Cottagecore Style Is Much Older Than You Think

[@love4cynthia233]

Im all for cottagecore until mosquitoes

[@_Lord_of_Misrule_]

For real, I live in Europe and a friend of mine lives in the desert and she says she‘d love to live in a cottage in the woods. I‘m like: if you knew of the amount of gigantic bugs there you‘d maybe overthink this wish again lmaoo.

[@emieve617]

Yes! They are absolutely savage, can’t even go outside, especially not in the woods.

[@alejandrarodriguez8410]

Use lavender!

[@adedow1333]

Counter with blue birds (they eat mosquitoes)

[@deltaflute03]

Or ticks. Prancing around barefoot in fluffy dresses while getting those shots in makes me nervous. Two words: Lyme Disease.

[@jennystout8600]

I love how those princessy cottagecore dresses suggest living on a farm but doing literally no farm work.

[@science3816]

Rich dad

[@R83145]

I'm just here for the honey, kthxbye.

[@JM-wt4bf]

True true, if in working on the farm I want me jeans, steel caps, fly net, protective wear if dangerous work

[@alexmacgregor9631]

Yeah they're not going to enjoy the part about living on a farm in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter and you can't to town cuz the roads snowed in for days and your plow truck won't start...

[@phreakazoith2237]

you gotta have a lot of peasants doing all the work to enjoy this fancy vision of living on the countryside. Preferable you are a princess to do so, or even better you are the queen of France. wait, forget about the last one. It did not turn out to well when the real peasants stormed the palace.

[@LillibitOfHere]

I’m living my best cottage core life yelling at the deer eating my vegetables while sunburned, soaked with sweat, and covered in dirt.

[@petrichorbones]

ok my fav thing about goblincore (or gremlincore) is that it WELCOMES the dirt. i love me some cottagecore but thats for special days, i'd be gremlincore in daily life ehehehuhuhuehe

[@8784-l3b]

As a amateur gardener, everything wants what you got. Deer, woodchucks, rabbits, beetles. As I was picking blueberries last year I had to keep waving away the hornets. They eat/suck on the berries. Your garden is sort of like your money. Every charity, tradesman, utility company, and the government, thinks your money is actually their money.

[@ohrats731]

Heckin deer 😂 Ravenous, all of them! Once they’ve finished the veggies it’s off to eat the day lilies and the hostas! Meanwhile the porcupines are up in the apple trees killing the new growth and the woodchuck is polishing off everything else. I’m honestly surprised we don’t have rabbits too but I guess the coyotes are good for something in that regard. Very hard to run a farm without pulling out the guns, traps, and pesticides… but we manage!

[@8784-l3b]

@@ohrats731 I don't know where you live, but I personally wouldn't care what you did to protect your farm. Legally ...it's hard in Massachusetts.

[@LillibitOfHere]

@@ohrats731 Last year they ate my hostas to the ground and stole every tomato after I roped off my beans and peas. My current nemesis is the chipmunk who is planting sunflowers everywhere. I can’t imagine protecting a whole farm!

[@margaretwalters6757]

Finally someone discussing how cottagecore is just modern pastoralism.

[@beahgg]

Y e s

[@evapalma9899]

The Take made a video essay about cottagecore's literary connections ala Jane Austen and being a resistance against rushed city life. It's okay even if it acts like Taylor Swift's Evermore is THE cottagecore album

[@elise_h]

I'm holding out for sublimecore.

[@Jamesharveycomics]

If cottagecore fetishists had actually read the literature from the era they claim to idealise they would know the word pastoralism!

[@audreyjoy578]

Lol I feel so called out 🤣🤣😭😭

[@Charlie-im9iv]

"Oh, to quit your job and be a 17th century shepherdess" will appear on a mug in Urban Outfitters in 3 months

[@bohemiandecadence]

Beat them to it!!

[@Charlie-im9iv]

@@bohemiandecadence omg do you have an etsy

[@ReptilianTeaDrinker]

@@bohemiandecadence Where is your shop? I need that mug!!!

[@DaphODyl]

Her Etsy shop is linked in her About info! Although, I found no such mug on it. I believe she was telling you to beat them to it, not that she had made the mug herself.

[@michellebyrom6551]

@@DaphODyl clearly a gap in the market ready to be exploited. Lol

[@Apledore]

As someone who lives on a small farm in the middle of nowhere, I’m just thinking about how filthy I get hauling dirt to my garden beds, how much time I spend making sure my plants don’t die, and how I have to deal with animal violence and illness. Don’t get me wrong - I love my farm, and the benefits are massive, but seeing it romanticized is just silly when you live the reality.

[@burntcoppery]

I live on the edge of suburbia/farmland and thus have been side-eyeing cottagecore since I first discovered it. There are very few cowpats and grass stains in this fantasy.

[@ohrats731]

It’s even funnier thinking about 16th century aristocrats fanaticizing about farm life without bugs/dirt/crop failure/disease because those things were so unavoidable back then. I mean they still are to some extent but we’re a lot closer to the ideal with bug repellents, washer machines, grocery stores/amazon, and modern medicine. Really the pastoral ideal is far more reachable now than it’s ever been. I’m pretty happy living away from the city with a small vegetable farm knowing that I can still eat if all the zucchini plants die again and I don’t HAVE to can to survive the winter lol. I don’t have to make or wash my own clothes by hand. I like modern appliances and medicine. I’d like to have some chickens and goats some day but I’m not ready yet. In the mean time the grocery store is only 20 minutes away! I guess bugs are still a big point of contention for people but we can’t get rid of them without seriously harming our ecosystems, so they’re here to stay. Where I live, I’m fortunate that it’s incredibly rare to die from a bug bite. Lyme disease is an issue but I’m used to being vigilant about ticks. Bugs are creepy but they’ve been around us for the entire history of the human race, it’s time we loosened up on the bug anxiety a little lol and not let that be a dealbreaker for leaving the city. (Y’all have cockroaches by the way. May I point that out to people who are going ew country bugs? Lol) Other than that, life’s pretty good at the cottage 😎 lol well I don’t wear dresses and take selfies so I guess I can’t really say I live cottage core 😂

[@iseeyouineverystar]

also how everything is so far away, and, if you have animals, it’s a whole different story.

[@PeachysMom]

Well, that’s why it’s “let’s sit on rocks and watch shepherds work” lol cottagecore is a superficiality

[@KaliMaaaaa]

Like most other things under our current corporate system it is actually fetishization for profit. It has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with selling people a false image and more made in China junk they don't need.

[@18thcenturyhair10]

I first noticed that cottagecore was making a heavy comeback when people started building their Animal Crossing islands in the style. In a way it almost parallels what people were doing in the 18th century (building their own villages), only in a modern digital setting. Fascinating!

[@petrichorbones]

🤯 u right

[@Nenebeautyy]

my thought too!

[@VanK782]

That's a cool observation

[@yaelvacacenteno1382]

mindblowing!

[@bsferguson1]

Oh wow that’s so insightful

[@ForeverEva]

karolina: *complains about R’s and L’s* also karolina: *has an R and an L in her first name*

[@marionwieczorek8919]

To be fair, it really wasn't her choice, so..

[@alicjakempisty2729]

Polish r's are very much different than English r's

[@mariadumitru3962]

The l in rural, unlike the l in Karolina, is a dark l

[@dejiny]

@@alicjakempisty2729 Yeah, they actually sound like r's.

[@gittevandevelde2208]

they sound totally different though. I speak dutch and also struggle with english R's, while Germanic R's are fine for me

[@avsusky]

my take is that cottagecore is capturing the vibes of aristocratic, countryside summer-home living, not really farm life. so it's going for rural, but high class, bougie, our family owns the town rural. in cottagecore content you don't usually see farm animals or food crops, it's flower gardening, song birds, drinking tea from fancy china, sitting in grass with a book, doing crafts like the "work" upper class women did. it seems to be all about relaxation.

[@liv-uu1fi]

exactly thats why its called COTTAGEcore

[@hanibee22]

Totally 😂

[@InWinds]

@@liv-uu1fi I don't think thats much of a point you made there. Cottages don't really involve rich aristocrats. Those are just actual farm houses.

[@liv-uu1fi]

@@InWinds really cause I don't have my own cottage

[@helloworld2784]

Exactlyyyyy!!

[@charlottebuijteweg7160]

When I tried to explain cottagecore to my grandma, her reaction was just “But I already do that, I have always done that, is that new?” She still was very happy to know her lifestyle is now trending.

[@flowergirl5962]

I always took after my grandma for this reason, I loved how naturally pastoral she was due to her upbringing in rural prairies, I’ve told her it’s trending too and she’s happy that “girls are letting themselves be natural girls again” which I found adorable 😭

[@charlottebuijteweg7160]

@@flowergirl5962 that’s so sweet! And such a cute sentence. My grandma tries to teach my family the same in the sense that she always says: “If you make it yourself it might not be as pretty as in store but it is something no one else has and is fully you own”. I think of this when something doesn’t turn out how I imagined, and it makes me proud that I made something.

[@flowergirl5962]

@@charlottebuijteweg7160 thank you so much!! ♥️ I love that so much, she’s completely right too, always better to have your own work than to have another’s. your grandma is a wise woman and she sounds like a real gem to have around!

[@charlottebuijteweg7160]

@@flowergirl5962Thank you! And I agree (with my grandma being a gem and that it’s beter to have your own work around). Cottagecore may not be new but there are definitely some things that get more attention now that it is popular and I think that’s a very good thing.

[@cathleenmoyle1476]

So what does your grandma do, that's just like cottagecore?

[@ashleynichole8687]

I lived in “rural” farmland California. I know that sounds ridiculous, but a vast majority of California is NOT cityscapes. We were surrounded by crops for 30+ miles on all sides. I started loving cottagecore because it helped me romanticize the life I was living, especially during Covid, and be content with where I was in the moment. This honestly saved my mental health. We ended up having to move to New England, and my cottagecore aesthetic morphed a bit more into “Princesscore”(since there’s actually a grocery store within an hour of me now) but there’s so much I learned from living life in rural America and making it pleasing instead of fantasizing about what I didn’t have. Appreciate life right where you are, nothing is promised.💛

[@SimpleDesertRose]

I'm from the central coast or as we like to refer to it, the universe between LA and SF. When you think of the old west, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Hearst family that is where I came from. Frank James helped settle the area. When people ask about what your home town smells like immediately you think of the stock yard or barley fields and oak trees as far as the eye cam see. There is the charm of a small town but people don't really know what its like to grow up in a small town. Everybody knows everybody. You can't do anything without the whole town knowing. Good or bad.

[@i.m1ss.y0u.s0.f4r]

I live in rural New Jersey. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?

[@Harleyxjokerforever]

I live in California ( near the Bay area) where the hell is the "Rural" farmland at?

[@SCompton4]

I grew up in California as well, and where I live you’d have farmlands sprinkled around suburbs packed together. An interesting mixture for sure lol. You could be driving down the road and see close knitted houses, and in the next moment cows roaming the fields or sprawling vineyards. My grandparents used to live in what I always called “the back hills” of our town, where the houses are spaced wide for cattle ranchers and other livestock farmers and also areas for nature hiking. My grandparents didn’t care for any themselves, but I remember the old barn on their property and their neighbor’s cattle that would graze close by that I was always excited to greet. I remember I especially loved frog hunting when I was there, but I wasn’t allowed to catch them, just look (probably for the best). As a kid I thought it was such an adventure to drive up there. We have local farmers’ markets every week in the summer too, and I have many family friends that care for chickens or gardens (growing things like tomatoes, sunflowers, fruit trees etc.) in their backyard. My family road-tripped around CA a lot too growing up so I was always exposed to the vast farmlands and more rural scenery as well. All that and more (I could keep going but I should probably stop here) became cemented in my childhood memories. So while the town I grew up in isn’t exactly small or secluded, there’s always been this intrinsic atmosphere of agricultural/rural lifestyle in my life. Pair that with a childhood obsession with fairies and you have a kid that has apparently always been in love with “cottagecore” before I ever new the word. Writing this all out, however, I’ve realized it’s so bizarre talking about my childhood town like this because for so long I desperately wanted to leave for a variety of reasons. But I still aspire to that balance of the conveniences suburban life gives you along with the close proximately to nature/agriculture.

[@JodiesSideEye]

@@Harleyxjokerforever about 150 miles north east and most of the central valley

[@melissasaint3283]

"there was a pandemic and a lot of terrible things happened, and suddenly everyone wanted to live in the countryside with their friends" **Boccaccio's Decameron**

[@giulia5184]

Yes! The crazy think is that I live in Italy and (the day we received the news of the "two weeks lockdown" that went on for months) my Latin teacher told us "Alright, see ya soon. Or maybe we should organise Decameron II?🤔". She was right, as always

[@jakubrogacz6829]

Yeah crazy how our lives echo those of old . Ain't it ?

[@hwlsgrl]

what is boccaccio’s decameron

[@melissasaint3283]

@@hwlsgrl here you are😊 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decameron

[@danone2414]

my mom fits that

[@пекельніборошна-т1в]

Reminds me of 1920s Russian poet Esenin, who *loved* countryside. He would run away from stinky Leningrad to the village where he was born. Then he would get bored sick of the village life in like 8 hours there and run away to Leningrad to drink vodka, pine and write cottegecore poetry

[@nineteenfortyeight]

Which kinda sounds like Konstantin in Anna Karenina

[@ducky_strawberry]

iconic✨ (for real tho thats really interesting! I also have a feeling a lot of people in the cottagecore aesthetic would be fed up with living in the countryside in like... minutes lol, like living in the countryside is hard sometimes and is not for everyone)

[@ns.kha29]

@@ducky_strawberry ik youre right but as someone who honestly enjoys the simpler life this comment had me like "welll....ehhhhh"

[@ducky_strawberry]

@@ns.kha29 I definitely agree that's possible! I have friends who live on farms and are super happy. I think it mainly comes down to managing your expectations and being realist about what living a simpler life means.

[@ns.kha29]

@@ducky_strawberry yea

[@Igorcastrochucre]

Barbie and the Diamond Castle was my introduction to Cottagecore.

[@sanityidontknowher5057]

AHHH THAT MOVIE WAS SO GAY

[@sanityidontknowher5057]

But yeah same

[@Fisinocean]

FINALLY SOMEONE MENTIONED IT. LIKE YEA BITCH I ALSO WANNA LIVE IN A SMALL CITTAGE WITH GINORMOUS GARDEN AND SELL FLOWERS FOR A LIVING

[@pattysalazar6823]

LMAO why do I relate

[@notatallfunctional]

DO YOU GUYS WANT BREAD AND JAM OR JAM AND BREAD

[@IceOfPhoenix88]

J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, based the Shire and hobbits on how he wished life was: rural and peaceful. This was because he grew up in rural English areas and over time watched as they were industrialised. Fun fact.

[@laerin7931]

Kind of interesting, considering how The Hobbit is like an anti-pastoral - hero escapes from his comfortable and cutesy pastoral life to have an uncomfortable adventure in the more wild parts of the world.

[@IceOfPhoenix88]

@@laerin7931 well Gandalf did kind of bully him into it but I get your point lol

[@laerin7931]

@@IceOfPhoenix88 That is true, but in the end he enjoys it much more than he expected. Which was Gandalf's plan all along, because prophecies and shit.

[@jakubrogacz6829]

@@laerin7931 That is not true. Whole war is wrought to stop industrialization ( Sauron and Saruman ). It was to protect Shire.

[@laerin7931]

@@jakubrogacz6829 Honestly, I haven't read or watched LOTR yet. I've only read(and watched, go figure) The Hobbit, so I can't really say what the themes are in LOTR.

[@duod7847]

I also hate the word "rural" but I found it helps if you imagine that you're doing a Scooby-Doo impression when you say it.

[@blacksheep1924]

Yep pretty much.

[@RB-747]

Or maybe try saying mural first? Then switch the r?

[@bad_revecula]

It's so hard to say :(

[@blacksheep1924]

Or you could say Royal but pronounce it royoil

[@gudulpif264]

Words like “rural”, “mirror”, and “horror” are absolute nightmares lol

[@Heleyrine]

I'm shocked Cottagecore didn't become a thing after Coopla's Marie Antoinette

[@monkeyfan37]

it’s not exactly cattagecore tho. more like rococo core. although her white dress when she was living alone could count as cottagecore

[@isaacgray2909]

It flatter more on the aesthetic of the palace instead of the outside in cottagecore.

[@Heleyrine]

@@monkeyfan37 Of course. I rather meant the "post giving birth era" depicted in the movie. But rocococore with a pastel twist? Sign me in!

[@monkeyfan37]

@@Heleyrine yeah i realized that you probably meant that in the middle of typing. anyways i’m all in for more simplified rococo core cuz they were honestly crazy with all those accessories

[@monkeyfan37]

also i really like chinoiserie which is a style that was popular during the rococo era. it’s basically appropriation and romantisation of chinese culture but it’s soooo pretty

[@MicarahTewers]

petition to end the word "rural"

signed 📝🙏🏻

[@antique.4617]

singed

[@thereal5326]

YO

[@thereal5326]

Its the queen!

[@clairebright777]

I’m a native English speaker and I *hate* that word, too. I can never say it! That and brewery are so hard for me to say 😅

[@AbbyCox]

Rural is also an impossible word for Southern Indiana/Louisville Kentucky accents...as is iron....the struggle to enunciate them is real. 😂

[@hellogoditsmesara3569]

As a Kentuckian I can confirm “rural” rhymes with “earl”

[@christinacrites3828]

Yes! I live in the Ashland Kentucky area and the problem is here too.

[@pamspray5254]

Also for Texan twangs! I've never been able to pronounce it, despite having to say rural frequently to describe where I travel/where some of my family lives.

[@maggpiprime954]

Rural "roorl" Iron "arrn" Drawer "drorrr" Mirror "meer" Horror _"hold up!"_

[@ForeverEva]

My mom is from Alabama and she struggles to say it

[@WayToVibe]

I'm appreciative of cottagecore becoming mainstream because now all my aesthetics will finally filter down into the second-hand shops I frequent. And natural fabrics will hopefully replace polyester plastics that don't breathe and cause you to either freeze in winter or overheat in summer. What I won't give for a basic white linen dress.

[@annbrookens945]

Ooo, I hadn't thought about that! I love when the things i already love finally become fashionable! And end up in second hand shops!

[@mrluvpups]

Ooh please! As someone who's allergic to polyester, i would love for natural fabrics to come into fashion

[@maximilian6829]

@@mrluvpups Natural fabrics have been and always will be in fashion. The issue is that it’s expensive, outside of cotton, and always will be so long we continue plastic use.

[@maximilian6829]

Just purchase some vintage linen fabric from Etsy. It’s not too expensive, and sew a dress! All you need are your two hands, a needle and thread.

[@magiv4205]

@@maximilian6829 As a hobby seamstress, I'm gonna have to say that while basic stitching by hand or machine is very easy to get the hang of, sewing an entire dress is kind of a different story. It's usually far less difficult than you think it is, BUT it also likely takes alot more time than you think it does. I can see how it might not be for everyone, especially if you don't really have the time to spare. But if you're up for it, then by all means, go for it! Sewing your own clothes is one of the most rewarding things you can do in my opinion.

[@luciacuevas611]

Bugs are 99% of the reason why I don't relate to this aesthetic.

[@elenaovcharuk8529]

I don't mind bugs. But ticks... They're infectious.

[@brandonplowman3949]

climate change is killing insects off at rapid rates, so cottagecore kinda benefits from the end of the world

[@InquirywithHelena]

What bugs? I live rural and this year it’s even more noticeable how few insects there are around. I can even walk through grass and around my veggie garden in a dress and sandals and not end up with 20 bites as per normal a couple of years ago. Previously I’d have to wear socks and tuck my pant legs into them to safeguard my ankles and legs.

[@simranjeetkaur347]

Let's be honest fashion isn't most known for practicality . It's one thing to enjoy it and the other wearing it everywhere , not dressing for the occasion . Also coottagecore is a concept so you alter it have long sleeves and stuff while having pretty much identical vibe .

[@jillogicaljelly3627]

But don't you see? *Slowly and Dreamily* There are no bugs in this aesthetic.....JOIN us.......

[@quexybompq]

The idea of romanticising the countryside is super old, there was an ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming who wrote about moving to the countryside, farming, drinking homemade wine and cutting toxic friends out of your life 🔥This was like, 1600 years ago

[@edenjaycollins6055]

He knew what was up ngl

[@cramerfloro5936]

I wrote my final school paper on one such poet: Theocritus, syracusan poet living in 3rd century Alexandria, one of the biggest cities of the time.

[@heliosfromacrossastar878]

I believe Leonardo da Vinci preached going to the countryside, even though he himself lived in cities most of his life xD

[@jakubrogacz6829]

Dude you had that 7 thousand years ago in ancient Greece. Everywhere. It's a proces like breathing LED. One generation glorifies high tech and cities. Another one finds that gutters stink and life full of having it going with someone new every five seconds is not so great and moves more to nature. That literaly was whole Romanticism, much of Polish noblemen culture from occupation time as well. That was a lot of that even in late medieval. And even in medieval there were such phases. I mean... we only treat is as one long period cause the farther we go into history the less records we have. Come on, in this 2000 years tech changed completely at least twice. And Antiquity is dated since about 7000 BC to about 500 AD to 800 AD. That was a lot of time for stuff to change.

[@11orana]

My three daughters who work in retail call this type of esthetic "cluttercore". All the people who threw all their old things out to be minimalist are now buying lots of new old things.

[@nicolescats2]

No surprise that people who embraced minimalism for the aesthetic have embraced a new one. Interpretations of minimalism can involve having lots of things that are necessary or spark joy. Minimalism in the sense of not buying unnecessary things, not participating in mindless consumption. Minimalism as a philosophy isn't limited to fitting all your possessions into a suitcase. Sure, if you move often, having a suitcase of essential items where you occasionally re-purchase the rest might be helpful. Expensive, multifunctional items that don't do any one function that well might be worth it in that case. Moving items is expensive, and those traveling the world or living in college dorms are constantly having to do so. And it's not like you plan to live on the move for the rest of your life (at least I hope not).

[@seabreeze4559]

hipster, it's a more rural hipster

[@sushreeshashwata]

@@nicolescats2 well articulated and all this are people who just see the minimalist board on Pinterest and threw everything. Who actually understand and go through it as a lifestyle, you can live in whatever aesthetic you want and still be minimal.

[@пекельніборошна-т1в]

Well, so people basically exchange clothes they don't like anymore? Doesn't sound bad

[@joylindadichamounix]

They want to live & the country but will turn it into the city when they decide to put food co-ops & The Buffalo Exchange there!

[@ZeLeninovoMasoveRizoto]

There's not much "cottagecore" going on in the Eastern Europe officially, but I think it's because a lot of our "cottagecore" tendencies are rather classified as folklore and folk dress, just returning to traditions that are still alive rather just reliving an idealised version of peasant history. Like for example, when I wear my nice embroidered rukávce (a kind of shirtwaist) and a floofy linen skirt with petticoats, or do weird thing with my hair and wear scarves, I'm not cottagecoring, I'm just wearing the traditional dress of my area.

[@IEnattI]

I would say that it is a little bit different here, because the revival in things like kroj and traditions is less question of let's escape the filthy city life and go live rural life and a little more about what our ancestors did and not necessarily divided into the whole city/village dichotomy. If it is romanticizing (which happens but I thinks that happens less often than in cottagecore) it romanticizes the past not necessarily the rural. Also, it usually disappears in women after the first time they try to wear the whole sunday best version of the traditional costume :-D. You can do the traditional things in the cities as well - Christmas traditions, building of the maypole etc. - and integrate them in your life in the cities (and you can remove the "peasant" or "cottage" parts which many people do). So I would say that it is more about looking for some connection with the past, tradition and ancestors (whatever that means) being rural.

[@laerin7931]

And because this rural tradition is still on people's minds, most seem to understand that it's rural life isn't all pretty dresses and picking flowers.

[@Alex-ok5tp]

Fr my family in eastern europe live in a really big farm in the mountains for generations, and it's beautiful, but it's not all peaceful with bugs flying in your face, cow shit all over the place, the sheep- herding dog had fleas all over haha, and there's a lot of upkeep to it all

[@dorizelion]

Yeah I also think cottagecore is kind of redundant in EE because the rural element never really went away with industrialisation to be romanticised? At least not yet, after all it was only a couple of generations ago that these countries were mostly agricultural. I can only speak from a Bulgarian perspective but a lot of people in the towns and cities will have some land outside of town, or they'll have their grandparents' village house to go to and grow vegetables or fruit or whatever. Even in town there's plenty of houses and blocks with vegetable plots nearby. There's a pretty big culture around growing your own produce or getting it from local markets because with the warm summers, it's always going to taste 100x better than in the supermarkets. Don't know about northern eastern european countries though. And yeah, a lot of our folklore and traditions come from peasant life so when you practice that culture, whether by wearing the dresses or learning traditional crafts, it's already kind of cottagecore-like

[@portishphonic]

how right you are.

[@sarataylor6164]

Meme Mom, Your stomach pronounces rural better than you. Twice.

[@ns.kha29]

PFFF

[@ObjectOfEveryHarem]

So... what I’m getting out this is people have been wanting to move out of the city and be forest gremlins since there were cities.

[@elizabethb4168]

Absolutely

[@theodoreyoungman2111]

Forest gremlins sounds so much more fun than flouncing around a meadow just waiting to get mowed down by a combine harvester

[@ObjectOfEveryHarem]

@@theodoreyoungman2111 Unless the meadow is full of pretty flowers not just from a farm 😍🥺

[@theodoreyoungman2111]

@@ObjectOfEveryHarem I'll take the flower picking forest gremlin aesthetic.... Hobbitcore... Is that a thing? Goblincore? I feel like these are things. Whatever Rachel maksy is with her whiskey grandpa look haha

[@elizabethb4168]

@@theodoreyoungman2111 goblincore, is in fact, a thing Can't speak for Hobbitcore though

[@ramflight]

What gen z calls 'cottage core', in Bulgaria we call it 'visiting grandma in Summer'. Seriously, in Bulgaria grandparents (and also their offspring) still live this way.

[@user-em6ym9rj4u]

Yay, another Bulgarian!!! Наистина тази обсесия на западняците с “cottagecore” е побъркана…. Ако дойдат да видят как живеят хората на село тука, ще видят че не е лесно изобщо…

[@petrus9067]

My great grandparents in brazil do too!

[@valemilillo]

In most of Italy, too!

[@takion732]

Romanian here, totally relate to this post!

[@cathleenmoyle1476]

@@user-em6ym9rj4u How exactly is it that the people of this Bulgarian village live?

[@roninelenion4805]

I unwittingly got into cottagecore after reading and watching _The Lord of the Rings_ and _The Hobbit_ when I was thirteen. There was something so alluring about a simple life surrounded by trees and the comforts of home. All these years later, and I still want to live in the Shire and wear waistcoats over poofy shirts. Everytime I see cottagecore clothing, I just think "hobbitses".

[@pandapuff993]

Ahh, same! I loved my incredibly inaccurate ren-faire clothes for this reason. I wore them so often that my school had to give me a pass for wearing them on Halloween (when costumes were banned) because I just dressed like that. lol

[@AngelavengerL]

same

[@celeritas2-810]

@@pandapuff993 that is iconic

[@rosevinetube]

In 1974, my then-husband, 3 yo son, and I moved from small town Wyoming to rural Montana, as part of what was then called in the US “the back to the land” movement. We bought a few acres, lived in a tipi and a school, bus, while we hand-built a house a passive solar house. We also grew a big garden, and raised our own goats and chickens. Cottage core style? Oh yeah. The real thing. I did milk goats in comfy shirts and mid-calf length skirts. Lots of flow, color, cotton prints, hair kerchiefs. I sewed a lot of our clothes. (My son still complains about those shirts with calico yokes.) It was a lot of work, but it was also a wonderful time, especially sharing it with others. Free-range parenting. No time for photos.

[@NoiseDay]

Sounds a lot like the recent homesteading and tiny house movements. I guess it never ends, just goes by different names

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

My parents did that to us, we hated it, we were cutoff, dirty and starving.

[@reneeleese]

How long did this last? What’s your life like now and if different, how come? I’d love to know more!

[@missnaomi613]

I've always lived in a city and always, since I was little, wanted this kind of life!

[@rosevinetube]

@@NoiseDay So true. Although in the 1970s, the “back to the land” movement followed on the Vietnam War protests, the anti-administration sentiments, the hippie culture of openness to new music, drugs, sexual freedom, etc. There were many people, us included, who really worked hard to create a new “counter culture” environment, rejecting religious and materialistic values of our parents and/or the mainstream culture. It was an adventure to learn to garden, raise animals, build houses, cook on wood stove, etc. Work, yes. I think the really hardest part was the estrangement from family, in some cases, the insular nature of social groups, i.e. communal settings. I was at an age where I was just beginning to know myself, my boundaries, and so the stresses of emotional growth in a difficult personal relationship, albeit creative in many ways, was a true concern.

[@misslyntheena]

Reading these comments I just gotta say: People who enjoy cottagecore know what real farms are about, we know what winter is, we know that you get dirty when you work with animals and all that. Some embrace it and want to learn old crafts and farming but cottagecore is about the small things. It’s not about huge tractors but about a small beehive in the backyard, not about hundreds of pigs but ten chicken. Cottagecore does not romanticise modern farmers, it romanticises the countryside, drawing attention to the small and simple things in life and being able to provide some things for yourself such as making your own jam, knitting a scarf and sewing a dress.

[@livtree9941]

You are so spot on with this. I even grew up on a farm with my family and there was plenty of muddy days, but I still also made time for running through a field in my best dress because it really did fill me with joy. People think those two things can't co-exist but they can. Life is what you make it :)

[@helloworld2784]

You can't say "we" lmao. Speak for yourself. A bunch of people on Instagram and Tiktok that enjoys Cottagecore doesn't share the same idea of yours.

[@july4376]

yes! this is exactly it a lot of people are misunderstanding

[@singerofsongss]

Well put!!

[@ticcitoasty]

@@helloworld2784 so the aesthetic can only be what instagrammers who want some likes and shares want it to be for 2 seconds before they move to the next popular aesthetic? just stop

[@jessicapeters5716]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's like "ummmm lying in fields? there's bugs in fields"

[@BonaparteBardithion]

So, watch the bugs. Chew on the grass (and hope no animal has peed on it).

[@Muchenaft]

I like bugs. I wouldn't sit in a field still, because of pesticides and because it will destroy the crops.

[@sofiaoutandabout]

...tick season *shudders*

[@Muchenaft]

Oups, I forgot ticks... Yep, ticks suck. No field for me.

[@fugithegreat]

Ticks and chiggers, no thanks!

[@ahoyhere8113]

henry david thoreau was also like a cottagecore influencer. he wrote that he went to the woods to live deliberately and suck the meat off the bone of life, but actually he walked to town every day to have tea with his mother and get his laundry done ahahahah

[@mrgngrn]

What I dislike about this aesthetic is that cottagecore mostly pretends that winter doesn't exist. Just like movies and tv-shows. Bitch this fantasy will turn into nightmare as soon as it hits 10° C and lower. Don't even get my russian ass started on actual snowy no sunlight winter

[@laerin7931]

Or autumn. Such an amazing fantasy when dirt roads turn into mud that will cake your boots and likely ruin your pretty dress. Or having cold rain showers.

[@popovka]

This!!!!!

[@phoebeel]

Girrrrrl NOOO skirts, especially woolen ones, are the WARMEST garment you can wear in winter! All the air underneath your skirts work as insulation from the cold. Cottagecore for me is a winter look. In summer, all those long linen dresses and stays are just too much

[@maitesoto1953]

That's why Dark Academia exists duh

[@blazertundra]

Cottagecore is great out in the desert, though. Off-white cotton dresses hide a lot of dust and shed heat really well.

[@orangentage]

The original of Anne with an E (Anne of Greengabels) is really cottagecore too and its... idk old. Lol ok now i have to do my research Edit: Yeah its from 1908

[@z.kaminska130]

This book series is extremely popular in Poland, more than the TV series. It was the first book I read by myself without help

[@Mothyave]

@@z.kaminska130 Yeah, it was a mandatory read in my primary school

[@Kasiarzynka]

Before watching this video, it reminds me of the 1901 Polish play titled "Wesele" ("The Wedding"), which is about a wedding between a poet from Kraków (one of Poland's biggest cities and a former capital city) and a girl from some village. As you probably know, a marriage between classes was usually frown upon and worst case scenario, you could be disowned etc, but in that period, the so called intelligence class from cities were absolutely fascinating in the countryside life and culture and it became more common to marry people from rural areas. The play itself is super weird and contains various mystical elements such as various ghosts and prophecies, especially about the restoration of the Polish country (in that period, Poland didn't exist and the land was split between Prussia, Russia and Austria), alongside a social commentary on the whole "intelligence meets countryside" situation. It's a set book in high schools, at least was, a few years ago, when I graduated and if you ever witness teens saying "trza mieć buty na weselu" (one must have shoes on during a wedding), it's from that play and it's generally hated among high schoolers because it feels like such a pile of nonsense, at least in my high school experience. If you played there video game The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone (it's a DLC), there's a quest where you attend a wedding in a rural area, that was heavily inspired by and is an obvious reference to "Wesele". Now I don't know if anyone even cares, but it's not everyday you get to show off your knowledge of early 20th century Polish playwriting on the English speaking Internet and it's actually more or less related to the subject on question so 🤷🏻‍♀️. At least it makes learning it not a complete waste of time, lol.

[@AlicedeTerre]

I feel that way about Heidi

[@milchreis9554]

@@Kasiarzynka I found my next read

[@Shyflyingsaucer]

You should do goblincore next - it’s Cottagecore without having to be “princessy”

[@ouijedanse]

Isn't Goblincore just Witchcore but with more snails?

[@Shyflyingsaucer]

@@ouijedanse kind of, but less magic! Goblins don’t really do rituals like witch core encourages :) clothing style might be similar, but goblincore likes greens, grays, browns, and overall clothes you can get dirty and grungy in. :)

[@lunalimi9798]

What different from what she has already said would she say in that video?

[@petrichorbones]

@@ouijedanse im pretty sure witchcore would have a lot more black and purple and def would include pointy wizard hats lol (well idk if goblin/gremlincore also has the hats idk?) but ye witchcore def seems to me to be more darkly inclined than goblincore would be and more similar to the goth aesthetic (i know not all witches are goth and not all goth are witches im just saying witchcore makes me think of black but goblincore doesnt, basically)

[@avaph0bic]

goblincore is honestly more chaos-based, since it’s basically cottagecore with more personal and “dirty” details. cottagegore is similar :)

[@carolinacs5049]

For me cottagecore relates Studio Ghibli movies. It has a nostalgic tone for a simple living.. I love the details in the countryside scenarios. Kiki delivery service has a wonderful cottage core dress.

[@bs4e]

This is for me as well!

[@katlunascoven7932]

japanese lolita fashion is, as far as I know, inspired by Roccoco and vitorian children's clothing so western styles getting inspired by japanese lolita fashion is completing the circle, kinda?

[@민지야-l3p]

true! didn't think about that!

[@goblinteehee]

Its like playing telephone with generations and regions, just evolving and improving.

[@mamamoyt]

Christopher Marlowe is like Hozier in the modern times. XD

[@sumalyachakraborty7023]

yessssss ! Hero and Leander was one of my faves

[@beagarbo815]

Bold of you to assume that Hozier is a spy;)

[@player2763]

@@beagarbo815 Ah, yes. Hozier, the Belgian super spy.

[@katherinemorelle7115]

Also for the lesbians? Because I swear more than half of Hozier’s fan base are lesbians. And I’m here for it! (Possibly because I belong in that category myself)

[@allygurngemoeder2795]

You're right and you should say it

[@gr3y-heron]

I'm a big fan of cottagecore, but seeing all those white dresses in fields just makes me wonder how much time you'd need to get out all the grass stains.

[@SkyeID]

Nothing says cottagecore like using salt to scrub stains out of your clothes and soaking them in a metal basin with water from the well, the same basin where you also bathe and pour your horses a drink.

[@erenmidnight9543]

Question: was the first cottagecore influencer Marie Antoinette? She had a garden built either near or in versailles. She wore a simple white dress with a ribbon and large hat when in her garden. She had animals in the garden and would try to simplify her stressful life as a young queen by spending time in her garden.

[@A.M.84996]

Moe can change

[@elirchi9214]

Yeah. She and her friends wanted to live like peasants. As for the real peasants of France when they heard what Marie was doing, and how she used their tax money... it just worsened her reputation.

[@returnoftheromans6726]

@@elirchi9214 You are 100% correct. I was wondering if someone would say this. She thought the peasant life 'quaint' and wanted to try it out for herself-- herding sheep and milking cows, ect.

[@seabreeze4559]

the classist who let her people starve while she built a larping place? yeah that woman starving takes a long time, plenty of women with children just... out in the street... begging, not that she cared

[@clarenicke8653]

She would play Little Bo Peep lol

[@danielasarmiento30]

My idea of cottagecore is Anne of green gables. Small town farmland with pretty sceneries and fanciful places and cute puffy sleeves. I remember reading a scene of the novel at eleven and falling in love with the world of Anne's Prince Edward island. Cottagecore is Anne of green gables, but with wifi

[@annasophia2428]

yes i agree

[@haddasancliffe9459]

Same! Been dreaming of that life since I was a small girl

[@sofvpgn]

yh

[@thevampirefrog06]

real talk Anne Shirley would be HELLA into cottagecore/dark academia if she were around today. the lady of shallott! puffed sleeves! dramatically picnicing in a field!

[@bumble9601]

true! what do you think of the netflix show anne with an e?

[@blameitoncapitalism]

I love how you pointed out that the whole idealization of rural live is a rich people fantasy. As a result, the direct baby of all these trends, today's cottagecore is boujee af. the whole idea is a burgoise fantasy and it's always been. it's always been romanticized poverty, and /or frustrated central people imaginations of escapism to a word they don't really know anything about via fancy and expensive versions of their visuals but never really dealing with the struggle. that being said I think it's really beautiful. it's cute and creative and captivating and looks very nice. I just hate how people ignore the elitist origins of it and how pricy and unnafortable the style really is. It's not cheap or easy or humble or natural at all. It's a privilege of very few to able to afford to escape and do nothing all day in the vast land you have somewhere, and it's a privilege of a little more but still a certain leval of financial confortable few to buy those dresses and garments and accessories and shit to take them pretty photos. don't fake poor and humble yall. ain't nothing natural bout shaved legs underneath some cotton copying viscose and polyester skirt, and rosy polished toes tucked into vegan leather boots.

[@VanK782]

Preach

[@JeromeViolist]

Thank you! I hate how so many of the people who idealize rural life sneer at people actually living a rural life. I went to college near Chicago, and whenever we went on a trip and the city kids saw corn fields, they’d groan about “uncivilized hillbillies” and joke about marrying their cousins. They only have respect for their fiction, not for real people.

[@adiem8764]

@@JeromeViolist true that

[@semi-useful5178]

Indeed

[@shanoysewelle8462]

I didn't know they bought the clothes, I thought they made them.

[@sofiapratto801]

Karolina: Oh English Ls and Rs are hard Also Karolina, speaking Polish: SHRAKSKASDEPFIFLSASKA

[@AustinLeeds]

That's still too many vowels for Polish.

[@guillelainez]

And dont forget, the Z in her last name has a weird "stick" on top Ź. How do you pronounce that?

[@ItsAsparageese]

@@guillelainez I'm completely guessing in the dark here but the only variant of a typical "Z" I know is the shhh-ified one, like how you say the voiced S in the middle of "Persia" or the same in "Asian". So like a subtle Zhebrowska instead of a pure Zebrowska. Could be totally wrong though, the mark could have some other effect that doesn't actually change the core phoneme at all, idk

[@arina_ascorbina]

@@guillelainez it's Ż with a dot, a slightly different sound that Ź. And it's pronounced like zh or like g in genre, more or less. Or you can watch this, Ż is in the end: www. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYDYhYN3a9qZjqM

[@abibas3050]

@@ItsAsparageese rz ź ż ć ci cz sz ś si ♥

[@macnadoodle]

I live in the middle of the cottagecore country - in Devon, England - and its always coming round as a trend. Rural life is bloody hard, but when you stop to weep, the view is bloody nice, and the air tastes sweet. And most British new-build homes try to copy a type of cottagecore aesthetic, even in cities. the huge downside of this, is that pretty houses in pretty locations are all bought up as second homes by Londoners, pricing all the locals out from living in their own villages and towns. Its a huge problem.

[@cadileigh9948]

too true and then they complain that the shops are too small when they try to crowd in without distancing 2 metres and are politely told to que out in the rain like the real locals

[@wayneparker9331]

We're seeing the same phenomenon here in California. People fleeing the SF Bay Area and moving to the small towns in the high Sierras near Lake Tahoe. The very real effect is that locals are being priced out of the comfortable (and usually older) homes here.

[@adrenalinevan]

Pastoralism is gentrification for non urban areas

[@talosheeg]

@@wayneparker9331 theyre also leaving the main Los Angeles area and coming to my end of the city which is the San Fernando Valley and they're pricing us locals out. Im 21, have lived in the SFV my ENTIRE life and I know im gonna have to move to a different city if I want any chance of moving out due to the high prices

[@icannotcomeupwithanything4609]

@@wayneparker9331 I live in California. I had two new neighbors this month. They are starting to bulid more houses where I am. I lived there for about three years now. I enjoyed because of the lack of people. Now honestly I just want to fucking leave. :(

[@christianjavier693]

You should do a Dark Academia aesthetic vid, that'd be really intresting

[@pixlfinch1091]

Yes please

[@sofvpgn]

yes

[@80svampire36]

yes i need it

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

Oh God I feel so old, as someone who had been a teacher and a secret goth for 20 years do I dare ask what that is

[@clairebright777]

Agreed!!

[@faridar.7846]

Ahaha your look when you said "I look like I'm gonna milk your cows" 😂😂

[@kohakuaiko]

I ain't never looked like that when I milked cows.

[@girlwithoutpearlearring]

As someone who studies history, I feel so enlightened and also a little embarrassed by how broad your knowledge is. I sometimes feel like I'm not trying hard enough to digg deep into history. But it's also kind of overwhelming because, well, there was lots of stuff going on in the past. But I'm currently (re-)discovering the 18th century a little bit, especially around the French revolution. Thus I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for sharing your thoughts and insights. It has been a delight, as always :-)

[@gianmarcorusso1713]

That's fault of the contemporary Academic system. Specialization only and no broader knowledge.

[@hiolanda1767]

Don't be embarrassed, it's hard to compete with an imortal being

[@LynnAgain83]

Well said. You shouldn't feel bad because as long as we're living we're there to learn something new! 😊💗

[@mrpalaces]

Then she dares to say her research wasn't through enough

[@laerin7931]

Nothing to be ashamed of. Most people who study history are laser focused on a particular and very small area, and have only cursory knowledge of stuff outside of it.

[@emiliedarveau19]

I straight up did my final philosophy paper on rousseau, camus, cottagecore and its link to escapism and the absurdity of urban life

[@jurin3016]

I would love to read your paper

[@steadyeddie3251]

The whole pastoral trend was also a thing in music. In the baroque there was a type of musical composition called a pastoral, and later, many composers where very much influenced by village life, folk music and and rustic vibes. The most well known example is beethoven and his pastoral symphony. Great videos keep it up!

[@pienkunicorn]

I was looking for that. The pastoralle was a whole ass thing. There's also a Mozart opera and a well known ballet with the shepardesses and whatnot.

[@tamarakonczal6350]

@@pienkunicorn Said this before: The 70's. Folk-Rock, English Bard Rock, even Prog Rock (Think Spinal Tap and the egg!) etc., etc., etc......Back to the Land. Mother Earth News, Hippy Communes, dried wildflowers and macramé. Been there. Done that!

[@chileanyways196]

Ooh interesting!

[@dominiquepocopio777]

@@pienkunicorn not the first time mozart was associated with "ass"

[@crowfaerymori]

“So basically, no bugs” yeah, my concern about poisonous spiders and snakes does make things a little less idyllic. I miss being a kid and just assuming I’d be ok!

[@ReptilianTeaDrinker]

They're only a problem if they bite you. Basically, don't just pick them up or get too close. Remember that they are more afraid of you than you are of them, because you're a big, scary human. lol

[@michellebyrom6551]

Well, that innocent/naïve strategy ibviously worked - you're still here. Lol

[@laerin7931]

@@ReptilianTeaDrinker Problem is - if you're prancing around in thick grass, it's very likely that you'll step on some bug or a snake that you couldn't see. Also, mosquitos and ticks will actively seek you out even if you don't want to touch them.

[@cleargreyskies]

There are no poisonous snakes, spiders or insects* where I live, thankfully! With the exception of ticks - which are horrible. I am a field ecologist, so I know how to try to avoid them, but it never works 100%. I had 40 ticks last year, although it seems like I did not get infected with encephalitis or Lyme disease. *tiger mosquitoes are new here and I should research them

[@irka4397]

Now try to say this: Professor Quirrel owns a rural squirrel.

[@valariebrown3768]

Aw, that's just mean! 😂

[@alinageorge2681]

Oh you villain! 😂😂😂

[@htant7362]

Karolina: "Rural" is so hard to pronounce Also Karolina: *speaks a slavic language so basically words with 11 letters but with one vowel in it*

[@aspannas]

it's the english/american "r" that's hard

[@bozhetsotyhtsesh1910]

She needs to use British accent

[@messmeg7582]

In Polish our 'r' sounds like 'Rrrrrrrrr' in english it sounds like 'lou'. For me in world rural - just sound like..... louueloual.

[@CipherDorito]

Even I have a tough time pronouncing it since English is my fourth language.

[@inoue6]

@@messmeg7582 rip me, who is a Polish native and have a speech impediment, thus not being able to correctly pronounce neither Polish nor English r 😭

[@persefoniajax]

I offer up this comment as a sacrifice to our algorithm overlords.

[@marymills3581]

may I reply as a supplementary offering

[@stevezytveld6585]

I come as a supplicant to our benign(?) algorithmic overlords. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown

[@martialme84]

Praise be.

[@cam6110]

Blessed be!

[@biancawantsbooks1904]

M

[@yesthisisshi]

the nature of humanity is just that every so often someone accidentally invents the romantization of rural life as a response to an increasingly frustrating and exploitive urban setting again

[@pawel198812]

Gilgamesh: Being a king of a city state in Mesopotamia is such a drag, you know. Wars, plagues, food shortages, smelly furnaces... I hate the neolithic revolution. We should just go back and be hunter gatherers, connected to nature, to the animals in the wild. That's the dream...

[@cupiter7864]

As a person wiht dyslexia, I hate the word rural also. (I also hate the word dyslexia, I mean, why in the hell you would identify us with a word can't spelled by us)

[@Poppy-]

🤣 totally. I always have to check spell the word that means I CANNOT spell. Damn it. Dyslexia tssss

[@maudline]

In Danish we call it ‘word blind’

[@foxarwen]

Yes! hahahaheheha! So true!

[@pheart2381]

Could be worse. My illness is called myalgic encaphelomyelitis!

[@Poppy-]

@@pheart2381 since it's mostly latin origin, makes more sense to me because I can cut it in smaller words encephal (brain) myelo (nerves) is/itis (inflammation)

[@janushjanushewicz8740]

To be honest, cottagecore let's me go back to my childhood, my grandparents lived in a house with flowers and a little farm around and I spent a lot of time there. The aesthetic reminds me of my grandma and makes my heart warm (apart from clothes tho, I used to wear comfy clothes, so I could chase chickens better) Sorry for my poor choice of words Also love u Karolina!

[@Poppy-]

Hot pies and chasing chicken, I did that

[@tvdsje]

Yeah same, reminds me of running from my grandma's garden to the fields or Forrest behind it, feeding the sheep that were neighbours and making strawberry jam or backing Christmas biscuits with her

[@rebeccac5021]

This is the same for me, I come from a rural town, but since there are no education opportunities there I’ve now moved to the city, which I find really harsh and confronting. Cottagecore reminds me of my childhood, and days spent with my grandparents.

[@tumblefluff2496]

Cottagecore was heavily influenced by the Japanese fashion subculture of 森ガール (lit. forest girl; mori girl) via cross-pollination on Tumblr back in the 2010's which was in turn influenced by (the famous Japanese fashion subculture) Lolita which is, you guessed it, derived from Rococo fashion

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

Lolita is just pdofhilia

[@DoodleDoo2]

@@fighttheevilrobots3417 the Lolita that’s a fashion type, has nothing to do with the book lol, like at all

[@lindafreeman7030]

Shakespeare's play "As You Like It" has a lot of spoofing of the over-romanticizing of rural life, especially in the sub plots involving the shepherdess Phoebe, and Jaques' pursuit of Audrey.

[@smolcharlie1736]

"I like this place/ And willingly would waste my time in it" sums up a lot of cottagecore tbh

[@burntcoppery]

Shakespeare, unlike most playwrights of the time, grew up in a very rural small town. His shepherdesses are very bitchy and hard-handed.

[@semi-useful5178]

@@burntcoppery As they should be, having to deal with the dumbest, most suicidal creatures in all creation.

[@dawngrrrl]

Yes! I was about to comment this. I played Audrey in high school (back in like 2005 I'm old lol) and I was into cottagecore way back then because I was obsessed with Marie Antoinette and pre-Raphaelite paintings. I went from black mini-dresses and fishnets and bondage accessories to soft flowy things and delicate florals and botanical earrings. My parents were confused lol.

[@semi-useful5178]

@@dawngrrrl Adorable.

[@alicjakempisty2729]

About the Pre-Raphaelite paintings, let us look at Florence Welsh. That woman is on every cottagecore playlist and her style is straight up stolen from Rosetti's ladies

[@heathermckay5034]

Yeah she’s been doing this for YEARS

[@334...4]

Yeah, I've had the biggest crush on her, her voice and her style for years.

[@FaerieGodMother]

Do you mean.. Florence Welch? My goddess?

[@bunnyskiddadle1477]

Her red hair is pre-raphaelite SPOT ON

[@lobsterfren]

OG cottagecore

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

0:51 “why would you do that?” The Germanic side of the English language: “it’s the French.” The French side of the English language: “it was the Germans.”

[@jensboettiger5286]

Rural and Ruler are both not in any way German. Rural (English), Rural (French), Ländlich (German). Ruler (English), régle (French), Herrscher (German). Case closed.

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

@@jensboettiger5286the point being that English is a crazy amalgamation of no fewer than two different languages with arbitrary vocabulary rules created by Victorians which nobody even keeps anymore.

[@rancidkippa4589]

"We won't dwell on the ancient origins of cottagecore." Hesiod: Ight, imma head out

[@johannageisel5390]

I imagine neolithic and bronze age city folks now: "Hach, I dream of living as a hunter-gatherer in the wilderness; independent and free... Simply wearing a fur loin cloth instead of this modern, processed linen dress... Eating the fruits of the land wherever I find them." * chisels picture into stone column to share with all their friends *

[@villmolsmerciweg2]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2eWoGOtfdybe7c

[@Veerlejf]

Try "bucolic" instead of "rural". Easier to pronounce, and it sounds fancy af

[@Risaala]

I love the word, "bucolic"1

[@duckdodgers3574]

Sounds like bubonic plague.

[@totallycrazystudios1801]

Or just say "country" Edit: just meant as a friendly suggestion

[@doniaamr7278]

And rustic

[@buckyharris9465]

But "bucolic" doesn't mean rural -- its meaning is more about an ideal version of rurality (an actual word) -- more like "pastoral."

[@bonniebrown5102]

My mom was a teenager in the mid/late 70s...I honestly thought "cottagecore" was just another 70s revival at first because the dresses looked a lot like what my mom would wear in high school and college...

[@kooltom4]

Yes, this was definitely a very similar sort of fashion in the 70s in English speaking countries. Not sure what it might have been called in US, but here in Australia it was called "ethnic" because of the supposed "traditional" touches from various cultures (no insight back then that lumping all cultures into one might not have been very respectful!) or "peasant" (also not a great concept). Laura Ashley type styles very popular (Laura Ashley originals pretty expensive). And indeed Peter Weir's hugely popular film here "Picnic at Hanging Rock" did influence too. Holly Hobbie also very influential here! Probably more so in parts of USA, given she is American artist?? I'm sure your mum will recall Holly Hobbie 😁

[@danam.5127]

As an Autistic person, I love cottagecore aesthetic because the subdued color palettes are soothing, the clothes are SO fun to stim in (especially swishy skirts!), and the natural fabrics are breathable and help keep me from getting overheated when the temperatures get over 100F/37C. I know that I wouldn't do well in a rural environment for a variety of reasons, but the idea of a slower pace of life, spending more time with friends, and pursuing hobbies that I enjoy are all really appealing to me. Embroidery/hand sewing has become a new favourite stim, and knowing that I have created something useful is really rewarding. Cottagecore aesthetic has encouraged me to try new things even in the midst of a year where I've been busier than ever, and it's helped me a lot with my body confidence as well. Sewing is a huge part of my grandmother's culture (Uchinaanchu), and through me learning how to sew, we've become a lot closer. I feel like I was always meant for the cottagecore aesthetic, and I'm really grateful for it coming into my life when it did. It's helped tremendously with my mental health. I know this is all very dramatic, but I really do appreciate how meaning can be found anywhere, even "internet aesthetics."

[@PamelaFlitton]

In UK we would just call this style ‘Laura Ashley’

[@barbarasmith7663]

That’s what I was just thinking 😂

[@PamelaFlitton]

Barbara Smith Must be our age! 😉☺️

[@barbarasmith7663]

@@PamelaFlitton I’m 21 😂 but old at heart!

[@vickierayhill4637]

The mid 1980's still had "cottage core"-- look up the brand Gunne Sax. I loved that look. My 7th grade picture day blouse, 8th grade graduation dress, even my prom dress, were all Gunne Sax designs. I looked like an extra from Little House on the Prairie.

[@walnutwalnutson8723]

My mom was married in a Gunne Sax dress.

[@aought2]

I loved that brand in the early '80s, wore one for high school graduation as well, I still have it all these years later.

[@kaferine]

Oh no, I googled Gunne Sax and now I want to own everything. Why have you done this to me?!

[@pilarlh1668]

Thats so cool! My mom did the same and I really wish I could find one for my graduation dress :( theyre so expensive now

[@taylsbucko5190]

"cottagecore emphasises the idealisation of the rural life" *the romantic poets have entered the chat*

[@isaacgray2909]

The Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightly gives a lot of cottagecore vibe as I just watched it

[@Poppy-]

I just rewatched it yesterday! Real cottage core.

[@nineteenfortyeight]

Hard-cottage-core. The costume designer has talked about how they made the Bennett girls' costumes more 'rustic' than they realistically would have been.

[@liaharmony9195]

If you hate the word rural, the word "bucolic" is a good substitute; it's less commonly used, but it has the same meaning

[@Nenebeautyy]

yes! I was constantly thinking about this word and the poetic movement

[@neonxvices]

are you kidding me the word bucolic is incredibly ugly

[@patheticmortal373]

@@neonxvices sounds like a disease

[@charleswade-smith7263]

rustic ... plain & simple rusticated... a little too contrived !? pastoral... ahhh... perfect... +symphonic’ly too 🎶🎵✨

[@liaharmony9195]

@@charleswade-smith7263 Oh yeah pastoral is also a great synonym

[@Skykovtchai]

This feels like a reborn of romanticism

[@lobsterfren]

exactly what i thought

[@Melissa-eh9vk]

Waiting for the romantic literature to make its appearance...

[@GScheele3]

Especially in response to all the Realism we’ve had for the past 2ish decades.

[@kimtoannhan7275]

Escapism ...

[@slonmish]

more like sentimentalism

[@lewisblakley8288]

Karolina, I swear your content is laced with crack. I've watched ever single video in the span of 3 days. How are you so addictive. Lots of love meme mum.

[@actsrv9]

Really pretty, pleasing voice, clear diction, thoughtful discussion, perfect facial expressions, sprinkled with the right amount of humour. It's a perfect package. She's the PG Wodehouse of KZbinrs. I, for one, am smitten like a kitten (lol)

[@mornen-bb]

she has a natural charisma that lecturers and youtubers would kill to have. many people fake it, many people think they have it, many people compensate for it, but it’s genuine with karolina. 👌

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Internet opium.

[@MichieHoward]

My exposure to "cottagecore" started in the 90's when I came across architecture and home design magazines for the first time, the English and French country houses and cottages were always my favorite style of building and interior designs ascetic, even down to the trim or the dishes on the tables....Ahh memories.

[@murphygirl4782]

"I look like I'm about to uh.. Milk your cows." Pauses. Inside voice -that didn't sound right- 🤣🤣🤣 bahahahahaha

[@anidleteen]

Not to be dramatic but we are wearing a VERY similar outfit Complete with the corset, bandana and pouffey sleeves

[@icecreamy420]

Where did you get your pfp?

[@anidleteen]

@@icecreamy420 I screenshotted it from the season 2 trailer

[@icecreamy420]

@@anidleteen oh I see cause I realized I havnt seen whatever episode it was from

[@anidleteen]

@@icecreamy420 yeah, I think it's from ep5 which isn't out yet (based on her outfit) I'll probably be able to get a better ss of her with her down then lol

[@stefka9156]

Imagine inventing a word like "cottagecore" when "bucolic" already exists ROFL

[@emma7933]

To be fair, for some reason the word bucolic has always reminded me of vomit even though I know perfectly well what it means, so I won't get mad at TikTokers for making up something more cute-sy sounding to try and promote their aesthetic.

[@SL-lz9jr]

Well… because people want to seem original. Plus, they created “norm core” so it seems like “cottage core” was the logical next step

[@SteamFaery]

There are some words that should be retired, though. Bucolic is one of the most gross-sounding words in the English language, and does sound like it should be an illness. It already has ‘colic’ in it, but also sounds a lot like ‘bubonic’, and I can understand why anyone would want to avoid associating their aesthetic with a plague in the current climate!

[@need_more_kittens]

Oh god i agree with the comments above, this is such an unpleasant word and English is not even my native language. I guess it just sounds gross universally

[@Terri_MacKay]

@@SteamFaery I thought I was the only person who felt like this. I've always thought that "bucolic" is one of the ugliest, most unpleasant sounding words in the English language. It's funny that a word that is supposed to conjure up images of peaceful, sun-dappled countrysides makes me think of illness, disease, and throwing up. 😂

[@Bmbusagi]

I lived in a rural area. Looking back, it was a pretty cottagecore town. But the whole living in a double wide and riding horses made it a little less cottagecore and a little more yeehawcore.

[@AbbyKadabby18]

yeehawcore I'm dying

[@petrichorbones]

wait so with the slight rise in cowboy esque fashion is that yeehawcore is it cowboycore? connotations make me wonder hahahaha bc with brands like PyschicOutlaw i feel like they lean into that western cowboy aesthetic a lot hehe

[@Ubeqween]

YEEHAW CORE OMG

[@PlayerClarinet]

Can confirm that the obsession with the pastoral aesthetic was a thing in classical music too. There's a whole subgenre of eighteenth century opera built around shepherds and milkmaids and stuff. Even Ludwig "Pastoral Symphony" Beethoven wasn't immune.

[@callmewaves1160]

I think a secondary cause of the cottagecore boom was the notion that the pandemic created the potential for the civilised world to collapse and so people were idealising the concept of learning survival skills whilst simultaneously living a charmed little cottage life style/getting back to more natural, simpler roots. If so, I don't think this is a bad thing exactly. I think in these modern times, we have become so dependent on technologies,creature comforts and all these gadgets and appliances that we have kind of forgotten the value of doing things by hand.

[@singerofsongss]

It’s so bizarre how society as we knew it collapsed and immediately everybody immediately started learning how to bake bread irl and building virtual society in Animal Crossing. I just found someone’s master’s thesis topic

[@sasielb8922]

@@singerofsongss no it’s honestly insane how fast ppl were willing to adapt. Like even I learned how to garden and make my own bread and jam thinking grocery stores will start running out of supply

[@annjowolfe1561]

At least in Austria, "cottagecore" trend has been a thing since the 1800s. The origin of our folk outfits come from an idealised image the wealthy class had of rural life and clothing in Austria. So folk outfits for festivals were over the top and impractical for true rural life, though it did resemble it. Then it changed a bit to fit more modern fashion and sensibilities over the next 2 centuries until we got the dirndl and the lederhosen we have now. So comparing folk costumes from its origin then and its appearance now it's quite different.

[@queergarments8223]

It's similar with all European folk costumes, I think, none of them are "authentic" in that sense. Many were based on more or less accurate reflections on what peasants would have worn as their best outfits, like in Finland, but they are ideals frozen in time.

[@seabreeze4559]

surprised nobody is mentioning the Nazi propaganda because that's way more specifically what this is conspicuously absent men? check. ration jam and bread? check. traditional femininity for women? check. the most literal and mocked Nazi propaganda was girls in wheat fields and they're even doing THAT so idk, ew and it's kinda hipster in that they don't want traditional life, they want a glam version

[@karynwith-a-y6686]

I do actually think the " folk costumes" were a more formalised concept of what people wore when they dressed up for church on Sundays or for holidays. These style are mostly quite similar all over Europe and would have been more casual for everyday work with the addition of hand-me-downs and repairs, and minus embroideries and oramentation( lace, ribbon and trims). That was reserved for Sunday best and festivals, because it was costly and took much time to create.

[@karynwith-a-y6686]

@@hi-ve1cw Exactly. Soviets used propaganda like that too. How come they never get called out?🤔. Women "hanging out" is simply how it traditionally happened when visiting together, they'd often do handwork together or support one another with sharing the cooking duties while there might be a "barn-raising" etc.

[@annjowolfe1561]

@@hi-ve1cw absolutely, folk costumes dont have to be specifically for one gender. I could wear a dirndl or a lederhosen if I so pleased. And I've heard in Finland and other places, they have folk costumes for people who are nonbinary (tho the label is new, the presence of nonbinary people are not).

[@aquaaurora2747]

"white shirts and swishy skirts" sounds like the start for some song lyrics to the next Disney 'princes' move toss in some woodland creatures to follow the 'princes' around and you have half a movie there.

[@meridaskywalker7816]

How many Disney movies have you watched?

[@ReptilianTeaDrinker]

*Princess Also, they are kind to the animals, not abusive. They never THROW animals Have you ever even watched a Disney movie? The princess would never be allowed to pick up a piece of wood, because of the misogyny in the older movies.

[@MedorraBlue]

I just gotta say... your captions are fantastic 🤣Thank you for putting so much care into them!

[@judisutherland8051]

I’m old enough to remember Laura Ashley frocks from the 70s. High cottagecore.

[@karynwith-a-y6686]

They were beautiful. And let's not forget "Gunne Sax". Such gorgeous dresses.

[@TheKnallkorper]

I bought a ton of those old sewing patterns and have been making them for my kids 😂

[@MilnaAlen]

I didn't know Laura Ashley made clothing, my mum sold decorative pillowcases and stuff made from Laura Ashley fabric like 10 years ago. It paid our downpayment for our house, that style was super popular in interior design.

[@marvellousmrsmoller]

I am bemused. My clothing has never been fashion inspired, just practical for my (suburban) vegetable gardening, housework, caring for chickens, cooking, craft work, sewing home maintained enough.. . But here I am with a wardrobe made up of garments made of natural fibres and matching this new-again aesthetic. Chuckling

[@gh4939]

I grew up with my dad being a farmer, so I’ve seen a few of the struggles people in the countryside face- I don’t think people realize how badly local generational farmers get treated if they aren’t commercialized. That said, I remember I went to this work retreat at my boss’s house that was also in the country (albeit a lot close to the ‘city’ where I live, which is actually a college town), and the vibe is soooo different. Beautiful parks, nicely kept orchards, lavish houses. Not a single rundown barn to be seen, or beat up trucks, or trailer parks. It didn’t look like people used their fields much. People actually taking strolls and riding their bikes lmao, that was new for me 😂 It was just so shocking how different one countryside was from another.

[@littlewammity9896]

same here in southwest England. where I used to live, there were a few farms, dairy I think, that were old with nice stone farmhouses, but were messy, unorganised working farms which is the norm. five minutes away there is a village inhabited by rich city slickers primarily from London that own stone cottages and a few acres with occasionally a pony as decoration for the housewives to use when they're bored. due to this, house prices are insane so local people cant actually afford to live there unless they grew up as farmers or managed to buy their parents' house after death. during covid, it was suddenly common for these rich city folk to actually live in their cottages as they had to work or were furloughed from home - meaning every day you would see them cycling around the village or going on walks because that's what they were allowed to do. now the restrictions are eased no one walks around there which is ironic.

[@bookcat123]

It’s the pretty dresses that get me. I’d like to see all you city people come out here and fight crows and deer to protect the orchards and keep your pets away from the coyotes in pretty pastel dresses 😂 but I suspect the actual farmers said similar to the romantic poets...

[@cmpxproject6237]

I'm so happy that you mentioned Arcadism. Here in Brazil we study this movement in school. I remember when this cottagecore exploded I was like "WAIT I saw people wanting to live in a ideal rural place when everything is fancy and clean before..."

[@i.7566]

Yes!

[@LillibitOfHere]

We have a village in Michigan (USA) named Arcadia. There’s almost nothing there, it’s the middle of nowhere.

[@LadyJaggerX3]

@@LillibitOfHere There's a city in Florida called Arcadia as well.

[@just-trying-my-best-everyday]

This video about aesthetics being visually aesthetic is poetic cinema.

[@abigaillachney9734]

Cottagecore always reminds me of me think of that time Henry David Thoreau spent a whole year in a cottage in the woods and wrote a whole book about how enlightening the aesthetic of nature is. The Romantic movement in literature has a LOT of cottagecore vibes, more specifically the romanticizing rural life. I also love that you brought up pastoralism-- reading pastoral poetry of the 18-19th century is like reading a poem someone wrote based on a Pinterest cottagecore aesthetic board and then added a whole bunch of Christianity-inspired metaphor about shepherds. William Blake was one of the OG cottage core fans.

[@Epiphanystone]

I was a kid in the 70s and I definitely remember going to rural thrift shops to find the cool vintage with my mom and sisters. We would find pettycoats and corset covers and chemises. I still have one of the corset covers.

[@demilovatofaith]

Cottagecore fashion is History Bounding PROVE ME WRONG!!!!

[@seabreeze4559]

It's actually Nazi propaganda pushing women into their 'rightful place' in the kitchen [I disagree] but stuff like girls in wheat fields is a famous neo-Nazi trope and nobody is calling it out. We were shown this at school. It's a weird imposition of traditional gender roles on women while men are curiously absent (at war) and women seem to be on rations (baking bread, gathering herbs). It's creepy.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

@@seabreeze4559 interesting, I'd never heard this

[@petronellataube2986]

@@seabreeze4559 um if a wheat field is enough to evoke nazism i think you should visit a northern country. They're everywhere. Dog whistles are an issue but maybe just let people enjoy baking and frilly dresses without jumping to nazi brainwashing, it's literally the most innocent activity. A lot of images include black people in a neutral or positive light so I really don't see how that works as nazi propaganda

[@petronellataube2986]

@@seabreeze4559 like i'd agree if they all were white blonde women with submissive themes but i dont see that

[@BlitzsieLDiscoLSnow]

@@seabreeze4559 Whoah hold on back up a lil' bit. When there are no men, because they are at war, women are working the factories. Most of the feminist successes after world war one and two came from women who didn't want to be shoved back into those traditional roles, because they were doing work, got paid for it, and didn't want to lose that independence. You can frame everything as neo-nazi this way. And there's a whole movement in the costuming community with the hastag #VintageFashionNotVintageValues, which is also prevalent in cottagecore and other aesthetics that use historical fashion as inspiration. I do agree that there are more problematic "tradwife/tradlife" kinds of things within cottagecore, but that doesn't mean that cottagecore itself is Nazi propaganda. I can wear fluffy white dresses, petticoats, and a corset and still actively work to dismantle the patriarchy :) We should call out the people who are either silent on this issue when asked about it or actively propagating vintage values and forcing them on others, but it's unfair to classify an aesthetic label as neo-Nazi, forgetting its whole other history that Karolina explained in this video.

[@Greenwoodland]

Its so much fun listening to folks discovering the aestetic, after growing up watching Sense and Sensibility, the Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea movies, and Beatrix potter cartoons. Oh and Tasha Tudor books--if you like cottagecore and you haven't looked up the life of Tasha Tudor look her up. She's amazing

[@flaviarusso1313]

Me, using a time machine to go back in Ancient Rome and tell Virgil how his poetry basically inspired an aesthetic:

[@lampyrisnoctiluca9904]

Do you speak latin?

[@flaviarusso1313]

@@lampyrisnoctiluca9904 Not really, but I've studied it so I could muster up some writing.

[@lampyrisnoctiluca9904]

@@flaviarusso1313 I had latin for 2 years in highschool. I have forgotten it. It was still usefull to know what some things we learned in college meant. That is why I had easier time remembering names of things.

[@flaviarusso1313]

@@lampyrisnoctiluca9904 Oh nice! I've studied it in high school as well, for five years, and in University too I've followed some Latin courses.

[@the_star_aries9297]

when people talk about cottagecore I always think about mori girl style

[@marymills3581]

yes!! less people seem to know about mori girl lifestyle stuff? they're so similar!

[@elisabettadapelo3727]

Poets dreamed of moving to what we call a "locus amoenus" : an idyllic place full of clear waters, green grass, beautiful flowers, etc. so yeah, it's cottagecore.

[@emieve617]

I have lived in the countryside my whole life so this whole trend suits me just fine, I also like the fact that more companies are making loose/flowing clothing in natural materials. I think, while the pandemic didn’t start cottagecore, it certainly helped it grow since people (teens) were home bored and free from judgement so they felt able to explore their own personal styles, thus the explosion of quite different/extravagant fashion styles. Additionally there is currently a big move from cities to the countryside, at least where I live, since people have become sick of them after successive lockdowns.

[@vandomka8464]

we should bring back chłopomania as a polish word for cottagecore

[@rosacentifollia]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@esther_margolis]

I'm too old to really "get" this cottagecore thing... however I'm just wondering what you would make of my teenage self in the 1970s, with my peasant dresses and tiered skirts and long braids or my hair tied back with a bandana just like you are wearing here! too bad I can't find pictures. but this was totally "a thing" believe me

[@Terri_MacKay]

Yes!! I loved dressing like that during the 70's. I hated so much of the fashion during the 70's, and, of course, being in high school, dressing fashionably was very important. Thank goodness for the peasant look!!

[@Alex-ok5tp]

The early 70s seemed to have a lot of styles inspired by medieval european fashion, i've never seen the resurgence of it till now but I think it's so cool!

[@flowergirl5962]

My mom was the same but in the 90s! Fashion cycles all the time, it’s neat to see how it cycled from the 1900s and all the way back to the Renaissance; we really are our mothers and follow in their footsteps 🥰

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

When I was a teenager in the late 90s I loved loved loved the flowy flowery skirts and ultra long hair brushed straight down with brown lipstick

[@singerofsongss]

I’m a Gen Z kid and the 1970s is actually my main style inspiration. (Also my favorite music decade!) A lot of trends from that time became mainstream this summer, and I was so excited to wear comfy yet feminine clothes. I think it was one of the best decades for cultural expression!

[@randomdreamer5429]

cottagecore is pretty much my favorite aesthetic, cool to have a little history class about it !

[@CandySphynx]

I also feel like a lot of people want to be able to cultivate their own food to have a sense of control we all lost during the pandemic. Of course the aesthetics are amazing, but I feel like it goes deeper for a lot of us, on top of a desire to reconnect with nature and the earth.

[@dinodino5602]

+++

[@petrichorbones]

yes, i hate where i live and being stuck here made me really realize i truly would prefer to grow my own vegetables and have a garden. may or may not mean i wanna be completely in the middle of nowhere, but at least somewhere where i cant hear the highway when im in my backyard :(

[@Ed_Gein_crafts]

I love combining cottage core, hobbitcore and the "my entire wardorbe comes from Tractor Supply Co"-core Think unhinged little house on the prarie meets farm clothes meets patches and embroidery , and farm boots Its super fun and everything has pockets

[@Jade45224]

The fact that I immediately recognized one of the paintings in this vid from the “For the First Time in Forever” sequence in Frozen is sad 😂