It’s hard to imagine now, but there used to be a time when skinny jeans weren’t seen as the deadliest sin in fashion. In 2005, trucker hats, Juicy tracksuits and silicone bracelets dominated the fashion scene. For men, bootcut jeans, sweats, and cargo pants were the go-to for bottoms. It wasn’t until Dior Homme’s early aughts collections that we saw the modern iteration of skinny jeans we’re so used to dogging on today. So, who was behind it? None other than the Italian-Tunisian enigma Hedi Slimane.

By 2005, Slimane had already worked for Saint Laurent and had been working at Dior for five years. He had already begun to make a name for himself, but the era he was entering would be what propelled him to the legendary status he enjoys today.

The child of a seamstress and an accountant, Slimane grew up in Paris. A true product of his environment, he was interested in fashion from a young age and later graduated from the École du Louvre in Paris in 1992 with a degree in art history.

Slimane’s entry into the fashion industry started with a bang, as he worked as an assistant for Jean-Jacques Picart for the Louis Vuitton monogram canvas project: A celebratory exhibition with big name designers like Helmut Lang and Vivienne Westwood designing bags using the Louis Vuitton monogram.

During Slimane’s three years with Picart, Picart introduced him to Pierre Bergé, the cofounder of Saint Laurent. In 1996, Bergé hired Slimane, despite his lack of formal training in fashion design, as the director of the house’s mens ready-to-wear collections. A bit of a gamble, but one that paid off.

Slimane unveiled his first collection for Saint Laurent, “Black Tie,” in the winter of 2000 in a runway show whose audience included Yves Saint Laurent himself. “Black Tie” birthed the first iteration of what would become Slimane’s calling card: slim and sleek silhouettes and a hypermodern interpretation of masculinity all informed by his interest in music culture.

In a 2010 interview with Vogue, Slimane said, “Fashion = music + youth + sex. This is what my menswear and my style were always about.” As ridiculous as the first part of that statement may sound, he’s really not kidding. His aesthetic appears as the conceptual love child of ‘90s heroin chic, ‘60s rockstars and his own secret sauce of cool.

At age six, Slimane received a record of David Bowie’s album, “David Live,” and at age 34, when he became the first menswear designer to win the Council of Fashion Designers of America award for international designer, he was presented the award by Bowie himself. In a short time, Slimane had already surpassed names that had been in the industry for decades as the next big thing.

He was becoming the rockstar he designed for, and his upcoming partnership with Dior Homme would turn out to be what many consider to be his best work. At Dior Homme, Slimane perfected his slim cut clothes. Pieces from this era, like these skinny jeans from the fall/winter 2003 “Luster” collection, have become holy grails for fashion heads and regularly sell for upwards of $1000.

He was cranking out pieces that tastemakers and fellow designers couldn’t resist. Karl Lagerfeld famously fell for the allure of Slimane’s masterful if not unrealistic tailoring. Lagerfeld wrote in an article for The Telegraph that his desire to fit into Slimane’s suits for Dior Homme led him to lose “six of my 16 stone.” Say what you will about the issues that could arise from a mindset like Lagerfeld’s, but there’s no denying the new era Slimane was spearheading with his skeletal glam rock style.

Prior to Slimane’s work, most big name menswear shows showed a more classic example of a masculine man. The older, wider silhouettes with emphasis on the shoulders were flipped upside down when Slimane had his way. “For me, masculinity is not an idea of the body, it is an idea of the mind,” Slimane said in this interview for Style.com.

Just look at Slimane’s spring 2005 menswear collection. Slim and soft shoulders, thin but tailored pant-legs, V-neck t-shirts and sleeveless button downs. Pair that with tall and skinny models who look like they’re all a part of the same rebellious garage band, and you have a very different image of masculinity. It’s youthful, sleek and modern. The looks from this show look like what you would get if you went back in time and introduced blogging to the mosh pit goers of a Rolling Stones show. If Crystal Castles and the Sex Pistols meshed, this is how they would dress.

Slimane’s exploration of masculinity goes beyond clothing too. In 2005, Dior released Dior Homme, developed by master perfumer Olivier Polge and Hedi Slimane. The duo worked together to craft a fragrance that centered on iris, a traditionally feminine note in perfumery, and turned it into something fit for Slimane’s modern man. It was new and exciting, just as Slimane’s clothes were, and it blurred the lines of what it meant to be a man in fashion.

Slimane continued his work with perfumery during his most recent tenure at Celine, but after his recent exit this October, his future is uncertain. He closed the door on a high note with the brand, having started its menswear line and doubling its sales, and it almost seems as if there’s no more boxes for him to check off.

There are rumors he’s heading to Chanel, but some are weary of Slimane’s headstrong approach. While working for Saint Laurent, he famously dropped the “Yves” from the brand name, and similarly cut the accent over the “e” when he was at Celine. He’s drawn criticism for not preserving the DNA of the brands he works for, and this is a valid point. If you threw a collage together of all the collections Slimane was behind at Dior, Saint Laurent and Celine, it might be a little too difficult to discern who’s who. The only identity present would be Slimane’s, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as he’s said he’s “not much into compromises.”

Die hard Slimane disciples are praying for an eponymous label, but only time will tell what we see next. In the meantime, throw on, or throw away the skinny jeans in the back of your closet. Slimane won’t care either way.

What’s scarier, an ax murderer, or a bad outfit? Now imagine both of those things put together. Terrifying. I’d certainly prefer to be chased by a sharply dressed serial killer, demon, ghost or whatever it may be in my personal horror movie. At least they’re sane enough to care about their appearance right? It’s kind of nice to know your demise is an occasion worth dressing up for. Just imagine how disappointed you would be if Michael Myers showed up at your door in some sweatpants and a white tee. So, in honor of the end of spooky season, enjoy this list of horror movie villains ranked by style, and hear some UO student opinions on where these villains hit or missed.

10. Pennywise (It)

Coming in at last place is Stephen King’s murderous demon clown, Pennywise. For being a primordial entity that had been around for 200 years at the time of the film, you’d think it (haha) would have picked up on some sense of what’s in and what’s out. Unfortunately, Pennywise seems to have been too busy terrorizing the people of Derry, Maine, to build a stylish wardrobe. There’s so much going on with Pennywise’s outfit, and yet so little to say. It’s not even worth trying to figure out where Pennywise went wrong, because the whole thing is wrong. Showing up in a literal clown outfit is more offensive than frightening. Pennywise’s effort for being different is respectable though.

“The ginger blowout is iconic,” Sarita Sharma, a senior at UO, said. The outfit itself is a crime arguably worse than Pennywise’s bad habit of child kidnappings, and for that reason, Pennywise has to be last.

9. Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)

While Leatherface is slightly more in touch than Pennywise, it’s not by much. Looking at his outfit from the neckline to the shoes, it’s actually not too bad. He wears a collared shirt and tie throughout the film, which admittedly could benefit from some ironing, but are nice overall.

“He’s got a button up shirt and a tie. It gives him kind of an eerie formality,” Adrian Wille, a senior at UO, said. Leatherface even shows some sense of wanting to preserve these clothes, as he chooses to dawn a butcher’s apron for his more bloody everyday activities.

The issues arise when we get to his headwear, which happens to be a mask made entirely of human skin taken from his victims. Beyond the unethical sourcing of his materials, the fit is unflattering and uneven, the hair is unkempt and there are visible stitch marks all over the place. It’s also a bit distasteful to steal someone’s face that they worked so hard on growing and pampering to use as your own. It’s unoriginal and uninspiring, and Leatherface has to face the consequences by coming in at ninth place.

8. Regan MacNeil (The Exorcist)

Technically, Regan MacNeil isn’t the real antagonist in “The Exorcist,” as that title rests with Pazuzu, the demon possessing her. However, MacNeil acts as the demon’s conduit through her possession, so we’ll count it. MacNeil’s fashion sins are mostly because she was a victim of her time. Her iconic nightgown is a bright teal with white polka-dots and white lace ruffles along the neckline. It’s interesting to say the least. I’m sure the nightgown was to die for in the early 1970s when the film takes place, but by today’s standards, it just doesn’t hold up.

It’s understandable that being possessed by an eldritch demon probably doesn’t make you feel so good, but it doesn’t help that MacNeil ends up covering the gown with demon-induced vomit later in the film. The queasy teal color actually helps the vomit blend in, but that’s not such a good sign. MacNeil clearly had some bigger problems than a bad outfit, but the outdated vomit-gown must be punished.

7. Chucky (Child’s Play)

It feels a little unfair to judge the outfit of a child-like doll, but knowing the doll is inhabited by the soul of a serial killer makes it fair game. It’s hard to go wrong with some overalls and a striped long sleeve if you’re five, but Chucky isn’t five. Chucky is the doll inhabited by serial killer Charles Lee Ray, and if you want to act like one of the big shots of horror, you’d better dress the part.

“Chucky is dressed like it’s laundry day. He’s one of the many people who think overalls look good on them,” Ronan Keenan, a senior at UO, said. It’s definitely alarming to be chased by a murderous doll dressed like something you associate with happiness and innocence, but the overalls and striped shirt just aren’t on the caliber of some of the more stylish villains.

6. Samara Morgan (The Ring)

Samara Morgan’s outfit is what Rachel MacNeil’s outfit wishes it was. A simple, long white nightgown that looks vintage, but not detrimentally so. It could definitely use a wash, but spending a week slowly dying in a well is bound to take a toll on your appearance. Hey, at least it’s not vomit.

Her dress is simple, and lets Morgan’s ghostly appearance do most of the talking with her iconic long black hair. However, given that a lot of her look is due to her personal appearance and not the clothes themselves, she’ll have to live with a spot in sixth place.

5. Ghostface (Scream)

Ghostface’s trademark look is identified by a mask that looks like, wait for it, a ghost’s face. Thought to be inspired by Edvard Munch’s famous painting, “The Scream,” the mask is actually inspired by old-fashioned cartoon animations. Beyond the mask, Ghostface’s attire consists only of a black robe. It’s very classic, and to-the-point. There’s nothing to complain about here, but there’s also not much to be excited about.

“I mean, it’s good, but it’s just a black cloak. He should try a little harder,” Sarah Svoboda, a senior at UO, said. Ghostface’s black robe and scary mask gets the job done, but doesn’t do it with much flare, and for that reason, he lands right in the middle of the rankings.

4. Red (Us)

Half the reason the antagonists of Jordan Peele’s 2019 movie, “Us,” are so scary is because they’re döppelgangers. They don’t need to be dressed in bloody rags to give you a good jump. They seem to know this as well, because their outfits are quite simple. Red, the main antagonist, does her work in some simple crimson coveralls — a great color that’s reminiscent of blood, but it’d be a lie to say she’s the first to do it.

3. Michael Myers (Halloween)

In fashion, originality matters, and Michael Myers was the first to bring coveralls to the scene. It’s hard to put on some dark blue coveralls without drawing some comparison to this classic villain. Myers takes it up a notch with his iconic pale mask. Who would’ve thought a William Shatner mask could be so terrifying? Apparently, Myers did, and points must be awarded for his creativity and originality.

2. Count Orlok (Nosferatu)

On the topic of originality, Nosferatu is regarded as one of the first vampire horror films. Count Orlok takes the stage as the vampire, and he looks damn good doing it. There is something truly unsettling about Orlok’s look, and it goes beyond the eerie atmosphere you get with most silent films. Orlok dons a classy, all-black outfit characterized by a tailored coat with a raised shoulder that gives his silhouette a goblin-like look.

“This guy is the godfather of Opium. The reclusive swag is unmatched,” Keenan said. All black never goes out of style, and neither does good tailoring. “That jacket is just sharp. He looks so put together,” Svoboda said. Orlok’s style embodies the basics of what makes a cohesive and representative look, and he must be recognized for it.

Honorable Mention: The Xenomorph (Alien)

The Xenomorph has to be excluded from the official list on account of it not wearing any actual clothes, but H.R. Giger knocked it out of the park with the Xenomorph’s design, and it must be recognized. The Xenomorph’s biomechanical body is both beautiful and disturbing. This is the creature the serial killers and demons on this list have nightmares about. If the Xenomorph’s eyeless face and pharyngeal jaws aren’t enough to make NASA astronauts consider a different career, I don’t know what will. Alas, the Xenomorph is technically naked throughout the film, and fashion is about the clothes and not the model.

Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

Jason Voorhees knows what works, and more importantly, he knows how to put it all together. His tastefully distressed clothes and blood-stained hockey mask are spot on for a psycho killer, and he’s become one of the most iconic slasher villains of all time because of it. Voorhees hopped on the workwear trend long before Carhartt’s renaissance, and his work jacket has the natural wear and tear you can only get from murdering helpless summer camp counselors.

Similar to his peer, Michael Myers, Voorhees takes a mask that isn’t inherently frightening in itself, and turns it into a symbol of his terror: a genius idea for creating a recognizable personal brand that must receive points for originality. His look strikes a perfect balance of style and utility where function and form work together rather than one following the other. Truly fantastic work. All fashion heads should look up to him, minus the killings of course.

Fashion can be a bit weird sometimes. Imagine you’re browsing some clothing shop in a New York loft or on London’s famous brick lane, and you come across a pair of jeans you like. You ask to try them on and find they’re incredibly stiff and uncomfortable. Then, the sales associate insists that you don’t wash them for six months at the very least, oh, and they also cost $350. This is a scam, right? This is the paradox of selvedge, or raw, denim. Scam? No. Irrational? Maybe. What’s the deal then? 

Porterhouse Clothing & Supply, a local menswear boutique in downtown Eugene, has some answers. Founded by Ethan Clevenger in 2020, Porterhouse sells a wardrobe of flannels, wools, waxed canvas coats and of course, raw denim. 

Omar Vega, the operations manager at Porterhouse, said Clevenger bought all his clothes while traveling and realized Eugene’s clothing market was lacking. “[Clevenger] saw a need for good quality clothing, and raw denim happens to be good quality clothing,” Vega said.

 If you’re going to drop triple digits on some jeans or a coat, you’d better be certain about its fit, its place in your wardrobe and of course, if you like it. Porterhouse understands this, and they focus on quality, which includes everything from the clothes themselves to the customer service. 

“It’s not regular retail. Anyone that comes here, if they want to, we will get as into the weeds as we can with them, and we will be as involved as they want us to be,” Vega said. 

Porterhouse is very intentional with their inventory, and Vega said their team travels to New York twice a year to visit trade shows and decide what they want on their racks. 

Vega said, “We’ve built up a curation of some really good selvedge denim and on top of it stuff that compliments it well.”  

Raw denim clothing is quality by definition. The word selvedge comes from “self-edge,” which is a fabric that has edges stitched down to prevent it from fraying or unraveling. 

This kind of fabric takes longer to make, and most of the looms used for self-edge fabric can only produce a narrow width. The time investment is high, and the product output is low, but the final product is strong and durable.

Another part of the cost of raw denim comes from the dyes. Most jeans you see on the streets are made with synthetic dyes. However, high-end and raw denim uses pure natural indigo. This dye is much more costly than its synthetic alternatives, but it provides a much stronger depth of color.

This attention to detail in the production of raw denim clothing reaches a peak with Japanese brands like Iron Heart or Momotaro. These brands are fully dedicated to the craft, exemplified by things like Momotaro’s Gold Label jeans, which are made completely by hand. The webpage for Momotaro Gold Label says that “only craftsmen with decades of sewing experience can sew these jeans” and Vega noted this as another strength of Japanese denim. 

“Because it’s being made by the same folks over and over again, the accountability is so much higher,” he said. 

But this is only half of the allure of raw denim. Because of its durability, a good pair of raw denim jeans can last years. Talking about a raw denim jacket he owns, Vega said “It’s outlived multiple relationships, and I’ve been in all kinds of crazy adventures and trips in it. There’s a lot of sentimental value.” 

Because of that durability though, the fabric is very stiff at first. You have to break it in the same way you would a pair of leather boots, and it can be initially uncomfortable. I bought a pair of raw denim jeans last winter, and I still remember the creases behind the knees pinching at my skin when I would sit. 

Raw denim also comes unwashed and untreated, and this means that as you wear your jeans or denim jacket, you’ll slowly develop fades that are personal to you. 

The more you wash your raw denim, the more dye will bleed out. Many denim heads will insist on not washing their denim for months to retain as much color as possible and to keep their fades sharp. 

“Everybody is a little bit different in what you’ll see imprinted on their denim… It’s an interesting canvas to work with. You get to see a little bit of somebody else’s life in passing,” Vega said. The clothes become a reflection of their wearer. 

The ghost of your phone and wallet will be on your pockets even when you’re not carrying them. The straps of your backpack will mark the shoulders of your denim jacket, and you’ll see exactly where someone prefers to cuff their sleeves or pant legs from the telltale white lines. 

Not everyone wants or cares that much about their clothes, and that’s ok. Raw denim is a fascinating part of the fashion world, and for those looking to go down the rabbit hole, places like Porterhouse lead you down.

Celebrities arrive at shows in Maybachs and Rolls-Royces, donning the most absurd outfits their stylists can put together and still call fashionable. Designer houses empty their pockets to create runways that seem more appropriate for a Hollywood movie set than a fashion show. The squinted eyes of fashion critics and journalists watch behind oversized and overpriced sunglasses for the looks that may trickle down into the plebian everyday style, and all we see are pixelated moments from the Instagram stories of influencers and Vogue collection recaps. Step back to look at New York Fashion Week as a whole, and it may seem that we’ve created the precursor to The Capitol from The Hunger Games. It’s fantastic.

NYFW is one of the biggest fashion events in the United States, and it’s gone through some changes in recent years. Let’s take a look back at NYFW 2024 to see what happened, and where we’re headed.

Historically, the gravitational pull of NYFW has brought in a long list of LVMH-style legacy brands, but this year, that list seemed to be cut short. Starting on Sept. 4 and ending on Sept. 11, this year’s NYFW lacked some big name brands.

European titans like Balenciaga, Chanel and Louis Vuitton opted to show their spring/summer 2025 collections at Paris Fashion Week instead. This reflects a shift toward exclusivity (as if the fashion world wasn’t already exclusive enough) that big name brands have recently pursued.

It might be more appropriate to call it a preservation effort rather than a shift. Paris Fashion Week upholds that tradition of exclusivity and rigidity, while New York Fashion Week seems to be breaking away.

Ralph Lauren exemplifies this diversion with their SS25 collection not being included on the official NYFW schedule. This is despite the brand’s place in the American fashion zeitgeist and their guest list including heavy hitting names beyond the fashion world like Jill Biden, Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston.

The brand also chose to host the show in Bridgehampton, New York, rather than New York City, with a well done, if not a bit uninspired, collection of equestrian and Americana-influenced looks.

Whites and blues headed the collection, and both mens and womens pieces shared formal tailored silhouettes that look right at home in the Hamptons, with the womenswear also getting some elegant mesh dresses.

Eckhaus Latta, (which was actually included on the official schedule) further deviated from what you might expect a NYFW show to be. Guests of the show were told to attend wearing Eckhaus Latta pieces, and in the Tribeca loft, where the runway should have been, there were only two long tables that turned a supposed fashion show into a dinner party.

Only after the music played did the guests realize that they were to walk the path between the tables and act as the models. Its SS25 collection is full of muted colors, knitwear and the clean modern cuts that are to be expected from the house. Their presentation of guests acting as models let these pieces speak for themselves.

The fashion world is changing quickly, and its once heavily guarded floodgates have been weakened by the internet. Brands can livestream runway shows, aspiring designers can connect with their kin on other sides of the world in a few taps via social media, and the infinite niches of personal style that are born of endless microtrends leave room for an equally infinite number of designers to fill them.

This year’s show featuring VAIN, an up-and-coming Finish brand, was one of my favorites at NYFW.Vain’s first collection debuted in 2023, coming from the chrome-dipped wires of the web. The show notes for it’s SS25 collection recognizes this origin, saying, “The brand’s DNA is deeply rooted in music and internet culture.” It’s easy to see this influence in the clothes.

The color palette is dominated by reds, whites and blacks that feel industrial, but when paired with the brand’s constant “<3” motif, feel just a little softer. The looks feel like they come from a hybrid fantasy world that combines the character creation menu of “Skate 3” with Rick Deckard’s wardrobe from “Blade Runner,” and it works perfectly.

The fashion industry is changing, and NYFW is changing with it. Will we see it continue to veer off the course that Paris Fashion Week is glued to?Or will it snap back into the mold it has always known? As to which outcome would be better or worse, we can’t be sure. What we can be sure about is that even though it looked a bit different this year, NYFW remains as important as ever.

The trees let go oftheir rich green for burnt orange and yellow. The warm rays of sun begin to fizzle out. The air sharpens with a cold that banishes any remaining summer daydreams.
Fall and winter are my favorite seasons fashion-wise because of the extended selection of clothing colder weather allows. And, as a counterpart, the palette of fragrances you can wear expands with richer and deeper compositions made to warm and comfort, as would a fireplace, or a hot cup of tea. Just as it is in the world of clothing though, the world of fragrance is engorged with lots of overpriced nothing. To help any prospective buyers, here you will find a handful of fragrances perfect for fall as per my and other UO students’ recommendations.
Fashion’s everyday function is to turn you inside out in self expression. Wearing fragrance turns your expression into a multisensory experience, and its invisibility to the most trusted of our five senses gives it an inimitable allure.

Parfums de Marly Layton: Top notes: Apple, lavender, bergamot and mandarin orange. Mid notes: geranium, violet and jasmine. Base notes: vanilla, cardamom, sandalwood, pepper, guaiac wood and patchouli.
In the fall, many people turn to things like warm colors and wool sweaters to match the feeling of the season, and it’s easy to do the same with fragrances, especially with something like Parfums de Marly’s Layton. Layton comes in at a whopping $365 for 125 milliliters, so it better be damn good, and it is.
Layton is warm, spicy and woody. The blend is velvet smooth with each note individually identifiable if you look for it, but with none jutting out and ruining this olfactory balancing act. Layton opens with – among other things – apple and lavender that give it a freshness that’s more akin to the air of a fall morning than a summer post-swim shower. Pepper, guaiac wood (a woody note that smells vanillic, balsamic, leathery and tar-like) vanilla, cardamom and sandalwood develop in the base, giving Layton its strong fall DNA. This is the tempting scent of caramel apples at the pumpkin patch, the first bite of homemade apple pie, the dirty chai in your hand as you walk to class. Stupid expensive, but stupid good.

Prada Luna Rossa Black: Top note: bergamot. Mid Notes: angelica and patchouli. Base notes: coumarin, amber and musk.

Next up is Prada’s Luna Rossa Black. Cheaper in comparison to Layton but still expensive with a 101 milliliter bottle costing $140. Luna Rossa Black is dark, soft, modern and mysterious. Imagine if Dracula lived in our time in a sterile, modern penthouse in New York City and had a secret Tumblr blog where he posted poems about his victims. This is the fragrance he’d wear while writing them.
It’s composition is simple consisting only of bergamot at the top, angelica (a musky and sweet herbal note) and patchouli in the middle, with coumarin (a synthetic aroma-chemical reminiscent of dried or caramelized fruits and herbs), amber and musk at the base. If you want a unique and contemporary fall fragrance, this is the one.

L’Occitane Eav Des Bavx: Top notes: Cardamom and pink pepper. Mid Notes: Cypress and incense. Base Notes: Vanilla and tonka bean.

Making our way into some more reasonably priced options, we have L’Occitane’s Eav Des Bavx, which retails for $82 for a 75 milliliter bottle. Eav Des Bavx is an interesting fragrance because it has all the ingredients of a warm and cozy scent, but it somehow manages to be headstrong and laconic. That’s not to say it’s overly rough or unpleasant. The blend is smooth, and it has a fantastic vanilla note in the base that feels like you’re sniffing the real thing. However, its notes of pink pepper, cypress and incense are colder and textured. It’s what I imagine a medieval church would smell like during an autumn feast. It’s somehow warm and cold at the same time, and it perfectly embodies the feeling of the impending winter.

Lalique Encre Noire: Top note: Cypress. Mid note: Vetiver. Base notes: Cashmere wood and musk.

Finally, we have Lalique’s Encre Noire which retails at $129 for 100 milliliters, but you can almost always find it on Fragrance Net or FragranceX (99% of my fragrance purchases come from these two sites) for around $30. These sites are so cheap because they fall within the fragrance grey market which would take too long to explain, but if you’re interested, this article sums it up. It almost feels illegal (it’s not) that you can spend so little and get something so good, because Encre Noire feels like it should cost as much as Layton. Recommended to me by Will Anderson, a UO student, Encre Noire is dark and gothic. Led by cypress and vetiver, “it smells like nighttime in autumn, the sharpness of the air, and leaves dying in the mud,” Anderson said.
Thankful that I’m not the only one in this school possessed by whatever deranged deity inhabits Jeremy Fragrance, I heard some more recommendations from other students for their favorite fall fragrances.

More student recommendations:

Ari Lapides’ signature scent is Maison Margiela’s Jazz Club from their Replica line, which makes fragrances inspired by specific settings or feelings. Lapides assured me that the name suits it well, and described it as “smoky, boozy and warm.” I remember sampling Jazz Club once, and immediately wanting to wear a tuxedo and smoke a cigar, which I’d never done or wanted to do before (still haven’t unfortunately). With notes of tobacco leaf and rum, Jazz Club has a warming effect that could only be outshined by a ski resort’s fireplace.
Another suggestion I fully endorse is Comme des Garçon’s Wonderwood, recommended to me by Ethan Ludy. Wonderwood is, as the name suggests, heavy on wood notes featuring oud, sandalwood, and cedar. It reminds me of being a child and sitting in one of the aged wooden trailers pulled by tractors at a pumpkin patch. Ludy said it makes him think of cold fall mornings and the feeling of walking around trying to stay warm.

Remember that scent is subjective and what someone else may swear by may make you gag, so always sample before you buy. These are just my superstars, but there are endless options out there if you’re still looking for your fall signature.

The trees let go oftheir rich green for burnt orange and yellow. The warm rays of sun begin to fizzle out. The air sharpens with a cold that banishes any remaining summer daydreams.
Fall and winter are my favorite seasons fashion-wise because of the extended selection of clothing colder weather allows. And, as a counterpart, the palette of fragrances you can wear expands with richer and deeper compositions made to warm and comfort, as would a fireplace, or a hot cup of tea. Just as it is in the world of clothing though, the world of fragrance is engorged with lots of overpriced nothing. To help any prospective buyers, here you will find a handful of fragrances perfect for fall as per my and other UO students’ recommendations.
Fashion’s everyday function is to turn you inside out in self expression. Wearing fragrance turns your expression into a multisensory experience, and its invisibility to the most trusted of our five senses gives it an inimitable allure.

Parfums de Marly Layton: Top notes: Apple, lavender, bergamot and mandarin orange. Mid notes: geranium, violet and jasmine. Base notes: vanilla, cardamom, sandalwood, pepper, guaiac wood and patchouli.
In the fall, many people turn to things like warm colors and wool sweaters to match the feeling of the season, and it’s easy to do the same with fragrances, especially with something like Parfums de Marly’s Layton. Layton comes in at a whopping $365 for 125 milliliters, so it better be damn good, and it is.
Layton is warm, spicy and woody. The blend is velvet smooth with each note individually identifiable if you look for it, but with none jutting out and ruining this olfactory balancing act. Layton opens with – among other things – apple and lavender that give it a freshness that’s more akin to the air of a fall morning than a summer post-swim shower. Pepper, guaiac wood (a woody note that smells vanillic, balsamic, leathery and tar-like) vanilla, cardamom and sandalwood develop in the base, giving Layton its strong fall DNA. This is the tempting scent of caramel apples at the pumpkin patch, the first bite of homemade apple pie, the dirty chai in your hand as you walk to class. Stupid expensive, but stupid good.

Prada Luna Rossa Black: Top note: bergamot. Mid Notes: angelica and patchouli. Base notes: coumarin, amber and musk.

Next up is Prada’s Luna Rossa Black. Cheaper in comparison to Layton but still expensive with a 101 milliliter bottle costing $140. Luna Rossa Black is dark, soft, modern and mysterious. Imagine if Dracula lived in our time in a sterile, modern penthouse in New York City and had a secret Tumblr blog where he posted poems about his victims. This is the fragrance he’d wear while writing them.
It’s composition is simple consisting only of bergamot at the top, angelica (a musky and sweet herbal note) and patchouli in the middle, with coumarin (a synthetic aroma-chemical reminiscent of dried or caramelized fruits and herbs), amber and musk at the base. If you want a unique and contemporary fall fragrance, this is the one.

L’Occitane Eav Des Bavx: Top notes: Cardamom and pink pepper. Mid Notes: Cypress and incense. Base Notes: Vanilla and tonka bean.

Making our way into some more reasonably priced options, we have L’Occitane’s Eav Des Bavx, which retails for $82 for a 75 milliliter bottle. Eav Des Bavx is an interesting fragrance because it has all the ingredients of a warm and cozy scent, but it somehow manages to be headstrong and laconic. That’s not to say it’s overly rough or unpleasant. The blend is smooth, and it has a fantastic vanilla note in the base that feels like you’re sniffing the real thing. However, its notes of pink pepper, cypress and incense are colder and textured. It’s what I imagine a medieval church would smell like during an autumn feast. It’s somehow warm and cold at the same time, and it perfectly embodies the feeling of the impending winter.

Lalique Encre Noire: Top note: Cypress. Mid note: Vetiver. Base notes: Cashmere wood and musk.

Finally, we have Lalique’s Encre Noire which retails at $129 for 100 milliliters, but you can almost always find it on Fragrance Net or FragranceX (99% of my fragrance purchases come from these two sites) for around $30. These sites are so cheap because they fall within the fragrance grey market which would take too long to explain, but if you’re interested, this article sums it up. It almost feels illegal (it’s not) that you can spend so little and get something so good, because Encre Noire feels like it should cost as much as Layton. Recommended to me by Will Anderson, a UO student, Encre Noire is dark and gothic. Led by cypress and vetiver, “it smells like nighttime in autumn, the sharpness of the air, and leaves dying in the mud,” Anderson said.
Thankful that I’m not the only one in this school possessed by whatever deranged deity inhabits Jeremy Fragrance, I heard some more recommendations from other students for their favorite fall fragrances.

More student recommendations:

Ari Lapides’ signature scent is Maison Margiela’s Jazz Club from their Replica line, which makes fragrances inspired by specific settings or feelings. Lapides assured me that the name suits it well, and described it as “smoky, boozy and warm.” I remember sampling Jazz Club once, and immediately wanting to wear a tuxedo and smoke a cigar, which I’d never done or wanted to do before (still haven’t unfortunately). With notes of tobacco leaf and rum, Jazz Club has a warming effect that could only be outshined by a ski resort’s fireplace.
Another suggestion I fully endorse is Comme des Garçon’s Wonderwood, recommended to me by Ethan Ludy. Wonderwood is, as the name suggests, heavy on wood notes featuring oud, sandalwood, and cedar. It reminds me of being a child and sitting in one of the aged wooden trailers pulled by tractors at a pumpkin patch. Ludy said it makes him think of cold fall mornings and the feeling of walking around trying to stay warm.

Remember that scent is subjective and what someone else may swear by may make you gag, so always sample before you buy. These are just my superstars, but there are endless options out there if you’re still looking for your fall signature.