Changes: Cottagecore

Revision as of 07:32, 10 April 2021

Content warning: This page includes documentation of politics and political controversy, and includes mentions of fascism and white supremacy.

Cottagecore

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." -Albert Einstein

Other names

Farmcore, Countrycore, Teacore

Decade of origin

2010s

Key motifs

Cottages, farm animals, wildflowers, pies, crops, gingham

Key colours

Green, Brown, Yellow, Cream/Off-White

Key values

Rejection of modernity (both camps)
Agrarianism (both camps)
Femininity (both camps)
Serenity (both camps)
Colonialism (both camps)
Anti-capitalism (progressive camp)
Queerness (progressive camp)
Tradition (reactionary/tradwife camp)
European heritage (reactionary/tradwife camp)

Related media

The Moominvalley franchise
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
Winnie the Pooh
Beatrix Potter
Lord of the Rings
Anne With an E
Maleficent

Cottagecore (also known as Farmcore and Countrycore) is an aesthetic inspired by a romanticized interpretation of western agricultural life. It is centered on ideas of more simple life and harmony with nature. Specific themes associated are the survival of the environment, food, and caring for people. While the aesthetic is predominant on several social media sites, such as on Instagram and more recently TikTok, the community notably prospers on Tumblr. It is particularly popular within the WLW community, However you do not have to be wlw to be part of this aesthetic.

Despite a number of its followers taking a progressive and subversive outlook on life, Cottagecore has been also criticized for its romanticism of eurocentric farming life. It has also been criticized in the context of North American and Australian settings, an inadvertent celebration of the aesthetics of colonialism, as well as the ways it often simplifies and underestimates the labor of farmers. It is due to these connotations that the use of Cottagecore aesthetics has been adopted by the TradWives community and members of the far-right as forms of propaganda. This has led to media criticism despite their opposition to LGBTQ+ and anti-capitalist adherents of Cottagecore.

Cottagecore is often compared to aesthetics such as Grandparentcore, which seek to invoke a similar sense of nostalgia. It is also similar to Naturecore and Warmcore.

Español: Cottagecore (también conocido como Farmcore o Countrycore) es una estética inspirado por una interpretación romántica de la vida agrícola en Europea. Es centrado en las ideas de la vida simple y la harmonía con la naturaleza. Temas específicos son la supervivencia del medio ambiente, comida, y cariño por los otros. Aunque la estética es popular en muchos sitios, como Instagram y recientemente TikTok, la comunidad prospera en Tumblr. Es muy popular con la comunidad sáfica.

Fashion

Many cottagecore outfits are impractical for the farming and gardening work that the aesthetic revolves around.

Cottagecore fashion commonly involves:

Longer, loose-fitting, flowy dresses and skirts often (but not always) reminiscent of housework wear from the 1900s-50s.
Large layered clothing (as stated above) with big pockets, puffy sleeves, and button blouses are popular. (Think sundresses and overalls)
Naturally occurring or faded colours including brown, baby pink, olive green, ivory, maroon, beige, ochre, dusty rose pink, light yellow, and baby blue.
Patterns such as stripes, paisley, faded floral, and gingham.
Embroidered plants, animals, and insects.
Hand-crafted accessories such as simple jewelry and knitted hats, socks, and outerwear.
Shortalls/overalls.
Lace.
Longer, loose-fitting clothing
Embroidered plants, animals, and insects.
Hand-crafted accessories such as simple jewelry and knitted hats, socks, and outerwear. (if wanted)
(can also be seen wearing two braids or loose waves)

Websites & Stores

Adored Vintage
Amantine
BEDRA VINTAGE
Breath of Youth
Christy Dawn
Cottagecore Aesthetic (Contains elements of Mori Fashion and Light Academia.)
DÔEN
Faithful The Brand
Forest Girl Clothing - Cottagecore
Frills and Farms
Linennaive
Roam Vintage
Subrina Heyink Vintage
The Cottagecore

Visuals

Cottagecore visuals can include:

Fairies
Pressed flowers
Crowns
Gardens of any kind (herb, vegetable, fruit, flower)
Farm, forest, and domesticated animals
Handwritten letters
Vintage crockery, most notably tea sets
Cottages and farmhouses
Cross stitch and embroidery
Baking simple/rustic recipes such as bread, muffins, pies, etc
Mostly mushrooms on furniture and glass dishes
Open fields, flower farms, sunlight through any species of plant or forest
Reading outdoors
Poetry

Media

For more, see the TVTropes page.

Movies

Alice in Wonderland (1951)
"Burrow" by Pixar (2020)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
A Room with a View (1985)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
My Girl (1991)
Howard's End (1992)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
The Holiday (2005)
Atonement (2007)
The Secret of Moonacre (2008)
Tinker Bell (2008)
Barbie and the Diamond Castle (2008)
Liz and the Blue Bird (2018)
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Fighter (2010)
The Secret World of Arietty (2010)
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2010)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Secret of the Wings (2012)
The Pirate Fairy (2014)
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (2014)
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Paddington 2 (2017)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (2018)
Midsommar (2019)
The Velveteen Rabbit (2009)
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Tangled (2010)
The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971)
FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999)

TV Shows

Little House on The Prairie (1974-1983)
The Moomins (1990)
The Animals of Farthing Wood (1993-1995)
Anne with an E (2017-2019)
Angelina Ballerina (2002-2006)
Winnie the Pooh (1924-present day)

Literature

The books of Beatrix Potter
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Pettson and Findus by Sven Nordqvist
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
"1.1" by Tibellus

YouTube Channels

The Green Witch
Darling Desi
TheCottageFairy
李子柒 Liziqi

Politics

While the cottagecore aesthetic is not necessarily an organized political movement with stated goals or leaders, much of the conversation around cottagecore is political, especially given the aesthetic has become infamous for its association with two directly opposed political groups with radically different outlooks on life despite the shared frustration with modernity.

While the opposition to modern life is shared among Cottagecore adherents across the political spectrum, what is specifically being opposed tends to vary. For more progressive-leaning followers of the aesthetic, it is particularly capitalism as well as heteronormativity. While many people involved in cottagecore identify with an ideology that more concretely advocates for the restructuring of society, they may also express a dislike of capitalism in a more casual tone through or alongside cottagecore.

You can find more information about people of color and Cottagecore here: Black People and People of Color in Cottagecore

Many progressive-leaning members of the cottagecore community reject heteronormative gender roles and seek to remove the stigma and stereotypes of traditional life from the aesthetics and culture of times past. Cottagecore enjoys niche popularity within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among lesbian and bisexual women, for this reason. Many express dissatisfactions with the roles and expectations placed on them in a heteronormative society. This article suggests that cottagecore is an ideal where young people are freely able to express queerness in a rural space, contrasting the homo/transphobia many who reside in existing small towns face. Because of this, many members of the Cottagecore community could learn a lesson from the Vaporwave and Synthwave communities in how to properly handle the people who try to take this from them.

On the other side of the political spectrum, another more controversial large community subscribing to the aesthetic is the Tradwife movement, found largely on Instagram and Facebook's "Politigram" community. Contrasting the progressive Cottagecore community, the rightist adherents to the aesthetic proclaim their opposition to modernity is based on a loss of conservative values in the 21st Century and fondness for a pre rather than a post-capitalist economic system. Tradwives specifically are described as women who "embrace 'submissive' heteronormative lifestyles involving homemaking and child-rearing and reject feminism" according to Wikipedia. Members of the tradwife movement often utilize cottagecore imagery, fashion, memes, and aesthetics to promote. They may also romanticize the revitalization of traditional heteronormative gender roles for women, a popular aspect of far-right ideology. Even further niche is the utilization of cottagecore imagery and inspired memes by Eco-Fascist and Eco-Nationalist circles who openly and intentionally uphold western colonialist and eurocentric views as an ideal as opposed to accidentally as was the criticism for Progressive Cottagecore followers. However, it is important to note that those within the Tradwife movement often do not associate openly with the cottagecore community and that the two sides oppose each other greatly as explained in this article.

"Patriarchy! The proven way to raise High-Quality Children! "- ‘Tradewife’ Facebook page.

Music

Artists

Songs

Moments in Love by Art of Noise
Return to Innocence by Enigma
Dreams by The Cranberries
Yellow by Coldplay
Dear Fellow Traveller by Sea Wolf
lavender blood by Fox Academy
Oats We Sow by Gregory and the Hawk
Feels Like Home by Caamp
I Love A Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbit
Scarborough Fair
Greensleeves
Salut d'Amour by Edward Elgar
La Mer by Django Reinhardt
The Crane Wife by The Decemberists
We Fell in Love in October by Girl In Red
Lemon Boy by Cavetown
The Record Player Song by Daisy the Great
Ophelia by The Lumineers
La Mer by Charles Trenet
Douce France by Charles Trenet
Schön Rosmarin by Kreisler
Hungarian Dance No.7 by Brahms
Navarra by Sarasate
Cappricio Op.18: Allegro moderato by Chaminade
Etude No.9 "Butterfly Wings" by Chopin
Humoresque No.7 by Dvorak
Lieder ohne Worte No.6 by Mendelssohn
The lark ascending by Vaughan Williams
Le tombeau deCouperin by Ravel
Arabesque No.1 by Debussy
Flute Sonata by Poulenc
Prelude to the afternoon of a faun by Debussy
Miroirs III. Une barque sur l'océan by Ravel
Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor: Introduzione by Borodin
Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor: Moderato alla breve by Borodin
The Enchanted Lake Op.62 by Lyadov

Pinterest Boards

Aesthetic ♦︎ Cottagecore ♦︎ by Silverz

Playlists

Spotify

Activities

Picking flowers
Sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery
Gardening
Write a handwritten letter to family (or your lover)
Write poems
Picking fruit from your garden
Weaving flower crowns
Picnics
Baking
Painting and drawing
Building a birdhouse
Reading
Swimming
Walking in the woods
Making fruit preserves
Catching bugs
Picking fruit

Subgenres

Bloomcore

Bloomcore is an aesthetic that is similar to Cottagecore in many ways, but has more of a centralized focus on flowers and gardening in a small, quaint village.

For more information on Bloomcore, please visit our Bloomcore page.

Cottagegore

Cottagegore is a darker take on the Cottagecore aesthetic with more of a focus on the more negative aspects of cottage and natural life that Cottagecore often tries to veer away from.

For more information on Cottagegore, please visit our Cottagegore page.

Honeycore

Honeycore is an aesthetic based around the rural production and consumption of goods such as honey, bread, and waffles. It is similar to Cottagecore in that agricultural imagery and values are emphasized, but the visuals are streamlined to create a color palette of mostly pale yellows and browns. In many of the pictures that can be classified into the Honeycore aesthetic, bees, honey, or flowers can be seen and there is a big emphasis on agriculture and conservation of bees.

For more information on Honeycore, please visit our Honeycore page.

Vaporcottage

Vaporcottage is largely a joke aesthetic made up on the Aesthetics Wiki Discord, mainly done as a thought experiment to see if one could take the grounded, earnest, and realistic escapism of Cottagecore could be mixed with the surrealist, sarcastic, and incredibly dystopian nightmare that is Vaporwave in an attempt to prove that any aesthetics can be blended. It was described as "what you'd see after ingesting mushroom soup laced with xanax; you start seeing a bunch of weird shit while away for a weekend in the cottage to get away from the big city and its rampant hyperconsumerism. The radio that won't stop playing advertisements and the billboard in the farm fields haunt you as the light from the ad shines through your lace curtains, and while crickets chirp and a stream trickles softly, you can't sleep because the giant Burger King ad illuminates your quiet cottage in the countryside and the gentle flicker of the lights of the fireflies triggers a sense of dread that the Christmas season is about to begin. You look at the warm, cozy fireplace and wonder how you'll decorate your Christmas tree this year, what will you buy for your friends?" If one can figure out how this aesthetic could work in a realistic capacity, please let us know and share your results with the world.

Southwest Cottagecore

Southwest Cottagecore moves away from the foresty, green color palette of cottagecore. The willows and vines are switched out with succulents. The main aspects are quite identical, just adapted to more southern/western life. Instead of a stone cottage, you may prefer an adobe house framed by yuccas. The fashion becomes more suited for warm weather and is generally paired with warm colors and the occasional beachy, whimsical look. The beachy side of this is characterized by run-down shacks on the coast and beachgrass. Lizards, rabbits, snakes, and hawks are characterizing of the aesthetic.