Dark Academia is a complex aesthetic...
Let's all think of as many sub genres of DA as we can. A lot come to mind, right? In this post I've tried to narrow some down. Hope you enjoy :)
(& perhaps you might find the sub genre of DA that best suits you)
~ THE 1940s ACADEMIC~
These folks don't necessarily have a passion for ancient history or the classics… instead, they spend their time researching The Great War as thoroughly as possible. They wear brick red lipstick no matter the occasion. If you look around their home, you may find a collection of portable typewriters, or perhaps an envelope filled with old photographs of their parents or forgotton acquaintances. Their go-to wardrobe colour is either a rich brown or an army green. Cigars are their best friends, just like their idol, the newly elected prime minister, Winston Churchill.
~THE GOTHIC POET~
This person has as many candles as they do hairs on their head. True to their name, they spend hours writing elaborate lines of poetry, usually not bothering to change out of their lacy night gown, with ruffled cuffs and puffy sleeves. They are confident, flamboyant, & a sucker for Pre-Raphelite paintings. While their friend, «1940s Academic» happily taps their foot along to The Andrews Sisters, they prefer to stare at themselves dramatically in their looking glass, blasting Mozart until their stained glass windows begin to tremble.
~THE GENTLE FLORIST~ (Light Academia)
A typical «Gentle Florist» will wake on rainy spring mornings & peacefully pour themselves a steaming cup of mint tea. They spend their evenings with a light read, accompanied by their cat & the warm glow of their vintage floor lamp. If they are religious, they like to help out with charity events at their place of worship. If they are not, they happily volunteer wherever they are needed on weekends. They like to have lunch with their friend «Gothic Poet» although their re-enactments of Romeo & Juliet can get tiresome after a while. Their wardrobe colours are dark greens, browns, tans & creamy whites.
~THE MAD WRITER~ (Chaotic Academia)
A strong black coffee always helps to wake this academic up in the morning. They stumble out of bed late after an intense night of scribbling out ideas for plots and characters. They seem to fixate on the prospect of murder, which their secret lover, «Gentle Florist», finds slightly suspicious. Their room is littered with paper. Is that a receipt or an important writer's note lying beside the antique camera? We might just never know. They hate most people, especially crying babies on the train. They are brutally cold & sarcastic, but people can't stop falling for them. Their wardrobe colours are black, blood red, cold white & the occasional navy blue.
~THE VICTORIAN EXPLORER~
(Rachel Maksy has a great Victorian Treehouse vidéo which is a perfect example of this aesthetic)
Picture a vast room, its surfaces clad with antique brass artefacts. Things like old gramophones, flashlights, clocks, globes & magnifying glasses. There are maps pinned on every wall, & old atlases in foreign languages amongst yellowed illustrations of the English coastlines. Now picture the person who inhabits this room. They love old hats & sunglasses. Perhaps they have tan lines on their arms from when they were out searching for islands in Micronesia. People say this person & «Mad Writer » had a mysterious past, but neither of them ever mention it. Their favourite wardrobe piece is their trademark, a pair of antique boots, perfect for exploring various types of terrain.
~THE INQUISITIVE MYCOLOGIST~ (Cottagecore X Dark Academia)
This academic is obsessed with nature, but prefers to live in urban areas. They draw illustrations in the margins of their schoolbooks/ work notes of mushrooms & leaves & will often spend hours in the local library with their potential love interest, « Victorian Explorer », poring over mycology textbooks. Their favourite wardrobe item is of course their dark brown oxfords, with the laces replaced with red ribbons.
