How to make your fall less ‘basic’

| Senior Scene Editor

Yes, last week I wrote about where to find all the pumpkin treats that your basic heart desires. However, I will now take a reverse stance. It seems fall has been taken over by basic teenage girls who are robbing the season of its former sincerity. What would Linus say about the pumpkin patches of today? The Great Pumpkin would surely not visit where people are strewn about getting just the right filter for their Instagrams. Here are some suggestions to keep yourself from falling into the #basic trap:

1. Go to Eckert’s and don’t Instagram.

Just enjoy the scenery. Pick some apples and hang out with your friends. The need to document everything for social media can be exhausting.

2. Get a pumpkin latte, but not at Starbucks.

Try to embrace the local food community. Yes, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is delicious, but it’s the height of quotidian taste-bud pleasures. The St. Louis community has great coffee bars like Kaldi’s and Blueprint that make more unique, handcrafted beverages that still embrace autumnal tastes.

3. Avoid wearing Bean Boots and the J.Crew field jacket.

They’re comfortable. They’re practical. Of course, not everyone has these in their closet, but they’re a major marker of traditional fall style. Try adding pieces to your wardrobe from smaller labels. Or better yet, visit Avalon Exchange or another thrift store and get some great deals.

4. Bake treats for your friends, but not necessarily pumpkin-flavored ones.

Sometimes, cookies can just be chocolate chip. In recent years, we have started to bend over backwards to incorporate pumpkin, apple or caramel into everything we consume in the fall. Enough is enough.

5. Wear a Halloween costume that’s more creative than adding ears to an outfit you would wear any other weekend.

Please don’t pull a “Mean Girls” move. Try creative costumes with your friends or romantic partner. Or you don’t have to dress up at all. It’s one of the benefits of adulthood—no one will look askance at you.

6. If you’re going to spike your hot chocolate, don’t use Burnett’s pumpkin spice vodka.

Just no.

If I’m being honest, I’ve probably committed more than one of these autumnal sins, but that doesn’t mean I’m doomed, and I’m trying to get better. Join me in my personal reform effort to get away from everything I learned to like in high school.

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