How to Capture the Cozy Charm of Gilmore Girls
From heartache to headache, existential dread to can’t get-out-of-bed, there’s one prescription that never fails: a finely-tuned tincture of Carole King, autumnal tones, small-town American charm and mother-daughter magic – all available on your local Netflix account. Gilmore Girls first hit the small screen in the y2k, and the aesthetic (low-rise jeans, corduroy jackets, rust-coloured turtle necks) keeps it firmly rooted in that nostalgia-charged era.
The Enduring Appeal of Stars Hollow
It was an instant hit, with an average of 4 to 5 million domestic live viewers tuning in each week for a fast-paced love-in with Lorelei and her teen daughter Rory. Each episode tracks the will-they-won’t-they romance of Luke and Lorelei, and the similarly turbulent relationship between the Gilmore girls and ‘The Grandparents’. It’s all held together with an endless supply of steaming coffee at Luke’s Diner and candlelit Friday night dinners at the grandparents’ lavishly decorated Connecticut mansion, underscored by a permanently cosy, autumnal backdrop of hay rides, pumpkin patches and fall leaves. The combination of a formulaic plot, predictably eccentric gang of small-town regulars and autumnal aesthetic has seen its popularity continue to grow more than twenty years after its release. Is it any surprise that as the world becomes more unpredictable and threatening, we’re reverting to the cosiest corners of television? Today, it's the 7th-most-watched show on any major streaming network, even placing ahead of sitcom mega-hit Friends.
Creating the Gilmore Girls Aesthetic
Most American sitcoms of the nineties and noughties were blanched with bright strip-lighting, with sets and production design taking a back seat to jokes and narrative. Not in Gilmore Girls. Here, the golden town of Stars Hollow - originally designed by Valerie Manahan Campbell - is a vital part of the success of the programme. Campbell somehow managed to infuse the show with the smell of bonfire night, the feeling of coming back to a warm house from school on a winter’s evening.
Lighting is also essential to the golden hued decor. Lorelei’s house is streaming with golden light that comes in at an angle through the window (again, very different from the stark studio lighting on shows like Friends or Seinfeld). In the evening, the soft furnishings (and array of take-out boxes) are lit up by candles, fabric shaded lamps, the fireplace and (without fail) the flickering of the small TV. The exterior of Lorelai’s cluttered, mildly shabby but very comfortable Stars Hollow house is also key.
Autumnal Tones
Lorelei’s house is awash with browns, yellows and oranges, with layers of textiles, quilts and