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

Lurker on the other thread.
Wool and tweed skirts plus fitted cardigans in muted colours is going to be my autumn look. And the Jenna boots from Air and Grace.

This is what I wear most days! With a few coffee stains on the shirt.

Any good tweed wide legs on the high street?

https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/tweed-pleated-wide-leg-trousers-462077.html?dwvar_462077_color=COL37&dwvar_462077_size=INS024

Uniqlo has these but I think we may have missed the boat on the sizes. M&S have some nice grey pleated trousers in Autograph for £89!!!! £89!!!!!! What the hell is going on there? . I can buy Jaeger trousers for £99. Cos have some for £110 but they’re flared not wide leg.

@theduchessofspork I know! you're quite right; Caroline Bingley is dreadful. Still a good quote though. If when we get to thread 3, I'll come up with a different one 😊

@Divebar2021 when I lived in London, not that long ago, I noticed that the way people dressed was quite different from other large UK cities I'd lived in. Much much less "dressed up" for a night out; quite pared down but more stylish at the same time. I never quite mastered the look..

@Notsosecrethistory Your comment did make me smile. Well done for braving the school run in your beret!

@Bookist I do like the sound of your hair. I don't think I will ever go short but I love a sharp short hairstyle on other women.

@Divebar2021 also, re going to the theatre, I was watching The Cazalets the other night and it reminded me of how people used to dress up to go to watch a play. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Hamnett as I really enjoyed the book.

Gudrun Sjoden have some at the moment if you don't mind online (unless you live near their store)

@Cinnamonandcoal I hadn't heard of Air and Grace but I like the look of their KIki boots in navy suede. I'm due to visit Lanx boots in Manchester soon though. How many pairs of boots is too many??

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a brilliant short story called 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair' about a young woman in the 1920s deciding to go from long to short hair.

Another book quote. 'People tell me life's the thing, but I prefer reading'.
Logan Pearsall Smith.
I'm so pleased this thread is continuing!

Me too so I’m sharing your pain. 5 ft nothing, been told (HOC style day) exceptionally narrow shoulders, 36 GG chest.
Thank you for the new thread.
Hair. Well I started to go grey in my early twenties, family trait, & by mid thirties had gone from redhead to complete white. Never grey, it’s completely snow white. Have it shoulder length, aim is smooth & stylish, reality is messy, slight wave, curls at bottom which is at least forgiving enough for me to cut it myself. Haven’t stepped inside a hairdresser since just after my son was born ( he turns 50 this year 😳, how did that happen!) after a recommended upmarket salon chopped my waist length hair into something that would have done a Teddy Boy( remember them? ) proud.
Currently regretting sending three cord mid calf skirts to the charity shop.

I was going to mention that story; you beat me to it.
Any hair seems to work; when I was young, lots of thick dark chestnut....often called a witch by cheeky boys, which I liked. Now, greying, still long, usually in a messy bun or Edwardian topknot, wide at the sides.
Too busy reading 'I capture the castle' to care.

I Capture the Castle is one of my best-beloved books of all time. I've got a lovely version with a testimonial from JK Rowling: something along the lines of this book having the most charismatic narrator she's ever met.

In more clothesy news, I've just bought a bundle from Vinted including a caramel blazer, a cream pleated mid-calf skirt, and a belted beige sweater from & Other Stories. Somebody stop me...

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Genuinely vintage, published in 1889.
Not all DA books have to be deadly serious & this is one of the funniest books ever written, brilliant. 😁

Talking about dressing up to go to the theatre, I remember my very first theatre visit (excluding pantos, school trips to Stratford, student am dram etc. I took myself to see Cosi Fan Tutte at a "proper" theatre - i.e. not the Burton-Taylor or a college chapel - in Oxford. I wore an emerald velvet skirt suit from the 70s cut to mini length, which I think was quite DA avant la lettre. I was dressing up in both senses of the phrase: trying to look formal and appropriate for the occasion (and noticing belatedly that everyone else under 60 was wearing jeans) and trying to costume myself as someone I aspired to be but hadn't been allowed to be at home, someone cultured who appreciated the finer things in life. (I'm sounding like Harold Steptoe now but that really was still the dynamic in working class families, even if my parents didn't eat pickled onions while bathing in a metal bucket.)

Out of interest, did the look have a name before the young 'uns coined "Dark Academia"? I would have gone with "young fogey" which I was happy to identify as, but (at least) a quarter of a century has passed, and "old fogey" sounds rather less aspirational. ;) There was also "geek chic" which I liked, but it had less to do with looking swotty and more to do with geometric printed crimplene from the 60s and 70s.

Today's buys: a fitted navy blazer and several black polo neck beatnik tops which emo DD2 will probably nick. What are your thoughts on navy as a DA colour? It's more plentiful than brown in these parts, and people seem to have an aversion to green.

I live remote moors within a forty minute drive of their Whalley place but never been, hadn’t even heard of them till this thread! Need to go & investigate

Brexile

perhaps Blue Stocking was apt?

@Divebar2021 when I lived in London, not that long ago, I noticed that the way people dressed was quite different from other large UK cities I'd lived in. Much much less "dressed up" for a night out; quite pared down but more stylish at the same time. I never quite mastered the look

I think it’s a capital city thing as Paris and NY are the same.

As a born Londoner I have a horror of looking too try hard.

I must confess, I have never read this and feel it's an absolute necessity for a commited Dark Academic <orders yet another book>

I Capture the Castle ordered, along with a burgundy beret. I NEED to stop spending now!

In other news, I went onto our Neighbourhood Watch WhatsApp to ask for recommendations for a local seamstress to take up my lovely taupe linen Phase 8 wide leg trousers. Based on the responses, I found someone very local and have had a fitting and left the trousers in for altering. I'm very excited to collect them next week!

As an aside, our Neighbourhood Watch is run by a very diligent and up-standing ex-policeman. The WhatsApp group was meant to be for us to share info on any dodgy strangers in the area, or pass on tips for home security.

Instead, it's become a place to ask after your lost cat, tell everyone about interesting bird sightings in the park, and offer up gluts of homegrown fruit and veg on a first come first served basis. Every so often ex-policeman comes on to gently chide us and suggest we set up a separate group for such chat (I bet he says "frivolous chat" in his head). We all politely ignore him and crack on talking about excellent plumbers and the like...

Love your anecdote about the theatre visit - I think most of us can relate to the self-consciousness and abject desire to fit in or even impress when we were teenagers!

I would have called myself young fogey if I'd thought about it much. And that would have been as much to do with my hobbies and preferences (jigsaws, novels, films, poetry, radio 4 all day every day, studying different historical periods in my spare time - I sound riveting don't I 😂) as style.

I absolutely consider navy to be a DA colour. If I may be bold, I think there is more depth and glamour to a really rich dark indigo or blue than black or grey. I also think that you can pair jewel colours with dark navy and look way more edgy than if you'd paired them with black. Someone on the last thread had said they really didn't like strong colours with black trousers and I agree wholeheartedly. Controversial?? I'm getting very prescriptive in my old age 🤣

@Brexile I'm not averse to green, I love it. And navy, although it doesn't suit me so I buy French navy instead.

I def consider navy an essential shade, sometimes the blacks just don't match and ruins the look of my outfit! Plus it pairs beautifully with other colours - the acid yellows or the charcoal greys...

Enjoying the thought that we seen to have a DA Essentials checklist going:
• Is your style icon dead? Of old age (they lived a century+ ago) or of mysterious/tragic circumstances, either is fine.
• Is your hair is naturally greying? Bonus points. Otherwise, crop it all off in the meantime.
• Do you own a beret?
• Have you read/do you own a copy of: I Capture the Castle, The Secret History, P&P, etc?
• Did your childhood consist of pretending to be Harriet the Spy, or waiting for a robin to show you a hidden garden door?
• Does your delight in the autumn months make those around you grumpy, despite all the offers of hot drinks and books you offer them? Carry on.

And so on...

This is a lovely thread, which has inspired me to spend a small fortune on Vinted. As most of that was profit from selling some Wool& dresses, I'm happy. I've bought some lovely little short jackets that don't make me look like a child in her Dad's jacket, and cord skirts.
As I child I was a bit obsessed with the Narnia books, the Secret Garden, Little Women, the Little Princess and Ballet Shoes - certainly nothing set during the actual time I read them (the 70s), which probably explains a lot!

I love navy and forest green. A bitter chocolate is also good although im
still partial to black.

As regards dressing up to go out - I was born and raised in the East Midlands and lived in Nottingham for a few years. It was always dressed up on a Friday and Saturday night. I’ve lived in London and the South East for 20 years and I still have the urge to dress up for special occasions. I went to the ballet at the Royal Opera house ( which cost me £££) and sat next to someone in ripped jeans. What a wasted opportunity. ( I was wearing a long kimono type robe and silver boots) I have nice clothes so im
going to wear them
given the opportunity . If I’m off to Ronnie Scott’s I’m channelling jazz club. If I go to the Tate Im getting the geek glasses and something a bit edgier on. The best bit about London / big cities is other people not giving a shit. It’s just for me walking the fine line between dressed up and “chill”.