Dark Academia 2 - the conversation continues..

[highlandcoo]

Hello again to everyone from the last thread and welcome to anyone who enjoys talking about this aesthetic .. and if you have photos to share even better!

We've been discussing woollen jumpers, tweed skirts and jackets (with and without elbow patches), flannel trousers, fair isle tank tops, leather boots, culottes, berets and many other appealing garments, and more recently novels, poetry, libraries in general and even home decor with a DA vibe. Plus tortoiseshell spectacles and lorgnettes. I don't think we've touched on DA hairstyles yet although I've been giving that some thought ..

A DA quote I came across the other day: "I declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library." (P&P of course)

If curling up in a wing-backed armchair in front of a log fire, with candles flickering, sipping tea from a china mug while reading your Jane Austen or Bronte novel sounds appealing, this thread might be for you. Or if you just like the clothes - that works too.

Our first thread below:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/4861009-dark-academia-anyone-who-loves-this-style?page=39&reply=129785046

I have images of the actual case notes for one of my C19th relatives, kindly copied for me by archive staff. They're quite brief, and sketch a sad, protracted end to a very full life.

I was quite cut up reading them, having followed said relly's life through their triumphs and disasters from childhood.

The expertise on this thread is awe inspiring. This started out with a love of velvet jackets and hats!

Oh my lady was a Miss. I hope she wasn’t committed for getting pregnant.

Perhaps.
Eliot ended the relationship in a brutal, cold manner whilst he was away, giving her no chance to ask questions, or come to terms with it.
He and her brother had her committed when she became 'embarrassing'.
Why the hell a brother can commit a woman, I am speechless.

I've started something! Hat names. If anyone admires my hats, I often tell them the name. Sometimes they understand.....

Oh I may have an untrodden area on Woolf, if you know anyone who's interested. Or rather, an untrodden area on the Bloomsbury Group as a whole.

It's one of my many Found Somethings, but I'll never get round to writing it up, and as the cliché goes, "There's a PhD in that for someone."

I'd love to have someone on whom to dump my data and run!

Yes, God forbid a woman should have emotions that might inconvenience men. Have you read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? A young mother, incarcerated in the attic (yes, the madwoman in the attic) by her husband because she's clearly suffering with post natal depression. She is unable to be his usual charming, sociable wife so she's locked away.

So, today's DA outfit is very outside my comfort zone, but I love the leg o mutton sleeves. It's from Zara and a lovely thick, smooth fabric.

I like it! Sounds French, which is in keeping with the style of hat. In fact, I may go whole hog and call it Vivienne Dubois...

Love Maurice for your Panama. I think he and Vivienne would hit it off!

Gorgeous @Bookist! The sleeves are lovely and I love the neck line too.

Oh thank you. I'm a little nervous wearing it out and about this afternoon. But then I remembered that as a 50+ woman I am officially invisible, so it's absolutely fine x

Yes, picked it up at a CBS when I was early 20's; never forgotten it.

I studied it at university and found it really chilling and horrific x

Wild storm outside and so I'm having a very DA sort of day on the sofa, woodburner on, Liberty candle flickering on the mantelpiece. My garb is less DA, save for the disreputable mens' cashmere cardigan with a moth hole in one cuff.

I'm working - in theory - but I have a Netflix series on in the background - The Deceived. V on-brand for us. Cambridge student, Ophelia falls for her married professor, follows him to remote Irish country house where she discovers the funeral of his dead wife in progress. But like Gaslight, although I'm only on first ep and finding Ophelia a bit gulible to be honest.

However, Ophelia has excellent outfits - mini kilt, oversized coat, lace up boots and a satchel - and the overall tone of brooding menace is delightfully creepy.

Also, the dead wife was a writer with a very nice study and shares my love of plotting via a vast grid of post-it notes. Colour-coded too!

on the sofa, woodburner on, Liberty candle flickering on the mantelpiece

This sounds lovely!

@BurningTheToast, will give that Netflix series a go tonight - thank you. Have also got that Kill the Darlings film lined up on Amazon Prime. You people are brilliant at giving recommendations for all sorts of things - thank you tribe 🙏

Very stormy here too, but I gave Vivienne Dubois her first outing today. To Tescos 😂. Wore skinny indigo jeans (controversial for DA purists I know), a dark green jumper, ox-blood DM boots, a herringbone grey coat, and topped it off with the vivacious cranberry beret.

No one batted an eyelid, which was slightly disappointing. I half expected someone to come up, flash me their brooch, and give me a secret DA handshake...

Back at home now with a big mug of tea and a blanket over my knees with the dog snoring beside me. I should really go and do some emails but...nah.

@TressiliansStone ooh, I'd be interested in hearing about your Woolf-adjacent Untrodden Area! (I've been lurking on this thread, as an English grad who has always specialised in long, full skirts - I actually used to live around the corner from Droopy & Browns - boots of various lengths and long, dramatic coats...)

@mightymalties I almost wish I hadn't clicked on your Oxford Experiences link - they look amazing!

Me too.

Very heavy rain against the window, so feeling doubly cosy inside with candle lit and this book to dive into x

I've been out out - with Dh we've walked the dog via our fave pub. It has Def DA , Goth vibes, Victorian , dark green walls , candle lit . I wore a long skirt , wool rust coloured jumper chunky boots and my Joules tweed blazer. Home now , will check out the net flix recommendations .

Going against the grain I don't really like the Richard Osman books ,not sure why maybe a bit obvious . Sorry .
I'm not at all academ

Oops posted too soon , I'm not really academic , I eventually did a degree in my 30s (midwifery) it was tough I'm retired now. I do belong to a book club maybe I'll put forward the wall paper book, dd read it for Alevel I think and said it was good.

I'd highly recommend The Yellow Wallpaper for your book group because it's short (only a novella really) but still has such depth and resonance.

I get what you mean about The Thursday Murder Club, it's not exactly multi-textured. But sometimes I just really enjoy a gentle, page turner x

Such a lot of interesting discussions - I can't keep up! Welcome to all our new participants .. I can't namecheck everyone but I'm really enjoying the conversations.

Loving the hats with names! And your photos @Bookist. I was an English Lit student too; hated the first year, liked the second better and just loved the third and fourth. I got to choose what period to focus on for the final two years, and so could get immersed in massive Victorian novels - still my favourite. If your daughter is still in the early stages of her degree she might like it better as time goes on?

@triggers34 your outfit sounds great. So does your pub. I loved your skirts in the photo.

@mightymalties an Oxford summer school would be brilliant! I might seriously investigate the possibility .. and I'm also considering the Persephone festival in Bath next spring. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a small publisher who focus on previously popular but now neglected women writers. Some lovely novels, which we often discuss on the Slightly Dated thread on What We're Reading, if that appeals.

I like classic literature and modern literary fiction best, but I like a good whodunit too. I usually read a different type of crime novel - nothing too grisly though - however I've enjoyed the Thursday Club series too and in fact I've just been writing a review of the first one. We have a talking newspaper and magazine - for visually impaired people - in our town and I sometimes interview people for it. I've just become their monthly book reviewer too. Will be fun I think.

In other, clothes-related news, I finally visited Lanx Shoes in the Northern Quarter of Manchester to look for boots. It's a small shop with a limited selection but everything is such good quality and the guy was very friendly. The Dinckley were my favourite boots; maybe in brown leather; maybe in nubuck .. Unfortunately they didn't fit me 😥- I have a tricky left foot with an enlarged big toe joint (let's not use the B word!) and they were just a touch tight on that foot. Having tried hard to convince myself that they were OK really, I had to be sensible and not buy them. Disappointing! But I recommend the shop, and their larger branch at Whalley which would have a bigger choice.

Today I'm off to a craft fair so we'll see what that brings. And tomorrow I'm turfing out my wardrobe which I've been putting off but simply must be done!