September Syllabus: The Grown-Up
Back-to-School List
It’s finally back-to-school season (what we call La Rentrée in French)! Do you remember that line from Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail: “I love New York in the fall. It makes me want to buy school supplies… I would send you a bouquet of pencils… if I had your address.” There is something truly special about this time of year, something you appreciate even more as an adult because you can enjoy it exactly the way you want to. I’m really looking forward to seeing summer come to an end (even more so this year than usual) and to starting with a lovely blank page, new projects, and that sense of anticipation that comes with the prospect of new adventures.
Early September is the perfect time to treat yourself to the grown-up, chic version of school supplies: beautiful notebooks, a fountain pen, pencil pots covered in domino paper, a few lovely books, in other words, everything you need to put together your own little back-to-school kit. My nephews have just gone back to school and, strangely enough, it is considerably less fun for them and their parents… September has always had a special significance for me, on different levels. When I was at secondary school, you could already feel autumn approaching. The mornings were quite chilly, you could sense the season changing, you were prepared for it and looked forward to it (we were already wearing jumpers at this time of year!). Summer now tends to linger on, and we never quite know for how long, but that doesn’t stop me from following my autumn rituals and traditions and starting to enjoy the season straight away.
Autumn has such a unique atmosphere, both mysterious and cosy, that makes us want to stay at home and slow down a little (after the madness of back-to-school days), while at the same time giving us plenty of opportunities to spend time outdoors.
So, here are a few practical ideas for getting ready for the new season!
1. Stock up on beautiful stationery
Stationery is, of course, a back-to-school essential. I stock up on notebooks and always love looking at diaries, even though mine starts in January, which means I have to resist the temptation and pass them by.
Depending on the year, I also invest in a beautiful fountain pen, coloured pens, pencils and Post-it notes because I annotate my books a lot. Not forgetting some nice desk accessories: beautiful brass pencil sharpeners (I own several in different shapes), notepads, a weekly planner (for work), storage pouches and, of course, my inspiration notebooks. I also buy stamps and bookmarks whenever I come across ones I particularly like.
I always keep an eye out for soft, lightweight fabric pouches too (for keeping various cables, chargers and power banks together), as well as pencil cases, to which I like adding a little charm to make them slightly more fun.
This September, I’m planning to visit Le Bon Marché to see their pop-up dedicated to Japan, as I’m genuinely curious to discover their selection, especially since I brought back some particularly lovely stationery from Tokyo two years ago. The Japanese, like the British, have a real appreciation for stationery, a quality I very much admire in both!
A back-to-school kit (at this point I feel like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl) is never quite complete until you’ve managed to find one or two pencil pots in a lovely pattern (although I often end up repurposing mugs instead). I also use a corkboard for my moodboards in the office, as well as a letter rack which, let’s be honest, mostly serves as a catch-all. I find everything I’ve just mentioned in independent stationery shops in my neighbourhood (there are still a few left!), at Mélodies Graphiques in Paris and at Choosing Keeping in London.
Build up a little stock of beautiful cards and envelopes to keep on hand whenever you need to include a note for someone. The same goes for birthday cards and Christmas cards. They are always useful. I’ve got into the habit of corresponding by postcard with a few very close friends who live far away, so I regularly stock up on beautiful cards at museums. Buy a few rolls of washi tape too: they always end up coming in handy, and you can find patterns to suit every taste!
2. Write my autumn to-do list
Autumn, and September in particular, is when I write down all my projects for the season ahead, along with the dates of events I absolutely don’t want to miss: plant fairs, exhibitions, dinners with friends… just to make sure I don’t forget anything!
I’m particularly looking forward to the exhibition dedicated to Mary Cassatt at the Musée d’Orsay in October, as well as Sense and Sensibility and Practical Magic 2, which are due to be released in cinemas soon. A new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is also due to be shown this autumn, so let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint us.
3. Prepare my autumn reading pile
Autumn is also the season for books, and not just academic ones! I stock up on novels: adventure stories such as The Three Musketeers, classics like Rebecca (the first line of the book still gives me chills), which I would love to reread alongside Tatiana de Rosnay’s biography of Daphne du Maurier, cosy mysteries, crime novels, and I always choose one slightly scary book to save for Halloween. Of course, I never have time to read all of them, but there is something reassuring about having a nice little pile of books beside your bed, growing as quickly as mushrooms after the rain! And I always make sure to read at least one volume from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series (although you can cheat and watch the best adaptation instead, the one with Megan Follows).
At the moment, I’m reading Les Humeurs d’une châtelaine anglaise, a collection of notes written by the Duchess of Devonshire (one of the famous Mitford sisters). I lived for several years near Chatsworth House in England, and it is always such a pleasure to immerse myself once again in that place and in the uniquely beautiful surroundings of Derbyshire. I’m also reading Pierre Le-Tan’s The Booklover’s Guide to New York, which is exactly the kind of book I love getting lost in at this time of year, even though, practically speaking, it is of absolutely no use to me! And since we are talking about New York, the little book Pencils You Should Know always makes me smile. Written by Caroline Weaver, who used to own a brilliant little shop in New York dedicated entirely to pencils on the Lower East Side (sadly closed since 2021), it describes some of these everyday objects which, despite their apparent simplicity, have so many different facets. Meg Ryan, or rather Kathleen Kelly, would have loved that shop!
Another book I’m about to start, and which I’m very much looking forward to, is Graydon Carter’s When the Going Was Good, about the golden age of print magazines in the 1990s and 2000s, particularly during his years at the helm of Vanity Fair.
4. Embrace an academic style
You can’t start a new school year without a proper academic look, inspired by those magnificent British universities (what else?!). Think beautiful olive or tortoiseshell glasses, those timeless chic classics. Thom Ascott and Moscot, in particular, have some lovely styles. Then set your sights on a beautiful tweed or checked coat.
And into a large carry-all tote (one of Vanessa Bruno’s, for example), you can throw all sorts of absolutely essential things which, naturally, end up weighing a ton. But being a modern woman means being prepared for every possible situation, doesn’t it?
Continuing in the same vein, add a beautiful mid-season coat. The one I chose here is from an older Gérard Darel collection, paired with a Fair Isle-style jumper (my heart has most definitely remained in Britain, in case anyone was still in doubt). I found a lovely example at Dôen to illustrate the idea, although I buy mine in England. The good news is that they are becoming much easier to find in autumn collections in France. I particularly love jumpers in beautiful earthy colours, warm yet elegant, worn with well-cut wool or corduroy trousers. I also wear them with a flowing midi skirt and black boots.
If, like me, you spend your weekends roaming around the countryside (the more rain and fog, the better), I recommend investing in a good pair of sturdy boots (Blundstones) or supple knee-high boots (Le Chameau, Aigle; I wouldn’t recommend Hunter, they have a tendency to let you down rather easily), because autumn really is a season that deserves to be spent outdoors if you want to enjoy every aspect of it.
5. Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the season
When I lived in the north of England, it started getting dark at around 4 p.m. (and I loved it). In France, darkness falls a little later, and I find it incredibly soothing to switch on one or two table lamps in the living room to create a calm atmosphere when I come home from work in the evening. Sometimes, for dinner, I add two large, low candles, simply placed in old jam jars. The cosy effect is instant and it really helps extend the evening. It’s also the perfect opportunity to keep adding to your seasonal to-do list and talk about upcoming plans! You can burn a little incense too, particularly those by Astier de Villatte, although I avoid doing so when the cats are with us so as not to bother them. They are very small everyday gestures, but they are enough to completely change the atmosphere of the house at the end of summer and prepare for the change of season.
A good cup of tea or coffee is the perfect companion to any proper autumn reading session. I particularly love oversized mugs with seasonal patterns, and Emma Bridgewater has some really lovely ones. And the bigger the mug, the better! I’m starting to build up quite a collection (and finding it difficult to stop), so, to feel slightly less guilty about it, I use them as pencil pots all around the house.
An autumn weekend (or any weekend, really) is never quite complete without the weekend edition of my favourite newspaper, in print of course. I always look forward to reading the Financial Times gardening articles as well as the magazine that comes with it. This little ritual means a lot to me, because it is a moment I keep entirely for myself. I get up early at the weekend, the mornings are getting darker and darker, so I switch on the little lamp in the kitchen while making coffee and spend some time reading the newspaper. Weekdays are a different story, which is exactly why it is worth creating these little moments for yourself whenever you have the opportunity.
Wishing you all a very happy back-to-school season! Bonne rentrée !
