Sarah Michelle Gellar Is Ready for Glamour Again

One of the first opportunities Gellar got to really dress up this year was as a virtual guest of Christian Siriano’s spring 2021 show in September. The designer, who is a close friend of Gellar’s, sent her a feathery, tulle pink gown to wear for the occasion. And while she felt fabulous the moment she put it on, it was seeing her daughter in the chic frock that reminded her of the power that fashion can hold. “I came home and my daughter was wearing the gown in our backyard,” Gellar says. “She was twirling, and my husband and my son were there, and they were all laughing and giggling. It reminded me of the magic that comes with fashion.” It also got her thinking about how the arts can uplift our spirits during difficult times. “After 9/11, we were on Buffy, and I had a very hard time going back to work,” she says. “But I realized, I do have a part in all of this: I help people forget tragedies. For an hour, I can take them away from the things that are stressing them out, and give them entertainment and transport them. That’s what Christian does with fashion.”

As an aforementioned scream queen, you can bet Gellar will also be serving a look on Halloween later this week, too. It’s a tradition for the family to partake in the holiday. “My husband and I usually do a costume together,” says Gellar. “This is the first year we’re not, because we just didn’t get our shit together in time. Instead of us doing a couples costume, I’m doing a couples costume with my daughter, and he’s doing one with our son.” They’ll likely spend it watching a scary movie in their backyard on a big projector (something she calls a “quaran-purchase: something you buy in quarantine that you would have never bought otherwise.”) “My kids love [scary movies],” says Gellar. I ask if she’s heard about the news that I Know What You Did Last Summer is being rebooted. “No, but isn’t everything?” she says. “I did like the billboard that said, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer: fucking nothing.’ That was my favorite meme of the summer.”