it's a FALLmininomenon

a 3 part fall extravaganza featuring the commercialization of fall, christian girl autumn, the ultimate fall guide, and the plagiarism running rampant on substack right now

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part 1: christian girl autumn is upon us

Every autumn, I fall (no pun intended) into similar patterns, enjoying the easy calm of the repetition. I re-read my favorite books, watch specific movies and tv shows, and I bake loaf after loaf of pumpkin bread, it’s always the same, but still so comforting and beautiful. I think it’s the most peaceful season, the weather is perfect, the smell of pumpkin spice feels like it wafts through the air, it’s homey, it’s cozy, and it’s perfect. For these few months, everything in the world feels right. I see pumpkins on doorsteps, leaves slowly changing color, and the world basked in a golden glow. There’s something so classic about autumn, I constantly feel like the protagonist in a coming-of-age movie or a character in a novel, it just has that effect.

cailtlin covington, the face of christian girl autumn

Part of me feels like I romanticize autumn too much. Like I decided one day that autumn was my favorite season, stuck with it, and turned it into this fantasy in my mind. I’m not surprised, some of my favorite shows and movies are at their peak during their fall episodes, and society seems to love fall as well. Autumn is a time of nostalgia, people find comfort in the weather changing, the togetherness that seems to linger in the air. I see it when people step outside in autumn, there’s a tranquility that washes over all of us, it reminds us to slow down and appreciate the beauty around us.

On that note though, autumn has this mass appeal, this easy profit margin attached to it. It makes sense, it’s easily commercialized, brands can latch on to trends and suck the life out of them in the hopes that their content will resonate with the public. Autumn is easily marketable, from the pumpkin spice to the giant sweaters, to the spooky witchy vibes; I’m sure within a matter of days we’ll see the Duolingo owl making a fool of itself in response to the start of Christian Girl Autumn. Seasonal joy mixed with the need to capitalize off of anything that has an ounce of popularity creates this vortex of content, an overwhelming push to incentivize these trends, to remind us that everything in the ether of the internet can be a marketing ploy.

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