Why Not? Unleash Your Inner Emily Gilmore

An icon of traditional and anxious attachment style.

Jun 14, 2023

If people were obsessed with the coastal grandma and what’s now being touted as the sad beige instagram aesthetic (which is a little harsh tbh), the through line is a somewhat minimal, yet very casual vibe. They’re rooms to be lived in—and obviously to be photographed. DIYs might even happen in them. Let me be clear, a DIY would never happen in Emily Gilmore’s house. There’s a lot in Gilmore Girls that doesn’t hold up over 20 years after it premiered, but Emily Gilmore is not one of them. Classics rarely age badly.

Studio Ebur

It’s interesting how you can feel a shift, suddenly the things that were interesting to you don’t draw you in in the same way. Your attention is slowly pivoted elsewhere. We’re in a somewhat strange place in interiors where the trend cycle is moving far more rapidly than actual home design could ever keep up with. We simply don’t redesign our spaces seasonally. I’d pinpoint that where my tastes are moving now is towards the more traditional.

The very things that are calling to me would be incredibly at home in a Georgian style stone mansion in Connecticut owned by Richard (RIP) and Emily Gilmore. It’s crystal glasswear and fine china, turn of the century wood credenzas, landscape oil paintings, silver candelabras, crystal chandeliers, brass sconces, marble busts, and starched white tablecloths. In fashion, it’s smart tweedy vintage-y jackets a la Celine and maybe ladylike shoes. It’s a little bit fussy and that’s what I like about it. The irony is that because so many of these ideas had fallen out of fashion, they’re precious but not expensive. Of course, the trick now is to integrate these pieces in a modern way.

Bottega Veneta Belt, $590, mytheresa.com, Tod’s loafers, $995, mytheresa.com, Prada slingbacks, $1200, saks.com, The Row Sofia bag, $3390, mytheresa.com, MeandEm cardigan blazer, $595, Frankie Shop jeans, $200.

Emily’s achilles heel was her inability to bend. She was strict and emotionally distant (most likely because of her own unrecognized anxious attachment style, which helped her create an avoidant attached child, a rough combo!). She lost her daughter because she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t exactly who she wanted her to be (aka not 16 and pregnant). She had trouble reconnecting with her for the same reasons. We can’t be too precious about our expectations of people or objects. They can work in different contexts, they can stretch our comfort levels, allow us see things in a fresh light. We don’t need them to be who they always were or who we think we want them to be.

Studio Ebur

I’ve been enthralled with the TikTok Cloud Thirty-Three. It’s a design studio that hasn’t posted any of its own designs yet but the inspiration images are so in line with the vibe I’m after right now. Why not integrate traditional elements of style with an open mind? Let’s not be nostalgic for nostalgia sake. Let’s hit up those estate sales and find new beauty in old things with old lady vibes and make them feel new and cool. Let’s put our china under Noguchi lanterns and our old Chanel jackets with vintage Levi’s. Let’s place that stunning Eastlake chest next to a Sixpenny down chair and an oil painting in a room with a B&B Italia Tufty bed. This isn’t about embracing the rules of tradition, it’s appreciating the craft and artisanship that older pieces so often inherently have. Maybe Lorelai also needed to appreciate the things that made her old school mom kind of great—her attention to detail, her appreciation for beauty, her biting wit. Why not find the beauty, create the beauty, save the beauty from your local Goodwill where it might languish into oblivion never to be used at a cool, bohemian dinner party ever again were it not for you?