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Dark Academia 3 - de vestibus agamus - the conversation continues

915 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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FeralNun · 02/07/2026 12:57

I have the shacket in mustard - it’s fab!

mightymalties · 02/07/2026 17:54

I'm thoroughly enjoying all of your wonderful hot weather attire suggestions!

Next week DD will be graduating! My ideal outfit would be a waistcoat, wide lapel shirt and skirt ensemble from Femkit. But alas! DD has vetoed my choice, citing incompatibility with her photo preferences, so I'm relegated to a vintage print shirt dress, and am instead hunting for comfortable low-heel summer shoes...

Instead I'm saving for a new autumn/winter wardrobe, since I'm losing weight and spending a little less (thanks to a lifestyle changing diagnosis prompting me to make extreme dietary changes and finally quit the cancer sticks). I long for a Duchess coat from Buck Stone Country, but we'll see how far the budget spreads.

On a wholly different note... Are any of you puzzle enthusiasts?

Back in the early 2000's there was a monthly puzzle publication called Da Vinci Puzzles. It was not in any way associated with the Dan Brown book/movie, simply unfortunate that it was published around the same time. But I digress... This publication was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They had the most devious puzzles involving maps, chess-boards, pictograms... All set within an overarching plot of a disappearing scientist, secret society, mystery, code and codebreaking, etc, with an excellent community, website, etc. To my utter heartbreak, it suddenly stopped after the tenth issue, the community scattered, the remaining puzzles were lost, and no-one revealed the answers which could have opened up the mysterious vault.

I searched fruitlessly for something to fill the DVP-shaped hole for years afterwards and very little came close. Periodically, I search again (most recently for an upcoming project I'm working on), and to my astonishment I discovered the puzzles are being republished in book format on Amazon!

Yes, I am aware that my delight causes me to gush in excitement, but I hoped my fellows here might be understanding, and perhaps share my joy enough to check it out for themselves. I still have the original puzzle installments (in pristine condition, I may add) in case anyone would like to see for themselves before purchasing. Hope it's ok to add the link here for any others who may enjoy the diversion?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vinci-Puzzles-Book-One/dp/B0FSMG878C/

Amazon

Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vinci-Puzzles-Book-One/dp/B0FSMG878C?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-style-and-beauty-5178967-dark-academia-3-de-vestibus-agamus-the-conversation-continues

BurningTheToast · 21/07/2026 12:15

Talking of summer wear for DAs, I came across these two designers and makers. Spendy but handmade, ethical, natural fibres etc...

Terry Macey

and

The Handmade Closet

More summery than wintry DA but as a summer who struggles to find her clothes given that the trad DA colours of browns, most greens, black etc are not for her, I'm hoping that we can stretch the aesthetic just a little...

Overall, my look is more trendy art teacher meets land girl meets 1990s academic who you probably last spotted in an old Inspector Morse episode

Terry Macey - Women's British Handmade Clothing

Terry Macey British Handmade Clothing For over thirty years our family business has created stylish, timeless clothing in our Somerset studio, using only the best ethically sourced natural fabrics. Our vision is inclusive of all women; it is playful, i...

https://terrymacey.com/

BurningTheToast · 21/07/2026 12:16

Also, not sure why that link to Terry Macey has come out ABSOLUTELY HUGE!

weareallcats · 17/08/2026 19:11

How is everyone?

My garden is very dead (apart from agapanthus and jasmine, which seem to have enjoyed the brutal heat). My (literal) black dog and (literal) long haired cats are fed up and me too.

Please let it now wind down into autumn. Excited for the clothes, food and cooler weather.

Anyone read anything good recently? I wasn’t impressed with Katabasis, have read a couple of ok folk horrors but nothing amazing. Saltmarsh by Andrew Michael Hurley was decent. Films? Hokum was quite good. Haven’t been to the Odyssey yet - been waiting for my friend and her classic student dd to get back from sailing in Greece - promise it’s true!

lilybloomtoo · 17/08/2026 20:00

It is full on autumn in my area. Overnight we have gone from from heatwave to wind and rain. I am enjoying bringing the cardis out again.
Todays work wear was brown trousers, a white patterned blouse and a brown cardi, brightened up with a lovely pair of red mary janes.

Book wise I am currently reading To The Lighthouse Virginia Wolf

SqueakyDinosaur · 17/08/2026 20:23

weareallcats · 17/08/2026 19:11

How is everyone?

My garden is very dead (apart from agapanthus and jasmine, which seem to have enjoyed the brutal heat). My (literal) black dog and (literal) long haired cats are fed up and me too.

Please let it now wind down into autumn. Excited for the clothes, food and cooler weather.

Anyone read anything good recently? I wasn’t impressed with Katabasis, have read a couple of ok folk horrors but nothing amazing. Saltmarsh by Andrew Michael Hurley was decent. Films? Hokum was quite good. Haven’t been to the Odyssey yet - been waiting for my friend and her classic student dd to get back from sailing in Greece - promise it’s true!

I really enjoyed Tana French's Cal Hooper series (The Searcher/ The Hunter/ The Keeper). A real sense of place and a fantastic ear for dialogue.

ETA and re garden, even my bloody eucalyptus is dying - those buggers are supposed to survive far harsher conditions!

Notsosecrethistory · 17/08/2026 21:21

I cannot wait for autumn... I am planning some excellent outfits to start from Sep 1st. 😂

BurningTheToast · 19/08/2026 14:32

On the DA book recommendation front, I've enjoyed The Skeleton Key and The House of Mirrors (a follow on from The Poison Tree if anyone remembers that from a few years ago) by Erin Kelly recently. And I'm sure it's been mentioned before but The Eights by Joanna Miller - novel about the first women to be undergrads at an Oxford college - is excellent.

Notsosecrethistory · 19/08/2026 19:39

Added all those to my TBR, thank you!

BurningTheToast · 20/08/2026 12:55

Notsosecrethistory · 19/08/2026 19:39

Added all those to my TBR, thank you!

I hope you enjoy them. The Poison Tree came out when I still owned a bookshop and I loved the proof copy so I thrust copies at so many readers when it was released! And The Skeleton Key reminded me how fascinated I was by Kit Williams' book Masquerade back in the day.

RunSlowTalkFast · 21/08/2026 09:28

Notsosecrethistory · 17/08/2026 21:21

I cannot wait for autumn... I am planning some excellent outfits to start from Sep 1st. 😂

Edited

Same! I've been distracting myself from the weather by buying lots of cable knits and corduroy from Vinted 😄

RunSlowTalkFast · 21/08/2026 09:29

BurningTheToast · 19/08/2026 14:32

On the DA book recommendation front, I've enjoyed The Skeleton Key and The House of Mirrors (a follow on from The Poison Tree if anyone remembers that from a few years ago) by Erin Kelly recently. And I'm sure it's been mentioned before but The Eights by Joanna Miller - novel about the first women to be undergrads at an Oxford college - is excellent.

I also really enjoyed The Eights.

Wadsworthy · 21/08/2026 12:45

I really enjoyed R. F. Kuang's Katabasis. The story stays with me 3 months after reading it. And actually also enjoyed Yellowface - less funny but still engaging than American Fiction which was hilarious, as well as darkly socially relevant.

The Maidens is a sub-Tartt dark academia book.

Also of interest, I recommend the podcast Once Upon a Time at Bennington College, for the backgraound to the dark academia ur-text.

Notsosecrethistory · 25/08/2026 12:52

On the subject of podcasts, may I recommend 'After Dark'. I usually hate podcasts, so I ignored this for a while, but it's great!

What is on everyone's wishlist for clothes/books/travels this autumn?

FeralNun · 25/08/2026 17:41

I like After Dark too, as does my daughter. Always entertaining.

I’m looking forward to knitwear! I bought a really beautiful darkest brown alpaca vest from the Woolgatherers Workshop - I can’t recommend their beautiful clothes enough, although the runs are tiny - sometimes just one piece, as this was!

Travel - at the moment just an early December to Chagford on Dartmoor (a regular haunt) which amongst other things, has a fabulous bookshop.
Then Bath in Christmas week which I know will be gorgeous.

PJ Harvey’s Orlam is next up on the book pile..

I hope you have all had a good summer despite the very much non-DA heat.

BurningTheToast · 25/08/2026 18:16

If anyone is into HP Lovecraft then the Lovecraft Investigations podcast is excellent. Have added After Dark to my list.

I’m looking forward to getting my knitwear out - I bought a lovely big Celtic and Co cable knit cardigan on Vinted back in May.

And I’m planning a solo writing retreat to Gladstone’s Library at some point. Couldn’t be more DA from the library itself to the Oxford college SCR-like sitting room for evenings. Battered leather sofas, roaring fire, honesty bar and no tv!

weareallcats · 25/08/2026 18:39

After Dark sounds perfect!

I am so looking forward to cooler weather and counting down the days to September. I have a lovely dinner and wine thing with friends this Thursday and seeing Kenneth Branagh in the Cherry Orchard on Saturday. Nearly there with nice things to do in between.

I might have mentioned him before, but thoroughly recommend Robert Aickman’s short stories for erudite spookiness. Love him.

WoolTweedArtandBooks · 25/08/2026 20:13

Some of you might enjoy The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Quite dark, quite erudite subject matter, but also a good read with a twist in the tale.

Arraminta · 26/08/2026 18:20

I have found you all again! Didn't realise this lovely, lovely thread was still going?

I don't do well in the Summer, I wilt and fade with the heat, and I am so ready for Autumn. Today I bought a beautiful, wine coloured sweater from TK Maxx and a bottle of Clinique's Aromatic Elixir which has been my Autumn/Winter perfume for over 30 years.

I'm looking forward to starting my new Wentworth jigsaw puzzle next week (I've had it a while but it's a super cosy one, so can't possibly begin it in August, obviously).

weareallcats · 28/08/2026 18:04

Anyone care to share any A/W purchases or wishlisted goodies? I’ve got to be careful this year, so am going to limit myself to two or three carefully chosen items. I’ve just ordered this gorgeous raven brooch from Plumo:

https://www.plumo.com/products/black-raven-brooch

holding off from anything else for the moment.

Today I am wearing a (cotton knit) jumper! So happy. One of my favourite lounge round the house pieces - a sludgy green mark with a rib cage on the front, oversized and so comfortable. I did once wear it to the RSC as couldn’t bear to take it off.

I think I’m also going to block the scarf I knitted last year (and didn’t finish in time to wear) this weekend. I’ve got another in progress in a different colour. It’s too exciting.

Link to pattern if anyone likes knitting - it was a joy to do, really addictive:

knittingforolive.com/products/olive-scarf-1?_pos=5&_fid=bc9123430&_ss=c

Black Beaded Raven Brooch with Sequins

A finely handcrafted brooch shaped in the form of a black raven. Made from embroidered beads and tiny sequins. Made to order in small production runs. Each brooch is gift boxed.

https://www.plumo.com/products/black-raven-brooch

weareallcats · 28/08/2026 18:06

I did have to drive down very flooded country roads in torrential rain today too - not so fun - but I think it could be time for red wine.

FeralNun · 28/08/2026 19:31

Oh, that is lovely @weareallcats - a fine choice!

Notsosecrethistory · 28/08/2026 21:08

Oh, that is a lovely raven! 😍
I have bought a cream (not) silk shirt, which I plan to wear with my khaki knit vest and brown wide leg trousers.
I also have my eye on a dark floral skirt for practical magic vibes.

WoolTweedArtandBooks · 29/08/2026 09:53

I love the brooch!

@Notsosecrethistory coukd you link the silk shirt please? I do love a silk shirt and haven’t found quite the right one. I keep remembering a lovely green washed-silk one I had in the 90s as a teenager!

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