Dark Academia - anyone who loves this style?

[highlandcoo]

And where to find it?

This is how I want to dress this winter. More skirts and dresses rather than trousers as my waist is not the best and the trousers can look bulky unless you have a good waistline I think.

I love tweed and wool and flannel and autumn colours. Not black! Although brown is sometimes hard to find. Love brown leather for boots and bags. I really want to get away from jeans and chunky boots for a change.

I think I can knit some jumpers and cardigans. But I would love a big tweedy coat. I have a couple of really nice brown tweed hats from a shop in Edinburgh who made the hats for Peaky Blinders. But I need the right sort of coat to go with them. My long cosy puffy coat is cosy but totally wrong.

Any aficionados out there?

OP I’m totally loving this thread, thanks so much for starting. I’ve realised that I’ve been aiming for this aesthetic for many a winter and never achieving it. Now I have a name for the look I love so much. My problem is that I have big boobs (32GG) so it isn’t possible to buy a white business type shirt, which I would love. Bravissimo used to do clothes and had them but it doesn’t any more. I wonder how much it would cost to get one tailored? I’ve always coveted the cardigan that you see Elle Woods wearing at Harvard when she changes fashion to fit in.

Spotted this on Vinted, thought of this thread.
Hadn't considered the water bottles angle of DA!

https://www.vinted.co.uk/home/home-accessories/storage/boxes/2901555121-nautical-map-water-bottle-holder

Nice brogues:

I’ve just ordered these shoes https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/womens-mod-box/black-swa-2-mary-jane-shoes/p/25631673. Will see what they look like on, I do like ugly shoes

was in sainsburys earlier and some nice brown and autumnal coloured stuff there.

@NatashaDancing, grateful thanks for flagging up the TrustPilot rating. A timely reminder to me not to forget doing a bit of background research.

But @HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas those are plastic. The aesthetic of Dark Academia (I’ve been following this style for a couple of years) is luxury materials - real leather no matter how worn in, wool tweed, woollen jumpers and so on. Synthetic shoes don’t cut it, as well as being bad for your feet!

Basically, it’s a throwback to the 1980s - think Molly Ringwald and Winona Ryder and all those oversize blazers. I still have some Ralph Lauren design Vogue patterns for oversize blazers that are very relaxed at the shoulders teamed with pencil skirts and brogues.

Oh I hadn’t looked at the material, they’ll definitely be going back then. I do have some lovely leather Birkenstocks Mary janes which look similar but are slightly big and I was excited for something which looked the same. Tha5s disappointing but I don’t want non leather shoes.

This encapsulates DA well. About its wider culture and history, too.

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/9029/dark-academia-fashion-is-booming-in-2021

I'm an actual academic in the sciences, so my style reference is more Oppenheimer than Wednesday Addams.

Ha ha @StamppotAndGravy ! i'm an academic in the humanities, and I really admired the neatness & smartness of Oppenheimer's scientists (the film, that is). I have dressed in the "Dark Academia' way on & off for decades, although as a woman in the humanities, you're not supposed to care too much about the way you look. That's why this is such a fun, but completely made up, aesthetic.

You should all re-read The Secret History to see how it's really done!

I'm short and pear shaped and work in a formal workplace, so in winter I do a form-fitting variant on DA/librarian chic. I have a collection of fishtail midi tweed wool skirts from charity shops (mostly Hobbs, some Laura Ashley) which I wear with neat round necked jumpers. Ideally in moss greens and greys but charity shopping limits my choice of colours.

I really like this look. I can't wear any kind of wool though, or I scratch my skin off 🙁

Thanks so much to everyone who posted. Loads of ideas to explore, and the link to the old bohemian chic thread is really useful for more. It's also lovely to hear about the garments PPs remember fondly. It reminded me that I had a black silk blouse of my grandmother's (with pearl buttons I think) I wore until it literally fell apart. I loved it and still miss it.

Someone mentioned Droopy and Browns in Edinburgh - I think it was on Hanover or Frederick Street? Unfortunately I was a student with not much money at the time and used to glance up at its windows wistfully.

I'm now feeling energised to have a good sort through my wardrobe and it'll be fun this AW to try to track down more stuff I really want to wear. Charity shops round here have never proved very useful however I'm inspired to visit some vintage clothes fairs. There's one in Manchester this weekend if anyone lived in the NW and fancies a trawl ..

Oh, and a PP mentioned steampunk which I've always found an appealing look but probably veering too much towards fancy-dress for everyday wear. When I was a wee girl I really really wanted to live in an era where women wore long dresses, ideally with bustles. I still like that short jacket with nipped-in waist look.
Did anyone watch Sewing Bee and remember Clare who won a couple of years ago? She was a hospital consultant as well as a really talented seamstress and dressed almost exclusively in 40s style clothes; occasionally Edwardian.

I love that long skirt, bustle look. And the riding type jacket with a nipped in waist!

This thread is so inspiring, I never realised that look had a name!

They’re just clothes. You don’t have to follow lots of rules. I hate plastic shoes but people can surely wear them if they choose to.

I love steampunk style but it can veer towards fancy dress if not careful. So, for me, I would go with a jacket or a skirt with a nod to it, but not both.

I very much love this style as well so watching with keen interest.

I can't do wool either! It is cotton or cashmere and nothing else here. And even cashmere isn't tolerable on bare skin.

Love this style, though. I'm not very good with skirts but have a few really wide pairs of culottes and trousers, mainly from Toast, which fit in well.

Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fairs dates:

SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER - Chelsea Old Town Hall
SUNDAY 22ND OCTOBER 2023 - Kensington Town Hall
SUNDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2023 - Chelsea Old Town Hall

Good for a nose round and souce of inspiration, even if no £s to spend.

Happy hunting 🙂

*source

🙄

A practical rain cape, for the inevitable wet weather ahead:

I do like that cape. But I like the earlier long green one with the hood even more! It's got that Amanda Lamb Scottish Widows ad vibe which I loved.

Yes! And Meryl Streep as The French Lieutenant's Woman?

I used to waft around back in 1990 in a full length black velvet cloak. I probably looked a total dick, but I was a thin and young dick.

any photos Remus?

‘Sadly’ not!