Over the summer, I found myself falling in love with the cottagecore clothing aesthetic. I first found this aesthetic on Tumblr, and then followed some accounts that post cottagecore pictures on Instagram. Instagram, the sneaky devil that it is, quickly picked up this trend and began advertising cottagecore clothing brands to me. The more I bookmarked ads that I’d like to someday purchase, the more it threw posts like that at me. These posts eventually began showing me clothing from the fairycore, farmcore, and dark academia aesthetics. Tik Tok also began showing me posts of those aesthetics, and I realized just how popular they’ve become since 2020. I began wondering if these aesthetics have been popular before and are just resurfacing or if they were new, and decided to do some research.
Cottagecore, which seems to be the most popular of these aesthetics, has actually been around since 2010, originating on Tumblr, but really came into its own in 2020. This aesthetic is a romanticization of agricultural life and old-timey housework clothing. The colour scheme is mostly muted earthy tones, and the most common fabrics used in cottagecore clothing are cotton, linen, and other very natural fabrics, though knitted clothing is also very common. People often incorporate a lot of layers into their outfits whether it be sweaters under dresses, sweaters under overalls under cardigans, or simply old-timey collared shirts under long-sleeved dresses. People who enjoy the cottagecore aesthetic also tend to incorporate the cottagecore lifestyle into their life. This includes homemaking activities, such as making bread, tending to plants, knitting, and even making their own cheese and butter, but the lifestyle also highly values being attuned to nature and the earth, caring for others, and buying ethically sourced things. This includes thrifting, buying from small businesses, and making their own clothing. Although it’s not the most prominent part of the lifestyle, cottagecore tends to be an anti-capitalism lifestyle. This aesthetic is especially popular amongst the LGBTQIA+ community and the pagan community, though people of all backgrounds enjoy it.
Fairycore, a similar clothing aesthetic to cottagecore, is a very delicate and ethereal style. This aesthetic seems to have begun in 2020 in the pagan community, as many pagan religions believe in and sometimes even worship the fae (faeries). Although it originated there, it very quickly spread to other communities, but the idea of fae is a very important part of this aesthetic. The colour scheme is pastel colours as well as iridescent colours, and the most common fabric is chiffon, as it’s a very whimsical and flowy fabric. This clothing style is pretty much only dresses, and people often wear their hair in loose and natural hairstyles and usually wear shoes that are easy to take off, as they tend to enjoy walking barefooted in the grass. The fairycore lifestyle is very nature-based. They enjoy walking in the woods, hunting for “faery rings,” which are rings of mushrooms that are believed to be portals into the fae world, making friends with wild animals, and cloud-watching. As I said before, this aesthetic is very popular amongst pagans, so people who follow this lifestyle also tend to leave offerings of milk outside their houses and may even go as far as to create tiny houses to leave in random places outside for faeries to sleep in.
Dark academia, which definitely gives cottagecore a run for its money in terms of popularity, is an aesthetic that revolves around classical literature, studying, and other intellectual pursuits. I believe that this was started in 2020, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. The colour scheme is that of an old, classical library, or perhaps even just a coffee shop on a rainy day. It’s mostly neutral colours leaning towards the dark side of the spectrum, and the most popular fabrics and textures are cashmere, tweed, and wool. The staples of this style are sweater vests, trench coats, trousers, and oxford shirts. The dark academia lifestyle is studying, going to coffee shops, libraries, and museums, and reading classical literature. This lifestyle has come under fire, however, due to the potentially toxic romanticization of sacrificing sleep and general health in order to study. Although there are definitely positive parts of this aesthetic, many people take it in the direction of a depressed and tortured author, which can be detrimental to mental health. In general, however, most of the dark academia community simply enjoys it in a healthy way.
Light academia is the emotional opposite of dark academia. Although it’s a popular aesthetic, it’s definitely not as popular as its sister aesthetic. It has pretty much the same colour scheme and fabrics, but light academia takes the neutral colour palette on the lighter side of the spectrum, and it also has the same basic outfit structures. What really sets light academia apart from its darker brethren is that this aesthetic’s main value is appreciating the little things in life. Although this community enjoys classical literature and the fine arts as well, it’s a much more positive, simple, and social lifestyle than dark academia.
I find the fact that each of the aesthetics I looked in to, with the possible exception of fairycore, take inspiration from previous fashion eras. This definitely makes me wonder if these will eventually pop up again in the future, and if current fashion trends will come back as their own “cores.” There are many, many other fashion aesthetics that I didn’t name in this article, but I found a website called “Aesthetics Wiki” if you feel like looking into other aesthetics.