Dark Academia 3 - de vestibus agamus - 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!

Now that the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, it might be time to start considering our autumn and winter wardrobes.

Last year as well as discussing leather lace-up boots, vintage handbags, antique brooches and many other desirable items, we pondered how to successfully pursue a DA aesthetic at work, at the theatre and generally out and about (without straying into Carry On Librarian territory, as one PP memorably commented)
I learned about the Wrong Shoe Concept, and the Third Thing Rule .. every day is a school day!

However DA is much more than clothes, and we also shared our favourite childhood books .. memories of robins leading us through gates into secret gardens, the fiery red-haired independence of Anne of Green Gables, and our longing to go to boarding school, get into scrapes and partake in midnight feasts.

Thanks to our erudite posters, we learned about romantic Scottish history exploits recorded in 18th century documents, and considered the injustice of male family members being able to lock up women whose emotions became inconvenient, as well as discussing many inspiring women both in RL and in film.

And we debated the most DA place we've ever visited .. Oxford and Edinburgh featured strongly; in fact there was a suggestion that a perfect place for our DA AGM would be The Witchery in Edinburgh ..

If curling up in a wing-backed chair in front of a log fire, with candles flickering, sipping tea from a china mug while reading Pride and Prejudice or A Room of One's Own sounds appealing, this thread might be for you. Or if you just like the clothes, that works too.

Couldn’t resist sharing this, if anyone’s still here:

www.bonfieldblockprinters.com/collections/garments

Absolutely beautiful coats with block prints of animals, etc. printed on the linings!

P.S. Should we start a Thread? Or a Substack? Both are quite good for casual chats where people drop in with a comment when they want, but I’m personally not too sure how the latter works.

Oh wow. Lovely.

Yes, still here.

After thinking it through, I decided I wasn't going to give up using MN for the important stuff (I occasionally post in newsy or political-ish stuff under other names).

So it would make no sense for me to only give up the fun, life-enhancing stuff.

I haven't checked the latest on the threads about wrong use of quotations, but last I looked Justine had made a heartfelt mea culpa and – more importantly – said they were going through fixing it.

So while I would prefer them to have got it right first time around and been on top of what staff were doing, MNHQ don't seem to be performing worse than many other companies I use.

Sorry, that was a great long spiel. TL;DR, I'll continue to use MN.

Others' mileage will vary, of course. @MurdoMunro I'll miss you if you go permanently – I've noticed you as a general fount of good sense across the boards. But totally respect your decision if you feel you have to.

@Notsosecrethistory , I need to hear about your "things to discuss".

And apparently I teased you all and then failed with my photo upload.

My new toy is this.

It's already proving its worth on my eBay haul where buttonholes haven't been worn-in properly, so to speak.

Lovely words, thank you @TressiliansStone. I haven’t deleted and have been reading posts occasionally for just the same reasons as you, but not posting, I’m so wary of Mumsnet at the moment and not just about the fabricated promotions. No need to go into that here though, the subject has got its own thread/s.

So, dark ackies, it’s gone gloomy and wet. That makes leaving the house an altogether simpler and more satisfying sartorial experience eh? I did snap up a long length, linen mix dress, high neckline, spaghetti straps, in dark chocolate brown with nice clean lines (no frills, bows or other nonsense) which went straight in the suitcase for holidays next week.

Those coats are absolutely stunning! I’ve just ordered one of these, which has a slightly less terrifying price tag:

https://lapetitealice.com/shop/278037/oversized-coat-lilly/

I’ve ordered the amber yellow with camomile embroidery.

Is anyone else already sick of summer dressing? I’m missing my coats, boots, hats, scarves, jumpers, etc…

@weareallcatsLove that coat - the long fall of the back is beautiful.

I think I had just gotten round to find my way of dressing nicely in 23-27° when the weather turned where I am! Now back to early autumn-wear. But my happy spot is ‘cool enough to wear a jacket, mild enough to flash the ankles’, so can’t complain really.

What do dark academics wear in hot weather?

A general air of discontent (it isn’t autumn), impatience (can’t wait for that one glorious autumn week when it’s dry and golden), and delicateness (will I actually make it to autumn…?)

In all seriousness, though: I personally have just a few hot-weather outfits that make me feel put-together and happy. Mostly charcoal grey/black, but I’ve found Tencel fabric is lovely to keep cool, so I’ve got a few loose ‘camp collar, short-sleeved shirts’ and a mini-dress with 3/4 sleeves. I’ll also wear old tees (band, etc) tucked into cotton chinos or a specific, airy midaxi skirt. For shoes it’s usually some black sandals with wide straps, verging on ugly. Black shades, always. I’d love one of those elegant bamboo parasols, but the sight of one would cause a car pileup and a lengthy pisstake on my local NextDoor page.
The rest of the time I’m in non-DA with plain white tees or an oversized white shirt, chino shorts. Luckily (?) hot weather is pretty short lived in these parts!

Whenever I see linen in our palette I snap em up. I got some chocolate brown trousers from Uniqlo and a dress from M&S this year. I have to go to Mallorca a couple of times a year (family) and there is a shop there I pick up lovely simple linen and soft cotton tops from, I’ve found Spain in general a good source for hot weather clothing in dark colours.

Ooh, is this back? Great. I’ve lost 3 stone since I saw you last, and I can’t wait for autumn and a tonne of inspiration for a new DA wardrobe.

Currently wearing a lot of white!

I mostly wear dark coloured cotton midi/maxi dresses - some from Toast, also like the starlight dress from Nobody’s Child. I have several pairs of velvet Mary Jane’s on rotation. I desperately miss my fabulous coats, jumpers, boots, scarves and hats.

"A general air of discontent"
YESSS
Hahaha...
For me at the moment it's silky black wide legs and cropped band tees.
Or midi/maxi skirts which are crying out for my boots and tights... (soon, my pretties, soon...)
Still got no outfit to wear for a 'hotter than the sun' wedding in July

I was just thinking about starting a thread to find out what the DAs were wearing at the moment, and then I remembered this one. I've read this one 'cover to cover', but only contributed once or twice.

My style is a bit of a mixture... Not hard-cord DA (my phone just autocorrected that to hard-cords, which I thought was quite appropriate!). But very much leaning in that direction in autumn and winter. I'm generally a mish-mash of DA, bohemian, whimsy-goth. I'm a pale-skinned red-head, and suit (and love) black, brown, dark purple, dark red, dark green (all the usual for DA I guess).

In summer, I love Indian cotton block-printed long skirts, with fitted, dark, plain, or funky t shirts. Also cotton, linen or silk maxi dresses sometimes, or loose/baggy/wide legged trousers with a t-shirt or vest top, sometimes with a short kimono or loose open short-sleeved blouse/shirt over the top if I need to hide from the sun. I wear straw or leather wide-brimmed hats, and leather sandals or pumps. But I tend to wear boots all summer long (to quote Stevie Nicks) if I can get away with it.

Come back to the thread everyone! I love reading this.

I see my phone autocorrected 'hard-core' to 'hard-cord' for a second time! It's determined and perhaps missing my cord clothing just as much as me!

Ha to hard-cord 😆 I can definitely get behind (in) that!

I’m also a soft-cord (half-cord, bi-cord, ambi-cord?) dark academic. Not on the DA to Goth pathway. But I’m all on on the dark jewel and autumnal colour palette, love to layer up cotton under garments with wool weaves, good boots, substantial leather bag and a beret on top.

I manage OK in the summer, I actually really like summer. I stick with the same palette, just more cotton/linen less tweed.

And finally, not wealthy, church mouse academic style for me. But I do like to covet - then stalk Vinted for - many of the things people show here.

A reply... Wonderful!

Ha! I Iike half-cord the best I think. So that's me then... Half-cord DA. I actually quite like summer too. It took me a while to get here though. I moved down south from Scotland, and it took me all of about nine years to get used to the heat here. I still love autumn (and winter!) the best, but there is a lot about summer I enjoy too, so I view the heatwaves as the price I have to pay for those things!

I should add... I wear (cotton) scarves in summer too, but in the intense heat (above about 28 degrees), they are soaked in water. I have a dark green and black, cotton scarf from Skye Batiks, that works so well for this. Keeps me very cool.

And yes... Ebay, Vinted, charity shops. These are my style stomping grounds.

I’m also a Scotland to England transplant, agree that the summers took some getting used to, and much love to Skye Batiks, they have some luscious pieces!

I always stop at House of Bruar on my way back from home trips. The seconds and sale shed up at the back there has often done me well. I’m not far from the Smedley’s Factory shop where I live now, if anyone is passing through Derbyshire I recommend popping in.

@Somethingsnapped your wardrobe sounds year-round awesome, and not dissimilar to mine. Boots with everything!

Absolutely! As long as they're not lined with something furry, which a lot mine are as I get cold feet in the winter. It's going to get to over 30 degrees where I am this weekend though, so I sadly might have to draw the boot/sandal line there.

Who’s watched The Residence on Netflix? I’m getting ahead of things and stalking Vinted for my Cordelia Cupp A/W wardrobe update.

Ooh, I've not heard of it... I'm off to have a look!

It's on my watch list!

It’s a lot of fun. Detective Cupp is my new professional, style and all over attitude role model.

I have been taken by the idea of bloomers to go under long skirts for autumn/winter. Probably shortie, ruffled, cotton. What do we think?

I know Kindred of Ireland do rather nice ones, but as outerwear, plus they are £££…