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.

Walker slater have a few @MurdoMunro
I can’t quite tell the colour of this but perhaps earthy red??
https://www.walkerslater.com/wool-beret-chilli
Love a good beret.

I have a brown one from cabbages and roses but it’s not really chocolate brown - it’s got a bit of grey about it:

https://www.cabbagesandroses.com/collections/accessories/products/lucinda-beret-in-fair-isle?variant=49601998717203

This one from Celtic and co?

www.celticandco.com/womens/womens-accessories/hats/supersoft-beret?colour=1172&size=50

Can I join please?!
In the process of doing up a house in this style - I love it! It’s dark wood floor, dark painted walls and ceilings with ornate coving

In my experience, beret success varies with hairstyle. When my hair was long I could get away with a lot more, because the draping wings offset the beret.

Now my hair is very short, it's just my face and the beret. I'm wearing them less for this reason.

Sounds glorious,@Errors !

Thanks for beret tips @weareallcats and@VictorianScreenTime . That’s my evening sorted

Possibly my problem too. To little hair. Too much face.

Thinking about it, I've also moved from draping long hair to draping jowls.

Not only are the long locks gone, but so is the elfin chin. Less gamine, more square-jawed bulldozer...

So pleased to read I'm not the only Dark Academic soul who carefully chooses outfits now rather than just clothes.

If anyone's interested in a suitably DA read then I have absolutely loved The Binding by Bridget Collins. Such a clever premise and her prose is very poetic. It's a velvet pillow of a book. I treated myself to it in hardback and carefully selected a bookmark to match. Simple pleasures.

So I went on the first beret site recommended up thread, by @VictorianScreenTime and have got completely distracted by staring at this skirt. I want it so. It would look just right with my new beret.

https://www.walkerslater.com/deborah-charcoal-donegal-shetland

What’s going to happen when I look at the next two sites? Its going to be a long evening.

So many lovely things on Walker Slater! You will be a bit safer on Celtic and Co (although this is where I get pretty much all my boots, oh, and a couple of kilts). Cabbages and Roses is a danger if you like the frothier side of heritage dressing (and yes, many lovely skirts there too).

Try Brora too @MurdoMunro 😁

@MurdoMunro I have that skirt in the moss colourway because of one of the first DA threads😂 And I’m sorry to say it’s absolutely divine- heavy and swishy with a lovely satiny lining. DA Heaven!

Welcome. I love a Dark Academic interior. Last year, I reclaimed DH's home office (all sleek, pale wood desks and chrome chairs) and refurbished it as my dream study.

I spent months haunting FB Market Place, charity shops and local auctions to get that suitably rich, genteely worn aesthetic. Walls are dark navy. Sofa is biscuit coloured with a red Turkey rug spread along the back. There's a chestnut brown, leather wingback chair and two massive oak bookcases. Oh, and books, so many books. It's been a real labour of love and so satisfying finding quality, preloved items that are solid and have that lovely patina.

How is your home shaping up?

Please don't let me look at that site. Please! Noooo, stop me!

Too late.

Sounds divine! I do love navy walls, but I have never been able to make it work in my house. My music room is my little DA nook. I have burgundy walls, a knackered old chesterfield - cat has sharpened his claws on it and my ds drew a shark on it with scissors…all adds to the charm. My guitars are on the wall and most of the floor space is taken by my baby grand piano. Lots of plants, a (fake, scaled down) T Rex skull, a bronze bear and ragged staff, taxidermy moths. And then paintings - a steam train painted by my dad, a stormy, Turneresque seascape, an inherited family portrait (x3 great grandfather) and a huge fiery abstract called ‘The Great Eye’, based on the eye of Sauron (think this might be edging into nerdy territory, rather than DA, but it’s the most incredible piece).

It has taken me years to bring it all together and I doubt I am finished - it’s a tiny room, so very maximalist in style! I’ve totally outed myself if any of my friends or family see this!

Would love to read about how others have brought this aesthetic into their homes.

Oh your music room sounds heavenly. I love burgundy walls too, in fact I'm having our front door and our ensuite painted in Radicchio Leaf by Sherwin Williams.

Never, never, never apologise for loving Tolkien, I've loved him ever since I first read Lord of the Rings at the age of 11. I think I have a copy of everything he ever wrote, and have half a dozen different editions of LOTR.

Oh crap, I’d forgotten about Brora. Funds won’t stretch for there or for@VictorianScreenTime ’s moss Deborah skirt. I will try and summon a small windfall in time for the January sales

I’ve actually done very well on Vinted…full price Brora can be a bit terrifying!

Can we do book recommendations? Most of my list is the usual suspects, but I think:

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris

The Seed Collectors - Scarlett Thomas

are less well known and are enjoyable gothic and clever.

Yes please!

Earlier, I suggested The Binding by Bridget Collins. But also loved The Whistling by Rebecca Netley. Waykenhurst by Michelle Paver is excellent, too.

All are perfect to read beside the fire while Winter rain rattles against the window.

I have read The Binding and Waykenhurst, but not The Whistling - I will put it in my amazon basket now!

Think these are DA reading material, two Pat Barker books have enjoyed recently the Silence of the girls and the Women of Troy. Retelling the Greek - Trojan war from the female perspective. She's such a powerful writer, artfully done.

I am sitting on my hands!