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Dark Academia 3 - de vestibus agamus - the conversation continues

840 replies

highlandcoo · 02/10/2024 22:17

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) Grin
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.

OP posts:
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Somethingsnapped · 01/09/2025 15:40

Happy sigh here too! I just got back from a long walk with my (4) children and my nephew. We had all the weather (except snow), warm sun, strong winds and rain squalls where we all got throughly soaked. Picked blackberries in the rain. Rejoicing in the first day of autumn.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 01/09/2025 18:58

Watching this thread as I didn't realise my outfits had a theme! I always assumed I was a bit of a Rachel Berry type: checked skirts, MJs, high neck jumpers. Not embraced it much over summer but my season is coming up now :)

Arraminta · 03/09/2025 20:22

So happy it's September too. I've just opened a new bottle of Clinique's Aromatic Elixir which I think is the quintessential Dark Academia perfume.

evtheria · 03/09/2025 20:46

Saw this today and thought of us 😬 Happy September to everyone gleefully getting their best candles, turtlenecks, and/or reading lists ready!

Dark Academia 3 - de vestibus agamus - the conversation continues
TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 20:59

Oh dear. I do feel a little bad for the summer people.

Only a little bad.Grin

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 21:00

Arraminta · 03/09/2025 20:22

So happy it's September too. I've just opened a new bottle of Clinique's Aromatic Elixir which I think is the quintessential Dark Academia perfume.

I'm making notes...

Arraminta · 03/09/2025 21:15

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 21:00

I'm making notes...

My Mum always wore it from September to March, so it's the smell of my childhood Winters.

Apparently, its distinctive top note is 'chypre'? I like to think it's what the robes of a Persian queen would smell like?

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 21:24

Oh what a lovely association!

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 21:28

weareallcats · 01/09/2025 10:30

My dd has a similar skirt from Disturbia - it is much better quality than I was expecting, a really good buy.

Celebrating the first day of the ‘ber months by eating a bacon, Brie and chilli jam panini, drinking a coffee with maple and pecan syrup and wearing burnt orange and a brown cord blazer. I’m already well into the reading of gothic and ghost stories (not sure I stopped for the summer tbh). Off to my piano lesson in a minute - currently learning In The Mists by Janacek.

Going to a workshop to make a wicker hare for the garden soon and also plotting a spooky London trip with a friend and our dds - the woman in black, ghost stories, Highgate and the cage at Gordon’s is what we have so far. Dd and I didn’t make it to Edinburgh over the summer, so think we will try for an autumn trip instead.

Flipping love autumn - it’s such a joy to see the leaves turning.

Can I admit that I'm contemplating an entirely gratuitous trip to Edinburgh, date to be decided.

I don't know if you would fancy a short meet-up somewhere central and probably during the day? Just for a coffee or something?

Flumpaphone · 04/09/2025 17:45

[Knocks at dark wooden door and opens it a crack] Hello everyone, can I join in. My style has gone DA in the last couple of years although it has always lurked under the surface.

Can I put in a word for Durham as a DA hotspot (or should that be cosy book spot?). I’m on a postgrad course there at the moment and I’m letting the DA style flow as I walk the vennels and spend more time on Palace Green than I should. Unfortunately, my particular college is one of the newer ones so not the dreaming spires but it doesn’t make the whole place any less lovely. If Edinburgh is shut we can always decamp down the East Coast Mainline a couple of stops.

Flumpaphone · 04/09/2025 17:47

Also discovered the other day that Vinted has a DA hashtag. It has not done my spending habit any good.

TressiliansStone · 04/09/2025 18:52

Welcome @Flumpaphone . Have a 🫖 or 🥃 in front of a nice flickering fire, as I think we can justify now the weather has turned.

Although I'm not sure I should really be thanking you for mentioning the DA hashtag.Shock My bank account will not be pleased....Grin

Arraminta · 04/09/2025 19:00

There's a DA hashtag on Vinted...?

weareallcats · 04/09/2025 22:23

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 21:28

Can I admit that I'm contemplating an entirely gratuitous trip to Edinburgh, date to be decided.

I don't know if you would fancy a short meet-up somewhere central and probably during the day? Just for a coffee or something?

Absolutely! Will keep you updated on plans.

weareallcats · 04/09/2025 22:25

TressiliansStone · 03/09/2025 20:59

Oh dear. I do feel a little bad for the summer people.

Only a little bad.Grin

The Summer People is my favourite Shirley Jackson story - so sinister, just like horrid summer.

TressiliansStone · 04/09/2025 23:17

weareallcats · 04/09/2025 22:23

Absolutely! Will keep you updated on plans.

Edited

Ooh! How exciting!

MurdoMunro · 05/09/2025 07:27

Flumpaphone · 04/09/2025 17:47

Also discovered the other day that Vinted has a DA hashtag. It has not done my spending habit any good.

The what now????

FeralNun · 05/09/2025 07:53

Flumpaphone · 04/09/2025 17:47

Also discovered the other day that Vinted has a DA hashtag. It has not done my spending habit any good.

How dare you!! 😄

Arraminta · 05/09/2025 10:37

Apologies to @Flumpaphone in my haste to check out the #dark academia on Vinted I forgot to welcome you properly.

RunSlowTalkFast · 05/09/2025 12:11

I didn't even know Vinted had hashtags 😳

Notsosecrethistory · 05/09/2025 12:30

Welcome @Flumpaphone! Off to tear up Vinted with all this talk of hashtags! 😂

Flumpaphone · 05/09/2025 19:28

You’re all welcome, I’m imagining a Le Mans style sprint to Vinted now 😂.

evtheria · 07/09/2025 17:19

I’ve had such a satisfying day! A drizzly morning in town spent reading, browsing, and buying in two very different bookstores.
#1: Brand new books galore, armchairs, bookclubs, coffee and cake, enthusiastic and welcoming staff, free WiFi. Comfortable, relaxing… Full of cake and a sense of community you immediately sign up to collect points.
#2: Heady bouquet of old paper, the promise of being crushed by tall shelves of vintage art books and your ghost haunting a narrow aisle forever, cash only, no phones out or you get shot, and the staff aren’t actually sure what day they’ll be open next week. Thrilling, confusing - you leave with 2 old maps, an old sci-fi paperback, a free orange, and a general sense of superiority and specialness.

Also my first time wearing my pair of the popular Hamble Oak brogues (bought at a steal a year ago, thanks to a Mnet thread). Just wondering if they’re liable to be very slippery - anyone? Might buy that sticky grip tape stuff, because I imagine once we’ve wet leaves on the ground the shoes won’t be much good.

SqueakyDinosaur · 07/09/2025 18:42

I bought some lovely dark aubergine coloured cords in M&S yesterday. They have made me feel cheery about the approach of autumn.

FeralNun · 07/09/2025 18:49

That was beautifully written, @evtheria.
Thank you.