What even is “Sad Girl Autumn”?

If you don’t know what hot girl summer is, you clearly haven’t participated in this iconic event. Hot girl summer incorporates looking great, having fun and not worrying about responsibilities. 

However, hot girl summer cannot last forever. What follows the summer of fun is the lesser-known “sad girl autumn.” 

Take all those late nights that you have stayed up questioning life or thinking about your exes, but make it on a 24/7 schedule. Just as there are certain requirements to meeting the hot girl summer standards, the same applies to the sad girl autumn standards. 

The main standard to meet sad girl autumn is to listen to music that makes you feel, well, sad. No more bops to dance through those long summer nights. The music that you need to be listening to should be what you see on TV: a woman with a mug staring out the window on a rainy day. 

Soulful ballads and tear-jerking choruses that bring up the ghosts of past memories are the ideas. Think “driver’s license” by Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, or the Megan Thee Stallion of sad girl autumn, Adele. 

Next up are outfit choices. Now that the heat has shifted to chills, it’s time to start layering on all the clothes you can. 

When considering wardrobe choices for sad girl autumn, it’s important to mess up your clothes with a regular autumn girl. Your basic autumn girls will layer up with scarves, ankle boots, non-ripped jeans and maybe a bubble jacket when frost covers the ground. 

For sad girl autumn, one must embrace sweaters to the fullest. Don’t buy anything too scratchy; you need something comfortable to lay in. The longer the sleeves, the more in your feelings you are. Sweatshirts are a good alternative if you don’t like sweaters. However, go up two sizes of what you would normally wear. An easy reminder: if you aren’t shrinking in your clothes, you aren’t participating. 

Sad girl autumn even carries over to certain drinks. While basic autumn girls are sipping their pumpkin-spice lattes, wrap your hands around a steaming mug of apple cider or chai teas. 

Pumpkin gets its moment in the spotlight on all of the Instagram posts on your timeline. These underrated, warm and spicy drinks are the perfect drinks for settling down on the couch and watching your favorite shows.

The most important standard to meet is your attitude for sad girl autumn. In hot girl summer, you have no responsibilities and the main goal is to have fun. Sad girl autumn does the complete 180. 

While you shouldn’t be moping around the entire season, sad girl autumn is the time to make up for whatever it was you were slacking on during the summer. It’s time to hustle a little more for the goals that you aspire to achieve. 

Finding the balance between sad and girl boss will make sure that this is the best autumn you have ever experienced.