Before Cottagecore...

I've been getting a lot of targeted ads for clothes on Instagram in addition to a shift in suggested pins on Pinterest. The major similarity between these two seems to be the newfangled aesthetic of "cottagecore." According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, "Cottagecore is an Internet aesthetic that celebrates a return to traditional skills and crafts such as foraging, baking, and pottery, and is related to similar nostalgic aesthetic movements such as grandmacore, farmcore, goblincore, and faeriecore." I'm very interested to know what "goblincore" is, but I am going to stay focused for now! On one hand, cottagecore reflects the overwhelming tendency of social media to present an idyllic life for viewers that is hard to achieve and, for many, unsustainable. On the other hand, it brings back an aesthetic I have long aspired to since first reading Anne of Green Gables and seeing the 1994 "Little Women" film. Mix these two texts with the life of Tasha Tudor and you have created the farm and cottage life teen me aspired to religiously.

Part of the aesthetic (I refuse to call mine "cottagecore" but still lack a name some 20 years later) is the clothing. I longed to wear dresses with puffed sleeves, hand knit sweaters, boots and hats-- aprons for days! I poured over period films and checked out books on Tasha Tudor from the library as if to absorb the clothing through osmosis. The early 2000's were hardly a fashionable time and eventually my interest got pulled in the direction of flare leg jeans, body glitter, and large hoop earrings. 

As someone who grew up in a family of collectors, antique buyers, and farm machine purveyors, I loved the interiors of Green Gables and Orchard House. I checked out books on mansions and 19th century design just so I could spend hours looking at the pages. I feel like I know the floor plans of so many fictional houses both through their literary descriptions and the film adaptations of them. No parlor was too overstuffed, no kitchen was too cozy, and no bedroom was complete without a canopied or iron bed! Perhaps this obsession explains my tendency to over clutter when I decorate (I'm getting better at being neater...) and the amount of old house restoration Instagram accounts I follow...

I think the rise of cottagecore reflects a growing desire for simplicity and sustainability (Instagram influencers aside...). The pandemic has forced us all home and suddenly it's clear that our houses, apartments, duplexes, etc are more than just shelters. They are havens. I can't wait to be able to go to antique stores and travel again. In the meantime, I'm working on making my version of cottagecore reflect my aesthetic and interests and my growing need for shelter from the outside world. Teaching face to face is taking its toll and I'm always happy to come back home.

Tasha Tudor in her garden