept me, but there was something about saying it out loud to other people that left me with mixed emotions. I would feel relieved, then scared, then ashamed, then regretful, then joyful, then unsure of what to do next. There’s no manual on how to come out to your loved ones. Believe me, I’ve tried to find one. Finding a label that worked for me and learning to accept myself was one thing, but then came the daunting task of telling people. As I watched Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez) on the show “Never Have I Ever” navigate the same dilemma by herself, I saw that just being able to say it aloud was powerful. In the last scene of season 1, episode 3, Fabiola is programming her robot, Gears Brosnan. First, she starts with a “Hello. How are you?” command then “I am a robot”. She gets a text from her mom about going shopping for something to impress her “boyfriend” who she already broke up with. The last command she gives him is the phrase “I’m gay”. She looks at the robot and smiles. For a few seconds, she feels a sense of relief. In her way, she said it out loud and it felt right. In another episode when she comes out to her friend Eleanor, she says “That felt so great to say. I feel like I just solved an escape room I’ve been trapped in my entire life” and I couldn’t agree more. When I told my friends, it felt like I could breathe a bit easier and when they told me that they supported me, I felt even better.

Coming out to my friends wasn’t too bad. I knew they would accept me and support me,

but, like a lot of people, I have no idea how my family would react. I expect some questions

since “queer” can be interpreted as vague and indefinite. I expect to be told “You’re just

confused” even though I know I'm not. But, after the inevitable questions, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve played out my coming out multiple times in my head. I imagined myself sitting down with my parents and simply telling them. I would go back and forth between saying “I’m queer” or just mentioning in conversation that I had a crush on a girl before I started dating my boyfriend. Maybe I would pull an Emma Stone and make a PowerPoint presentation. I imagined my parents being supportive; hugging me and telling me that they love me no matter what. My dad might have a hard time with it at first but then my mother would talk to him and he would tell me he supports me. Maybe we would get a flag for Pride Month. I would have images of my family supporting me without question but then maybe I would get yelled at. Maybe I would be told that I was “confused” again. Maybe I would get called names. Maybe I would be sent away. Maybe I would get hurt. I don’t know which scenario is the most realistic.

Once more, I searched for a TV show that could help me solve this new puzzle. This

one was a show called “One Day at a Time”. In this case, it was two episodes of season 1; episode 11 and episode 13. In episode 11, Elena Alvarez (Isabella Gomez) comes out to her mother Penelope (Justina Machado). Afterward, Penelope spends the rest of the episode trying to come to terms with her daughter’s revelation. She admits that she feels “really weird” about it, but wants to show support to her daughter because she realizes just how impactful her reaction could be. Penelope’s reaction stands in contrast to Elena’s grandmother, Lydia (Rita Moreno), who quickly goes through the acceptance process. While this moment is somewhat played for laughs, her last statement concludes its meaning, “She is my granddaughter and I love her no matter what”. When Elena was shown this unwavering support she gleefully yells out “I love my family!”. In episode 13, she comes out to her father expecting the same reaction. She comes out during a sweet moment between the two of them while they are practicing a dance for her 15th birthday. She looks at him hopeful and he pulls away from her. Her father accusingly asks her “Why are you doing this?” and yes, tells her that she is “confused”. It’s the coming-out scenario that no kid ever wants to experience. Her parent doesn’t accept her, and he doesn’t want to. Penelope tells him “You’re going to have to find a way to be okay with this” but her father replies “I don’t have to be okay with anything”. To be honest, I found the parent trying their best to be supportive too romantic and this reaction to be more realistic.

I don’t know how my family would react. But I do know that if they loved me, they

would find a way to be okay with my queerness. Some angry part of me thinks that if I had to

hide who I am for 6 years while I hated myself, ashamed and afraid, then they can learn to live with me as I am. I don’t want to say “I’m still your daughter” because that should be a given. If my biggest fear is being discarded and unwanted by the people who brought me into this world while theirs is an embarrassment, then we are not the same. But, at the end of it, all I want is to know that the people closest to me will continue to love and care about me no matter what.

Isn’t that what all of us want? Don’t we deserve to take pride and live as we are?

Written by JD Valdepenas

The Sandman: A Brilliant Comic-to-TV Adaptation

Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was published by DC Comics. Since their release, The Sandman has captured the hearts and minds of dreamers everywhere, and in August of 2022, Netflix released season one of the comics’ TV show adaptation. Similar to many others who watched the series, I became obsessed quickly after watching.

If you’re looking for something new to watch, and you’re a fan of fantasy, interesting and diverse characters, and a bit of violence, The Sandman is my top recommendation. Season one has eleven episodes, though the eleventh was added after the original season dropped as an extra. While the first ten episodes are a more linear narrative taken from the first two volumes of the comics, the eleventh episode combines two short stories from the third volume. The series follows our main character, the Sandman, Dream of the Endless, played by Tom Sturridge. Dream, who also uses the name Morpheus, is a personification and embodiment of dreams. He is the ruler of the Dreaming, the place everyone goes when they fall asleep, and the creator of dreams and nightmares. When a human magic user tries to trap Dream’s sister Death to bring his dead son back to life, the spell goes awry and traps Dream instead, and the world suffers the consequences of Dream’s prolonged capture. The first season follows Dream as he escapes and has to bring order to his realm and retrieve his lost tools of office: three powerful artifacts that contain parts of Dream’s ancient powers.

The wildly creative fantasy world presented in The Sandman is enamoring and brilliantly adapted from the comics. The series was in Netflix’s top 10 for several weeks and received an abundance of positive reviews regarding its performances, production, and faithfulness to the original comic series. The cast is a wonderful and talented group who all hold a respect and love for the comics, which comes through in their performances. Much of the criticism the show received was due to its diversity, the very thing that also drew so many viewers like myself to enjoy the show, as The Sandman has several Black and queer characters in prominent roles.

The show quickly drew me in with its fantastical elements and beautiful cast, but the story itself is very heartfelt and well-written. Though the focus is on a billion-year-old being with powers beyond one’s comprehension, his arc is incredibly human. It is a story about family, friendship, and what it means to change and having to accept those changes. In need of more content, I quickly acquired the comic series and read them ravenously, so if you enjoy the show and/or want a new comic series to read, I cannot recommend them enough.

The Sandman was renewed by Netflix to continue the story, but show creators and actors alike are refraining from calling it a second season; we fans are unsure at the moment as to what this means for the structure of the next round of stories. However, The Sandman’s possible second season is currently in the works and will begin filming this summer. The series is set to continue with the fourth volume of the comics, Season of Mists, before skipping to volume 7, Brief Lives. The volumes in between contain short stories and less focus on Dream of the Endless as a main character, so the showrunners are likely trying to keep a more linear narrative.

Written by Alec Conwell