Fall is the perfect excuse to become someone else for a little while. Between Halloween parties, football games, pumpkin patches, coffee runs, and cozy nights out, you have plenty of chances to experiment with your wardrobe and channel your favorite fictional character. The best part? You don’t have to completely reinvent your closet to do so.
Instead of buying a costume or investing in clothes you’ll wear only a few times, consider renting your next fall look. Clothing rental services like Nuuly make it easier to experiment with different aesthetics, so you can have your main-character moment without permanently adding another questionable purchase to your closet.
Pick your Fall Character
Before you start scrolling through pages of clothes, decide whom you’re trying to channel. Think less about recreating a character’s exact outfit and more about capturing the overall feeling of their wardrobe.
If you’re feeling preppy, Blair Waldorf is practically the unofficial patron saint of fall fashion. Think plaid skirts, tights, tailored coats, polished sweaters, and a statement headband. Rory Gilmore is perfect for anyone who wants to embrace a cozy, bookish aesthetic, with sweaters, jeans, skirts, loafers, and classic outerwear.
Maybe your fall personality is a little darker. Build a Wednesday Addams-inspired wardrobe with a black dress, tights, boots, and structured layers. If you want a more romantic aesthetic, draw inspiration from characters known for floral dresses, soft cardigans, and vintage-inspired accessories.
The goal isn’t to look exactly like the character. You’re creating your own interpretation, so you can take the pieces you love and leave the rest behind.
Let Nuuly Help Build the Look
Once you’ve settled on your character, it’s time to consider what you actually need. This is where Nuuly can become your temporary fall closet.
Nuuly is a monthly clothing rental service that lets subscribers choose six items from thousands of styles across hundreds of brands. The standard subscription is $98 per month, and it includes shipping, returns, laundry, and dry cleaning. Subscribers can also buy pieces they love instead of returning them.
For a college student, that flexibility can come in handy. You might want a statement dress for a Halloween party, a cute jacket for game day, a pair of jeans for everyday wear, and a sweater that makes you feel like you belong in Stars Hollow. Instead of buying each piece separately, you can choose six items that work together throughout the month.
Verified students can also receive $10 off Nuuly’s monthly subscription through Nuuly Edu, bringing the price to $88 before applicable taxes. Student status must be verified through SheerID and reverified every 12 months.
Make a Character, not a Costume
Here’s the big-sister advice: You don’t have to dress head-to-toe as a fictional character for people to understand the reference.
Sometimes one or two recognizable details are enough. A plaid skirt and headband can give you Blair Waldorf energy without making you look like you’re headed to Constance Billard. A cozy sweater, loafers, and a bookish tote can create a Rory-inspired look without making you look like you’re auditioning for Gilmore Girls.
Keeping the look wearable also gives you a reason to wear the pieces after your event. Your character-inspired outfit can become a regular fall look with a few small changes.
That’s the sweet spot. You’re inspired by the character, yet the outfit still feels like you.
Six Pieces Can Go a Long Way
One of the easiest ways to make a rental subscription work is to choose pieces you can style in multiple ways. Instead of using all six items in six completely different outfits, think about how they can work together.
A blazer could be part of a Blair-inspired outfit one day and worn with jeans for class the next. A dress could become a Halloween look with boots and accessories, then feel completely different when paired with a cardigan. A statement jacket can turn a basic jeans-and-T-shirt outfit into something that looks intentionally styled.
Nuuly also lets subscribers add up to four bonus items for $22 each, which can be helpful if your fall calendar suddenly becomes much busier than expected. The point isn’t to rent as many clothes as possible; it’s to choose pieces that offer you options.
Your fall character doesn’t have to last forever
One of the most fun parts of character-inspired fashion is that you can change your mind. Maybe you’re feeling like Rory Gilmore in September, Blair Waldorf in October, and a completely different aesthetic by November. That’s OK.
Nuuly lets subscribers return their rental pieces and choose a new set for the next month. Subscriptions can be paused or canceled. Renting lets you experiment without deciding that every new aesthetic deserves a permanent place in your closet. It’s like trying on a personality before committing.
Fall fashion should be fun, especially when you’re in college and still figuring out what your personal style looks like. You don’t need a celebrity stylist, an enormous closet, or an unlimited budget to create a memorable look.
Pick the character whose style makes you want to raid their closet. Find a few pieces that capture their energy, then put your own spin on them. Whether you’re channeling a preppy Upper East Sider, a cozy small-town bookworm, or a mysterious gothic heroine, there’s no reason you can’t make the look your own.
After all, your favorite character might have the wardrobe, but you get to write the next chapter.
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