Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Dark Academia 2 - the conversation continues..

982 replies

highlandcoo · 09/10/2023 00:08

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

Page 39 | Dark Academia - anyone who loves this style? | Mumsnet

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 trous...

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
151
venus7 · 12/10/2023 20:04

mightymalties · 12/10/2023 15:08

@SerafinasGoose I could wax lyrical with you all day long about the death of academia (as we used to know it). I will order the Fleming book, and hope it will further fuel the fire in my belly to counteract the extinction of the liberal arts. While I'm not a university affiliated academic, I do try to play some small part from my isolated little corner of the world in a particularly niche area.

On a more positive note, while today's excursion around the charity shops drew no suitably DA clothing, I did manage to pick up a hardback first edition of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - for a pound! It had to go in my bag of course, despite already owning the paperback, Kindle and audiobook editions. Opinions may differ as to whether JS&Mr.N is actually "dark academia", but for me it is a classic, with the extensive footnotes, illustrations and luscious narrative style.

For those averse to fantasy, in DA lit, I would highly recommend If We Were Villains by ML Rio. My guilty pleasure is listening to Ian Carmichael narrate the Peter Whimsey stories, although I am partial to a bit of Christie. Does anyone else enjoy the new Poirot films?

You mean Branagh's? Yes, though I haven't yet seen the latest.
I spent my birthday at Greenway; seems to have been a very happy house.
I am not an academic, but I do live in a university town; it's like living near oil/tech/asset stripping industries.

BonjourCrisette · 12/10/2023 20:37

@mightymalties JS & Mr N is one of my absolute favourite books ever. What a bargain!

BonjourCrisette · 12/10/2023 20:39

@Notsosecrethistory

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitted-Sweater-Sleeveless-Jumpers-Knitwear/dp/B09GY37F5M/

Any good?

Iamanunsafebuilding · 12/10/2023 20:52

I went down the rabbit-hole of putting DA into an Amazon search, I needed £4.06 for free postage on an order! Ordered myself a DA notebook to add to the black crystal chain for my glasses

evtheria · 12/10/2023 21:00

@BonjourCrisette @mightymalties If we're lauding Susannah Clarke can I just state I absolutely loved Piranesi! I don't know what it was about that book, but I think I got quite obsessed with the setting because every so often (literally every few days) I like to imagine I'm in the halls, traveling among the statues with water lapping at my ankles...

(I'll just show myself off to a dark corner now...)

evtheria · 12/10/2023 21:00

*Susanna, sorry!

Purpleavocado · 12/10/2023 21:06

I love the audible version of Piranesi, I have Jonathan Strange to listen to, I will bump it up my list.
I bought some lovely notebooks from the Habitat range in Sainsbury's today

mightymalties · 12/10/2023 21:49

evtheria · 12/10/2023 21:00

@BonjourCrisette @mightymalties If we're lauding Susannah Clarke can I just state I absolutely loved Piranesi! I don't know what it was about that book, but I think I got quite obsessed with the setting because every so often (literally every few days) I like to imagine I'm in the halls, traveling among the statues with water lapping at my ankles...

(I'll just show myself off to a dark corner now...)

Have you read JS&Mr.N? I can't help but wonder if those halls are somehow connected to The King's Roads...

I do so love the dreamlike quality of Piranesi! I'm the proud owner of a signed copy, and a tote bag I was lucky to receive for pre-ordering! I believe there was a dramatised, abridged audio edition from BBC sounds which was rather nice, but haven't yet listened to my audible version.

@venus7 yes! I was lucky that DS took me to see A Haunting in Venice for my birthday. Orient Express remains my favourite of the three, though many of the women's outfits in A Haunting provided much-needed inspiration!

BonjourCrisette · 12/10/2023 22:36

@mightymalties @evtheria

Also a massive Piranesi fan. TBH, I would just like her to turn out a book every week or so.

TressiliansStone · 12/10/2023 23:14

I may possibly be tempted by you bad, bad people to buy a tweed jacket.

Some nice Joules ones on eBay, but could some kind soul advise on sizing?

I'm bust 38, usually a size 14, and there's a 14 described as 42" across the chest.
There's a size 10 described as 20.5" across the chest.

Is Joules usually on the large side?

triggers34 · 13/10/2023 08:55

@TressiliansStone
I have a tweed Joules blazer , I'm quite busty 36 GG its size 16 and fits just right . I'm normally a size 16 .

For those of you that mentioned Anne of Green Gables have you seen Anne with an e on Netflix?

I loved all the books mentioned and would add Watership down and The thorn Birds (nicked off my mum)

Off to Falmouth today there is apparently another of those retro charity shops - will report back.

venus7 · 13/10/2023 09:49

triggers34 · 13/10/2023 08:55

@TressiliansStone
I have a tweed Joules blazer , I'm quite busty 36 GG its size 16 and fits just right . I'm normally a size 16 .

For those of you that mentioned Anne of Green Gables have you seen Anne with an e on Netflix?

I loved all the books mentioned and would add Watership down and The thorn Birds (nicked off my mum)

Off to Falmouth today there is apparently another of those retro charity shops - will report back.

I live in Falmouth! Where are you coming from?
I know the shop you mean...it's O.K., but was excellent before it moved from Penryn. Huge then, brilliant for haberdashery and furniture.

triggers34 · 13/10/2023 10:40

@venus7 coming from a campsite near Hayle. It's the oyster festival I think , our last day today - my hair will be pleased 😂

TressiliansStone · 13/10/2023 10:58

Thanks @triggers34, that helps.

teawamutu · 13/10/2023 14:56

Today's outfit:
Dark blue linen grandad tee
Grey wool slimcut trousers (a make from a vintage Clothkits kit)
Flat burgundy boots from Bata with ribbon laces
Liberty waistcoat in Strawberry Thief print
Blue velvet jacket

Feel slightly like a cosplayer, but am having fun 😀

RedLem0nade · 13/10/2023 15:42

@teawamutu that sounds fabulous! Any photos? The idea of a strawberry thief waistcoat fills me with joy😊

Divebar2021 · 13/10/2023 15:58

I love Strawberry Thief too but for me I’d use it in an interior more - I don’t do much print in clothes.

I went to see Hamnet last night at the theatre… we gave it a 3 out of 5. I was a tiny bit disappointed. I was waiting to be devastated at the key scene but it didn’t reflect the way I imagined it on reading the book. My friends had seen Vanya with Andrew Scott ( I believe) and thought it was brilliant. I don’t do many plays ( for reference I wore high waisted black trousers, cream silk shirt and dark red pointy boots)

RedLem0nade · 13/10/2023 16:11

That’s a shame @Divebar2021 I love Hamnet (the book that is).

I’m not one for prints on clothing either but I could make an exception for a waistcoat. I’m quite tempted by the idea of a flamboyant brocaded one to contrast with the my other sober DA ware.

Iamanunsafebuilding · 13/10/2023 16:25

@TressiliansStone I have what was my Grandad's Harris Tweed jacket, it must be 45 or 50 years old! And I have a brooch on it 😇

TressiliansStone · 13/10/2023 17:10

Envy <-envy

evtheria · 13/10/2023 17:14

@Divebar2021 Love the sound of your simple yet elegant theatre outfit. Play: 3/5. You: 5/5.

teawamutu · 13/10/2023 21:59

RedLem0nade · 13/10/2023 15:42

@teawamutu that sounds fabulous! Any photos? The idea of a strawberry thief waistcoat fills me with joy😊

Here it is - £5 from Vinted.

Dark Academia 2 - the conversation continues..
TressiliansStone · 13/10/2023 21:59

I have just finished transcribing the household inventory of an C18th sea captain. So in case anyone's interest in home decor stretches that far back, I can tell you that in Scotland in 1763, it's à la mode to have matching check curtains for your windows and your four-poster bed.

Our captain's taste in literature encompassed The Spectator, the works of African Roman playwright Terence, Seneca's Morals, Manton's Sermons... and Memoirs of a Man of Pleasure. He was also teaching himself bookkeeping, Low Dutch and fencing - presumably with his silver hilted sword (value: ten shillings).

TressiliansStone · 13/10/2023 22:02

Oh teawamutu! 😍

Mirabai · 13/10/2023 22:04

TressiliansStone · 13/10/2023 21:59

I have just finished transcribing the household inventory of an C18th sea captain. So in case anyone's interest in home decor stretches that far back, I can tell you that in Scotland in 1763, it's à la mode to have matching check curtains for your windows and your four-poster bed.

Our captain's taste in literature encompassed The Spectator, the works of African Roman playwright Terence, Seneca's Morals, Manton's Sermons... and Memoirs of a Man of Pleasure. He was also teaching himself bookkeeping, Low Dutch and fencing - presumably with his silver hilted sword (value: ten shillings).

How fascinating.

Swipe left for the next trending thread