Fall is officially here, and that means it’s time to burrow into your home and get cozy. I don’t make the rules. But “cozy” is so vague! To make some real decisions, you need to settle on your aesthetic. If that sounds like a big job, don’t worry — social media is here to help.
If your Instagram Reels algorithm looks anything like mine does right now, you’re probably getting a lot of moody posts of seasonal inspo. Some of it is just autumnal, sure, but many of them take things a step further, breaking down the types of fall you could have. Are you feeling Strega Nona this year? Or maybe you’re on Meg Ryan’s wavelength? What about a (charmingly) frazzled Englishwoman?
My fellow millennials will notice there’s a lot of 90s nostalgia on this. Sure, we could get salty about it. Or we could just embrace a chance to live out all the fantasies of adulthood we ever had while staring at that Putamayo World Music display at Pier One Imports. (No? Just me?) Let’s break it down.
1. Strega Nona Fall
The New York Times is calling it — on TikTok, Brat Summer has given way to Strega Nona Fall, inspired by the 1975 classic of children’s literature by Tomie DePaola, about a witch whose magic pot of pasta floods the town thanks to poor handling by a helper named Big Anthony. The aesthetic is distinct: “The illustrations in the book, also by Mr. dePaola, feature the rich colors of the Italian countryside, replete with terra cotta shingles, jewel-tone peacocks and curling tendrils of pasta that extend across page breaks,” The Times writes. Maybe you’re thinking about getting a decorative rooster for your kitchen? Go forth! There’s probably one sitting at a tag sale near you right now.
2. Frazzled Englishwoman Fall
For me, personally, pasta is great, but it’s a year-round food. To evoke fall, I need something that leans a little heavier on blustery weather. And for that we must look to our neighbors across the pond.
I can’t help but laugh at this one as an elder millennial; I look at this Instagram reel, for instance, and I feel like this is just the youth romanticizing Starbucks circa 2000. I get it, though! Sign me up! One question you may be asking is whether the frazzled Englishwoman in question is Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones or Kiera Knightley in Love Actually. For me, with all due respect to the fact Knightley is actually British and Zellweger is from Katy, Texas, I’ve gotta go with Bridget Jones. In fact I give direct credit to this specific Instagram reel for the fact that I just bought a gently used, slouchy felted wool coat, and I am ready to live this life, complete with chaotic purse full of garbage. You’re never getting me back in one of those skinny scarves, though.
3. Meg Ryan Fall
Obviously we must give the iconic romcom queen her due. It’s Meg Ryan Fall for everybody eying a burgundy turtleneck and a pair of knee-high boots with a bit of chunky heel. Please note that this one is distinctly city-based! You’re in and out of used bookstores. You’re ambling around parks for your vivid fall foliage, not driving winding rural roads. You probably store all those gorgeous sweaters somewhere kooky in the summer. You are keeping that weekly therapy appointment, because closing your mom’s bookshop is emotionally difficult and it’s ok to need support.
4. Practical Magic Fall
This one is for the girls who made lots of “potions” as kids and now burn incense while saving Instagram Reels about how to dry your own flowers. You long for a rambling creaky-floored Queen Anne with a turret. You have a contentious but ultimately loving relationship with your sister. You own multiple items of velvet clothing. You keep trying to garden but your plants keep dying, but no judgement because same. You MIGHT be fresh off a breakup. Pro tip: If scented candles also give you headaches, switch to unscented pure beeswax.
5. Clare Fraser Fall
What if you’re into candles, but not in a witchy way? What if you need more earthenware pottery and a heartier stew? What if you can’t stop buying plaids and wool sweaters and chunky knit socks the color of loam? Well, then, you’re in for a Clare Fraser Fall. Get yourself a linen apron and embrace it. Start shopping for woven baskets at your local Goodwill and vintage pine cabinets on Facebook Marketplace. Personally, while I love her aesthetic, I find the life of Clare Fraser simply too stressful and I am an easily frazzled woman, as we’ve already discussed.
6. #Hobbitcore
Let me remind you of the opening words of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic, The Hobbit, the book that started it all: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” Nobody does it better. And so there’s a very good chance that memes about the deep, deep coziness of Middle Earth are creeping across your feed. Armchairs are key, here; ditto tea and carb-heavy meals. And of course, this one plays nicely with a sense of dread, the feeling of doom riding toward you over the horizon and nine mysterious faceless riders asking for you by name, somewhere beyond the Brandywine River. If you see me at my local Michael’s buying foam board to replicate this amazing D.I.Y. project, say hi!
7. Gilmore Girls Fall
This one is basically just… Connecticut. Stunning orange leaves, dozens and dozens of cups of coffee. This one is kinda like Practical Magic fall, minus the tattoos and with plain coffee instead of chai lattes. You are running out of room for your massive collection of cute outerwear, but you won’t stop buying it, now or ever. They know your name AND your order at your local diner, and they are worried about how much caffeine you are consuming.
8. Tiny Whimsical Animal Fall
This one is for everybody who revisited Angelina, Ballerina as a parent and realized it profoundly shaped their taste in interior design. In other words, this one is for the cluttercore crew. You are cozy inside an oak tree, eating girl dinners made of acorns. You can’t stop buying gingham. You want to crawl inside the festive seasonal gourd on your dinner table and make it home. You have absolutely no intention of leaving your house for the next six months, if you can help it.
9. Meemaw Fall
Here’s where I admit that while apple picking is cute and all, because I grew up in the south, I actually associate autumn with two things: football and deer season. We’re talking maybe a fleece while eating Thanksgiving dinner outside in your great aunt’s yard.
