CNN reports on something I had to convince myself was not a joke.
There seems to be a fashion trend of wearing aggressively ordinary clothing. It's basically preppy style, declared fashionable, once again. I saw it the first time around in the 70s. Here, it seems more embedded in actually studying and reading good literature, spending time in libraries or having the feeling of yourself being the sort of person who would do such things. And it seems to have to do with the rejection of modernism and minimalism.
Here's the Wikipedia article, "Dark Academia":
Some of the articles of clothing most associated with the aesthetic are cardigans, blazers, dress shirts, plaid skirts, Oxford shoes, and clothing made of houndstooth and tweed, its color palette consisting mainly of black, white, beige, browns, dark green, and occasionally navy blue.
The subculture also draws on idealised aesthetics of higher education and academia, often with books and libraries featuring prominently. Activities such as calligraphy, visits to museums, libraries, and coffee shops, as well as all-night studying sessions are common among proponents.
Seasonal imagery of autumn is also common. Imagery of Gothic architecture and Collegiate Gothic architecture, candlelight, dark wooden furniture, and dense, cluttered rooms often occurs. The sub-culture has been described as maximalist....
It's not just fashion, but also a literary genre, typified by Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" and also associated with the Harry Potter books.
Bookriot writer Zoe Robertson stated that the subculture draws on "seductive depictions of shadowy extravagance" and reminds her "to see the rot in the foundations of an institution I can’t stay away from, and build my own school in defiance." One writer compared it to the contemprary cottagecore lifestyle aesthetic, saying that while cottagecore requires a home in the country and leisure time for crafting, dark academia's "simple act of putting on a blazer and reading Dostoevsky is far more doable."...
Dark academia has been criticized for a variety of reasons, including the aesthetic's Eurocentrism, lack of diversity and encouragement of unhealthy lifestyle choices. Many of the literary works that feature prominently in the aesthetic were created by white men, and feature little to no ethnic minorities among the lead characters. The Western canon of literary classics that the subculture of dark academia draws from has been historically incorporated into university teachings to support scientific racism....
Oh, no! It's racist!
Actually, if you look at the clothing at the CNN link and the matching outfits of those tiki torch people at the Youngkin rally... it's kind of the same thing. White button-front shirts tucked into brownish-colored pants. What's that all about?
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"One writer compared it to the contemporary cottagecore lifestyle aesthetic, saying that while cottagecore requires a home in the country and leisure time for crafting... "
Oh no! Shades of Sippican Cottage!
Wikipedia is trash. Another thing of great promise ruined by progressives. Is there anything they can't turn to shit?
"The potential promotion of high usage of alcohol and caffeine has also been a source of criticism."
lol
Tee shirt, Bermudas, and varying layers of sweatshirts and sweatpants depending on weather, is as ordinary as can be.
There seems to be a fashion trend of wearing aggressively ordinary clothing.
Careful, "aggressively" is a word used by horrific racists.
I totally get this. Back in the 80s, there was something other-worldly in walking across the Princeton campus on a winter’s night, the gas lamps glowing as snow fell. It was like being transported back 150 years to merry old England. It made you want to study harder and learn about everything possible. Glorious.
"Actually, if you look at the clothing at the CNN link and the matching outfits of those tiki torch people at the Youngkin rally... it's kind of the same thing. White button-front shirts tucked into brownish-colored pants. What's that all about?"
Seriously? They were trying to look like conservative college students, or, more accurately, what they think young conservative college students look like.
And, yeah, this is just white people expropriating the word "dark".
Bring back Western Civ! The progressive decry everything Western without realizing that they are thoroughly Western themselves. They benefit from Western innovation in both technology and economics, Western literature (how they must hate that!) and Western political science.
There would be no modern world if the Roman Empire had reconstituted itself over all of Europe. Any innovations would have been suppressed because innovations would upset the delicate balance of the Empire. The Roman Catholic church would have been subordinated to the Emperor.
This is precisely what happened in China. A dynasty would rule for a couple of centuries, collapse then anew dynasty would arise. All because China was always fighting off the nomads and needed a strong central government to do that. All innovations would be relegated into toy status. Explorations would be short lived, then suppressed because they too could result in disharmony.
We'd still be living in stone buildings, building wood fires and hoping are masters were in a good mood. And, slavery would be endemic because the only power sources would have been animals and people.
I served in college when the Preppy Handbook was printed. I knew preppies. Preppies were friends of mine. Dark academians, you're not preppies!
Sarah Slutsky?
Donna Tartt?
Is this for real?
"Stylist Sarah Slutsky agrees . . ."
Com'n, can't the author make up a better name than that. Next they'll be telling us that she's dating General Buck Turgidson.
Lisa Birnbach’s The Official Preppy Handbook (Workman Publishing, 1980) is a great work of descriptive sociology masquerading as a paperback how-to guide to fashion. Unfortunately a decent used copy now sells for between $100 and $300.
I prefer to see the tropical academia look myself. Think horn rims and a coconut bra.
Dark academia seems to be East Coast academia of the '90's. But not the part of East Coast Academia that promoted Derrida and CRT and Franz Fanon - that group wore Third-World-inspired clothes in a now obvious act of cultural appropriation. No, this is the Italian department, maybe, that went on reading Dante in a building with a castle-look on the Cornell campus or out in western Massachusetts. This is shading into a back-to-Europe look being modeled (on CNN) by non-European as well as European-background women. For extra credit, what is the difference between the successful-minority look, world-wide, and the French, Italian and Spanish look?
Anyone that rejects modernism and minimalism is on the right track.
So this is me?
I have a closet full of stuff that is decades old mixed with new stuff that my wife insists I get for special events.
I always knew I'd be a trend-setter some day...
For me boarding school fashion meant 7 days a week of a white shirt and tie with a detached collar held with 2 studs. Can one even buy such a garment today?
"Dark academia has been criticized for a variety of reasons, including the aesthetic's Eurocentrism, lack of diversity..." Too may white males, blah blah blah...
Right. Too much Eurocentrism and it's racist. Add in any non-European cultural whatever and it's appropriation.
Diversity Bullshit.
I have a tweed jacket that is older than most of these people. It didn't fit for the longest time, but now it does. I wear it with a flat cap and no trace of irony whatsoever. The weather is just getting there.
One of the strangest things that has ever happened to me is that I've aged into a double for Richard Attenborough minus the toothy gap, and I'm taking maximum advantage of it. People really respond to that look. I look in the mirror and ask, "who is that guy?" From a fashion standpoint, it's probably a stopped clock moment.
CNN reports on something I had to convince myself was not a joke.
I’m a bit familiar with this subculture and I think that even the people who take it seriously are still kind of joking. That is, it’s not that serious. It’s play.
I seem to have been wearing this attire for sixty years. Who knew
It seems like almost every horror movie has a scene in a library. It's a good expository device that gives information about the monster or the long ago grisly murder. The hero or heroine finds out about the ancient monster monsters in old books or about the murders in old newspapers or microfilm. It's usually late at night and the main character is all alone and the lights begin to flicker and maybe the monster or killer or ghost turns up or it suddenly gets very cold.
Gothic architecture, obviously goes with gothic horror, and if you can film at Oxford, so much the better. Old established universities and preparatory schools make good settings for horror and mysteries. I remember when the Harry Potter books were coming out and Guardian writers complained that Harry and the gang were going to musty old Hogwarts, instead of some modern comprehensive high school. They didn't understand the appeal of such settings.
But the idea that preppy fashion or 1940s collegiate wear has anything gothic or chilling about it is silly. Lazy fashion and lifestyle writing meets pop sociology and produces all kinds of nonsense.
Sorry, no human being can be taken seriously who writes "aggressively ordinary clothing."
This is like "aggressive beards and hairstyles"--elaborate decoding by amateur semiologists with too much time on their hands, nitwits who like to imagine themselves as subtle cultural observers.
Could R. Dennett be related to Daniel?
@Readering: yes, you can still buy detached collars from Amazon Dry Goods. No relation to Amazon.com.
https://www.amazondrygoods.com/categories/collars.html
And I still have my copy of "The Official Preppy Handbook", bought at some point in 1981. I was in junior high at the time. Many of the clothing options highlighted were SOP in preppy New England.
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