don't block my colors

Northern New England is supposed to be known for its autumn leaf colors, but looking at my neighborhood, you'd never know it. Notice the pretty reds and oranges in the Japanese maple I'm posing against? Yeah, that'd be the only one as far as the eye can see. With a yard otherwise full of oak and birch trees, which turn straight to brown, and big maples that don't seem to realize they're supposed to be brighter than a muddy-looking yellow, fall foliage just ain't that interesting at my house. (With three out of four of the adults here injured, this year's leaf-raking could be, though!)

I do look forward to driving through nearby areas that have front yard rows of  boldly-colored decorative maples. It's too bad that the most amazing spot, one town over, has such busy traffic, or I'd snap some photos to show you all. (In my area people just planted dogwoods, which do nothing but smell terrible all summer long.)

Shooting this outfit, I was reminded of one of my pet peeves about locations in movies and television shows. Creators rarely bother to film anything on this side of the country (aside from New York City), even if the story is set here. For example, the attempts at showing seasonal weather changes on Gilmore Girls are often so unintentionally funny because the outdoor California studio sets look nothing like the northeast. Everything is wrong, from the types of trees to the color of the sky and grass to the intensity of the sunlight on the actors' faces. (There also isn't nearly enough rain for it to be Connecticut.) Yeah, I know it's expensive to film on location (and to do weather effects on a set), but sometimes I just get bored of every story looking like it takes place in LA during the summer.

 I give total props to the makers of Hocus Pocus for not only managing to film in this region, but doing it during the proper season. And you know what? It makes the film look freaking great.

WARDROBE:

skirt/shoes/cardigan: Charlotte Russe

leggings: Forever21

top: restyled

socks: gift

lipstick: MAC Slimshine in Pleasing

CAMERA:

Laura