There is a very specific moment every October when you walk into a Halloween party and realise that, despite everyone swearing they had a really niche costume this year, there are somehow six Glindas, three Barbies and at least one Wednesday Addams.

Gilmore Girls merch has colonised autumn. We investigate why the pyjamas arrive in August, who is actually profiting, and whether owning a Luke’s Diner mug makes you tacky. It is the first week of August. The sun is still out, nobody has thought about a coat, and yet the shops have already filled up with burgundy pyjamas printed with pictures of a fictional gazebo in Connecticut.