Life as a Gilmore Girl
“It’s just my favourite time of the year. The whole world changes colour.”
~ Lorelai Gilmore
One of my favourite TV shows ‘Gilmore girls’ celebrated its 25th anniversary on October 5th, 2025. The show has a cult following, and has grown to be closely associated with cozy Autumn season traditions; such as pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween decorations. The show follows the life of the two main characters – Lorelai and Rory Gilmore; mother and daughter. As they’re close in age, they have a unique bond, which sees them navigating a world of crazy neighbours (and family!), failed romances, coffee, and plenty of junk food.
I was delighted to be asked to provide my Gilmore girls illustrations for the Sunday Independent feature, which celebrated this milestone anniversary. I created my ‘Meet Me At Luke’s’ illustration many years ago now, but I’m glad it still holds strong in the hearts of Gilmore fans. My more recent illustration ‘Little Gilmore Girls’ showcases all the little fun moments from the show through particular objects; such as the stolen carton of cornstarch, Paris’s stained glass window, video tapes, and the enigmatic Logan rocket.
This year, I wanted to create a new addition to my Gilmore collection. I’ve had a vision in my mind for many years to illustrate an event poster of the fictional town where Gilmore girls is set – Stars Hollow. It’s a cozy laidback town, with a quirky mayor who likes to decorate the town for seasonal festivals. I love illustrating old buildings and cute houses, so this was a wonderful personal project to work on. I felt like I was stepping into Stars Hollow each day I worked on it. I also drank many cups of coffee, because it’s Gilmore tradition of course 😉
It only took 60 hours (!) to illustrate 🥲 I must admit I got totally lost in all the details, simply because I wanted to create the town just as I dreamt it – with all the bells and whistles of a quaint Autumn village. It is a storybook depiction of my favourite TV show location; where you can pop into Luke’s Diner for a warming cup of coffee, and then stroll over to Mrs Kim’s to browse her array of antiques. Call over to Lorelai’s or Sookie’s homes for all the gossip with some homemade foods, and let’s rent a video for later on over in the video store.
As it’s such a special print to me, I have also included a cute flyer from the fictional ‘Dragonfly Inn', which promotes a fun ‘Autumn Supper Club’ hosted by two of the show’s characters. I love adding in treats like this to my shop orders; especially for my fellow GG fans. If you would like to see the whole process of how I created my Stars Hollow print, please do check out my YouTube video below. Thanks for reading friends, Rachel x