Your Complete Guide to the "Dark Academia" Aesthetic

Hello there!

Lately, I'm obsessed with the "dark academia" aesthetic, and I thought of writing about it since it's fascinating to me that I was into it for so many years without knowing that it was called like that.

Also, I've been thinking a lot about how the dark academia aesthetic, whilst rich in aspects such as literature, music, and material beauty, is lacking in things such as activities. So I' ve also included a list of activities that I would personally deem as befitting the dark academia aesthetic.

If you have any more suggestions, feel free to add them in the comment section!

So what is "dark academia" exactly? Well, according to Urban Dictionary, it is "An aesthetic that is inspired by old and classic literature/philosophy, as well as themes of existentialism and death (essentially a knowledgeable, vintage emo). It revolves around a dark colour scheme as the name implies, with hints of earthy tones as well, such as navy green, burgundy, cream, and brown/beige. This whole aesthetic is about looking like a wise-cracking, pretentious scholar, so you'd usually see one wearing plaid or suede dress pants, knitted turtlenecks, black belts, blazers, baggy overcoats, dress shoes/black heels, and pocket watches/gold vintage watches. You will occasionally find one lounging around in a used bookstore, reading old classics and writing poetry, or in a vintage coffee shop, ordering a black coffee or a green tea with no sugar.

Movies

1. Howl (2010)
2. Kinsey (2004)
3. An Education (2009)
4. Another Country (1984)
5. The Emperor’s Club (2002)
6. A Single Man (2009)
7. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
8. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
9. Evil (2003)
10. Before the Fall - Napola (2004)
11. A Serious Man (2009)
12. if.... (1968)
13. The Browning Version (1994)
14. Tom Brown's School Days (1940)
15. Dead Poets Society (1989)
16. Cracks (2009)
17. The Goldfinch (2019)
18. The Riot Club (2014)
19. Maurice (1987)
20. Ruby Red (2013)
21. Rope (1948)
22. The History Boys (2006)
23. The Theory of Everything (2014)
24. Harry Potter
25. School Ties (1992)
26. Tolkien (2019)
27. Little Women (2019)
28. Call me by your name (2017)
29.   Little Ashes (2008)
30.   The Children Act (2017)

Books

1. The Secret History, Donna Tartt, 1992
2. Kill Your Darlings, Terence Blacker, 2000
3. Obedience, Will Lavender, 2008
4. The lessons, Naomi Alderman, 2010
5. If We Were Villains, M.L. Rio, 2017
6. The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater, 2012
7. The Lake of Dead Languages, Carol Goodman, 2005
8. The Basic Eight, Daniel Handler, 2006
9. The Lying Game, Ruth Ware, 2017
10. Dead Poets Society, N.H. Kleinbaum, 1988
11. Black Chalk, Christopher J. Yates, 2015
12. Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson, 2018
13. People like us, Dana Mele, 2018
14. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh, 1982
15. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
16. The Goldfinch, Donna Tart, 2013
17. Maurice, E.M. Forster
18. Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
19. Ninth House, Leigh, Bardugo, 2019

Series

1. Hannibal (NBC)
2. Penny Dreadful
3. Peaky Blinders
4. Sherlock (BBC)
5. Deadly Class
6. The Alienist (Netflix Original)
7. Hemlock Grove (Netflix Original)
8. Victoria (ITV)
9. Versailles
10. Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries
11. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix Original)
12. Atelier (Netflix Original)
13. The Frankenstein Chronicles
14. Clique (BBC)

Music

1. Vampire Weekend
2. Hozier
3. Radiohead
4. The Smiths
5. The Lumineers
6. Lorde
7. Sufjan Stevens
8. Harry Styles
9. Isak Danielson
10. Matt Maeson
11. The Orion Express
12. Neroche
13. The Buttress
14. Mendelssohn
15. Gang of Youths
16. Lana del Rey
17. Max Richter
18. Anything from the classics (Vivaldi, Schubert, Beethoven..)

Fashion

• for a basic outfit: a black turtleneck, a trenchcoat, plaid bottoms, oxfords or heels, neutral makeup
• for a classy outfit: basic outfit + a red lip or some jewellery or both
• for a casual outfit: a black or white blouse, coloured mom jeans, black or white converse or heels if you’d like
• for a warm weather outfit: a neutral coloured mid-length dress, converse, jewellery, neutral makeup
• for a cold weather outfit: a bulky grey sweater, skinny jeans or a skirt with stockings and over knee socks, ankle boots or oxfords or even heels
• for a school outfit: a black or white turtleneck, blue mom jeans, converse or oxfords, neutral makeup or a coloured lip, lots of rings, a backpack that matches the vibe
• for a party outfit: basic white t-shirt, a coloured blazer, mom jeans, heels or converse, jewellery, matching coloured makeup, a bandana or headband

Activities

1. get a penpal to write letters to and enclose personalised gifts
2. take advantage of local libraries
3. thrift old porcelain teacups, wine glasses, engraved silverware
4. start a book club with friends and pick a book/short story to read and discuss together
5. take your time going through the book section at thrift stores to find old, worn copies of classics
6. find a park and journal at sunset until the light fades
7. use postcards of your favourite paintings as bookmarks
8. speaking of bookmarks, use scrap paper to write out lyrics, poems, quotes from authors, words in other languages, and turn them into bookmarks or scrapbook pages
9. if you drink coffee, make your own cold brew or flavoured coffee and drink it from the fanciest glass you own
10. if you’re a tea drinker, you could thrift a cheap but cute vintage looking teacup and saucer along with a little spoon to keep you company while you study
11. replace some phone time with a book, e.g. on public transport, waiting rooms, before bed
12. go to a cafe with a book and spend some alone time reading and annotating
13. go for a walk and pick flowers and leaves to take home and press between a book
14. take said pressed flowers and glue them onto a handmade birthday card or wall decoration, complete with a quote
15. if you have long hair, tie a ribbon around your wrist along with your hair tie and let the ends dangle down
16. if you’re at a campus or park that has a grassy area, take your notes and study there on a warm day
17. have a dark academia inspired picnic

Sports

1. Rowing
2. Fencing
3. Tennis
4. Cricket
5. Croquet
6. Rugby 
7. Polo
8. Equestrian sports
9. Figure/ice skating
10. Running 
11. Boxing
12. Javelin, discus, wrestling covered in oil, think ancient Grecian Olympics.
13. Archery
14. Ballet, ballroom dancing, traditional dances
15. Climbing
16. Snooker/Pool
17. Or, if you're like me, no sports at all. That's cool too.

Games

1. Chess 
2. Backgammon
3. Cards
4. Cluedo 
5. Scrabble

Crafts

1. Knitting 
2. Embroidery
3. Weaving
4. Making lace
5. Gardening
6. Cooking
7. Sewing
8. Calligraphy
9. Painting, of course

Outings

1. Museums
2. Art galleries
3. Places of historical interests
4. Public executions
5. Pubs
6. Go to a Café and sketch the people around you
7. Parks
8. Gardens
9. Churches, Quaker meeting houses, graveyards, synagogues 
10. The theatre
11. The opera
12. Concerts 

Things to do when you're bored

1. Writing essays (it's really nerdy, but I find writing essays really interesting if they're on a topic I'm passionate about.  Just make it fun. Plus it's always an added bonus to that pile of messy papers that aesthetify your desk.)
2. Research (as above)
3. Daydream about how you could have prevented the burning of the Library of Alexandria
4. Plan a murder/heist. Thoroughly.
5. Read something light (Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Wilkie Collins or Colin Dexter novels are really good for relaxing. Murder mysteries are always good for winding down a little, whilst still keeping an active mind, so I would recommend those, but really, read whatever you want.)
6. Dress up
7. Read aloud
8. Perform a play alone
9. If you play an instrument, play through all of the pieces in your repertoire
10. More daydreaming
11. Take baths
12. Draw or paint something
13. Write a narrative piece
14. Watch a movie. A whole movie. Just sit down and watch a movie, no getting up and walking around, no flicking back and forth, no checking your phone. Just enjoy a movie without distractions
15. Watch every single "Greek Gods as vines" video on YouTube and count it as studying.