Lovecore

Lovecore, which shares the visuals and ethos of Valentine's Day, is based on the visual culture of manufactured romance. The forms of love that the aesthetic specifically focuses on are affectionate, dopamine-filled, and "gushy." It can involve both requited and unrequited relationships, with both crushing on someone from afar and the rituals of dating being shown in these images. Relationships could be both new and juvenile or old and familiar. The more mature and philosophical or seductive and erotic aspects of love are not featured, as visually, these often do not match the visuals and younger audience of Lovecore.

However, people who enjoy the aesthetic are not necessarily actively crushing on anyone or in a relationship depicted in the aesthetic. The aesthetic largely speaks about crushes and relationships in the theoretical, with there not being a true person that the original poster is thinking about. People who enjoy romance fiction, queer people who celebrate love, and people who wish for romantic experiences are some examples of people who appreciate the aesthetic.

Visually, Lovecore tends to focus on the commercialization of love through Valentine's Day decorative trends. The rituals associated with romance are also heavily featured, especially in text. The aesthetic has substyles that can emphasize vintage, anime or Cottagecore visuals.

Lovecore originated on Tumblr but later spread to many other platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest.

Visuals[]

Popular motifs include hearts, boxes of chocolate, lipstick, love letters, cupid, angels, and the colours red and pink. There are also at times vintage elements present in the form of scans of Valentine's Day cards written in the 1950s and 60s. There is sometimes overlap with anime in the form of pink manga edits and images of anime characters with hearts in their eyes.

Anime characters who are blushing or have hearts around them
Anything shaped like a heart and in the lovecore colors
Bouquets of flowers
Cakes with pink frosting and cherries
Candy such as lollipops or chocolates that are heart-shaped and pink or red
Cupid imagery such as angel wings and arrows
Cute animals such as kittens or dogs
Lipstick
Paper Valentine's Day cards
Stuffed animals
Typography expressing quotes about love
"Tunnel of Love" amusement park rides

Pinterest Boards[]

Fashion[]

Lovecore fashion is a mix of lingerie, angel wings, satin dresses, and just general formal date wear, though sometimes people who identify with the aesthetic adopt a softie look or opt for graphic t-shirts with the aforementioned themes. Larme-styled outfits are also popular. Colors like pink, red, and white, as well as motifs such as hearts and lipstick marks, are also fairly common. Some garments include:

Crop tops with puffed sleeves, shirring, and other feminine details
Heart-patterned garments and accessories
Slip dresses with satin and lace
Turtlenecks with a tighter fit
Pink lingerie
Angel wings or wing imagery on clothing

Activities[]

Writing/decorating love letters
Baking
Thinking about your crush/partner
Kissing
Holding hands
Cuddling
Going on dates
Making paper hearts

Subgenres[]

Pagano-Lovecore[]

Aphrodite-adonis-painting — Painting of Goddess Aphrodite and her lover Adonis

Pagano-Lovecore focuses on the iconography of love in Greco-Roman mythology and the Italian Renaissance, rather than the popular culture and commercialized love. Fixated on Greco-Roman gods and goddesses, beautiful statues, doves, old jewelry, ancient love poetry, and other antique things in Rome or ancient Greece. Figures include Aphrodite, Eros, Adonis, and other love deities. Easy overlap with Dark Academia. More deities and visuals can be found at Hellenic.