Let’s talk about aesthetics, Cottage Core

Cottage core aesthetic has been in trend for a while now. The trend rose to popularity in 2020 as people on various social media platforms such as Tumblr, Tik Tok Pinterest, etc. started sharing photos and videos of themselves adorning their rural lifestyle and emphasizing on simpler living.

The rise of this aesthetics has been due to its superb visuals which are related to nature and traditional values.

Cottage core aesthetic focuses on an escape from hustle and bustle of modern lifestyle creating a cultural and aesthetic movement which is characterized by romanticizing the view of rural life and nature.

This aesthetic focuses mainly on craftsmanship sustainability simpler and more self-sufficient living and natural beauty.

It features rustic homes, lush green gardens, hand crafted tools, pastoral landscape, and rural idyll.

Origin of cottage core aesthetic

Cottage Core is basically an aesthetic movement which fosters the idea of rural lifestyle and simpler living with promoting local artisans and having little or no technology.

One of the largest influences has been artistic movement of Romanticism which basically emphasized on connection to nature, past and senses rather than logic. It was also a reaction to Industrial Revolution like as today this aesthetic emphasizes on rural lifestyle and stands against capitalist and industrial economy.

This aesthetic can also be found in 19th and early 20th century’s arts and crafts movement which championed traditional Craftsmanship and return to nature.

Also books and films have also influenced cottage core aesthetic like books of authors like Beatrix Potter and other books such as the secret Garden Heidi etc. which emphasizes on femininity and nature

But if we visually see the cottage core takes inspiration from 1970s a time when fashion and home décor was mostly influenced and led by companies such as Gunne Sax and Laura Ashley.

Japanese alternative fashion, Mori Kai also had large influence on this aesthetic as it became popular on Tumblr in 2010

Popularization of this aesthetic

Recent popularity of this aesthetic has come from Instagram, TikTok ,Tumblr etc, communities where people are sharing images, stories, videos dressing in cottage core, celebrating beauty of rural living.

This aesthetic became popular in 2019 when on Tumblr, a meme based on Moomin Valley became a frequent topic of conversation on the website. Studio, Ghibli animated films were also quite prevalent on the site and had similar frolicking scenes

And then in 2020 when pandemic hit, the aesthetic rose in popularity as activities such as gardening, baking bread, sewing, etc. started trending.

Also, this aesthetic became more well known when Taylor Swift released her album folklore in 2020 which resembled her visuals and styles which were related to this aesthetic.

Visuals of cottage go mainly include naturalistic color palette with light green foliage and natural lighting.

The central theme of this aesthetic is a sense of nostalgia for slower and more fulfilling traditional lifestyle which is built around self-sufficiency, sustainability and living close to nature and traditional craftsmanship, such as embroidery, knitting and gardening.

This aesthetic focus is more on taking refuge from fast paced modern world living in simpler agricultural life.

This aesthetic has various subgenres which have emerged overtime that share an appreciation for simplicity, nature, and slower pace of life:

1st Bloom core This is static emphasis on beauty of flowers and gardens, as the name suggests It emphasizes on vibrant colors and blooming plants and their unique texture.

2nd Honey core aesthetic It revolves around theme of village, lifestyle, bees, and honey. It incorporates beekeeping, honeycombs, and vintage bee illustrations. It features warm colour palettes with shade of gold, yellow and Amber, creating cozy atmosphere, reminiscent of sunlight afternoon.

3rd light cottagecore -this aesthetic focuses on minimal and soothing atmosphere with lots of light pale colors. it is bright and comfortable.

4th Southwest cottage core- This is static is inspired by dessert landscapes and culture of American SW which incorporates potty and native plants like cactic Its color palette include warm earth tones dusty blues and vibrant sunset hues.

There are many other subgenres of this aesthetics, such as gradmacore, dirtcore, dark cottagecore, etc.

Some YouTube channels encompassing this aesthetic:

TheCottageFairy

Darling desi

Damons Phillips

The green witch

Literature

Hobbit/lord of the rings

Books of Beatrix potter

Little women

Heidi

Little house

Movies

Snow white and the seven dwarfs

Alice in Wonderland

Sleeping beauty

Little women

Sense and sensibility

Criticism

This aesthetic has been criticized on many grounds. Some critics believe that it is incompatible with modern life while some believe that it promotes unrealistic fairytale image of rural life as it ignores the hard labor that is done in rural areas. Some also believe that it romanticizes traditional gender role which believe that women should only do household work.

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