If you asked me to explain how influential “Gilmore Girls” has been on my life, we’d be here all day.
So instead, I’ll just give you the highlights. I discovered the show while I was in middle school during its syndication on ABC Family. From there, I watched every episode of every season upwards of 10 or so times. When the show was recently put on Netflix, I relived my teenage love of watching the show again.
And yes, I cried at the season seven finale like the first time I watched it.
“Gilmore Girls” is a show that centers around a young single mother and her teenage daughter living in small town, Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
The mother, Lorelai Gilmore, is played by Lauren Graham. In my teenage years and still today, Gilmore is someone I strive to be daily. She’s witty, she’s fun, she’s hardworking, but most importantly, she’s strong.
As a single mother working to provide her daughter everything she can, while still attempting to keep her own life in check, the woman does it all with grace.
This grace transfers over to her wardrobe. Gilmore’s outfits can be described as quirky and thrown together — kind of like her personality and lifestyle.
Her casual attire consists of a hodgepodge of vintage t-shirts paired with denim.
Sometimes she layers the t-shirts with long sleeves underneath, flannels or long cardigans over top. These are items everyone has in their wardrobe and can easily put together for a casual day. The only obstacle is finding the right vintage t-shirt.
Gilmore also had her fair share of business casual apparel.
When the show begins, she’s a manager at an inn and when the show ends, she owns an inn. So much of the shows takes place with her running to, working in or running from work.
To adapt business casual into a college student wardrobe normally involves finding something for an internship or office job. Pick a pair of tailored, well-fitting slacks, like Gilmore, and then have fun with pairing it. Gilmore always steered more towards bright colors, lace and patterns to add a feminine, fun appeal to her look.
Keeping everything work appropriate, she’d use a short cardigan or blazer to ground the outfit and cover up any revealing camisoles underneath.
Finally, Gilmore had plenty of evening attire during the seven seasons.
Gilmore and her daughter would attend “Friday Night Dinner” with her parents regularly. Normally, dramatic family antics would ensure but Gilmore always looked good.
Her attire normally included a spaghetti strap dress in a stand out fabric or bright pattern. Over top, she’d use a short cardigan to cover up and finish the look with simple heels. This look is a bit dated, early 2000s, but can be modernized easily.
Spaghetti strap dresses are still in style, but have also been a bit replaced with wrap dresses. Wearing a wrap dress avoids the need for a short cardigan, which is incredibly dated. Classic heels never go out of style, so just pick the pair you’re most comfortable in.
Gilmore is the super mom that will always live in our hearts because of her wit, strength and heart. Now she can live in our wardrobes as well.
