"Take long walks.
Look at the scenery. Doze off at noon.
And then, pretty soon, you'll be flying again." Cottagecore isn’t just an aesthetic. It’s an ethos --
one embodying wholesome isolation, creative crafting,
love of nature, and nostalgia for an idealized
version of the past. “Think thatched roof cottages,
herb and flower gardens, reading poetry.” But it’s also a paradox. It’s anti-modern, yet it exists and thrives
in modern spaces. It champions solitary retreat, yet through public sharing
on social media, online communities, and even video games. "I am actually going to be touring
my completed cottagecore forest core island” Maybe, though,
that contradictoriness is one of Cottagecore’s
greatest strengths. Rather than making
unrealistic demands that we all throw away
our modern devices, the trend subtly encourages
a reassessment of modern values. Like past movements
where people flocked to the country in droves to slow down
from an increasingly fast-paced life, Cottagecore speaks to a growing
rejection of hustle culture and the “performative workaholism”
that peaked in the 2010s. “Work like hell, I mean,
you just have to put in 80 hour, 80 to 100 hour weeks, every week.” Here’s our take on how Cottagecore
just might be a bridge from the past to a more sustainable future. [ “In the dismantling
of all of our systems of life that we’ve known in the pandemic, you either cling to it
and try to make it work,
or you just say ‘well,
I guess I’m just gonna chart a new path.’” If you're new here,
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and start exploring your creativity. “It all seems so familiar,
yet I know I’ve never been here before. I feel so... at home.” Cottagecore began in the late 2010s
as a trend on Tumblr and TikTok, an aesthetic defined by rural,
countryside living, and a love of activities like crafting,
gardening, and baking. "Let's make angel food cake..." This vibe seemed to be the antidote
to our fast-paced technological, globalized world,
and 2020 provided the perfect conditions for cottagecore
to explode into the mainstream:
the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly
took that fast paced life away from many. “I’m going to be baking bread
so hopefully cottagecore can help me figure out
how to do that.” Isolation became the norm,
while Taylor Swift’s surprise 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore
appeared to provide the perfect soundtrack. “When you are young
they assume you know nothing.” Adding to its appeal for people
tired of a specifically urban or suburban grind,
Cottagecore is a rural aesthetic. “It’s blackberry season at the cottage,
so I made a blackberry mousse.” Speaking to Architectural Digest,
Davina Ogilvie defines it as a “nod to the traditional
English countryside style, romantic and nostalgic,” while HuffPost’s Ambar Pardilla
sums it up as “gardening, greenery, floral prints, flowy dresses,
and animals. You want to feel like you would
fit in on a farm.”
It’s based on the timeless belief
that the natural world is spiritually nourishing. “Today I went foraging for clover
and dandelions and I met a turtle.”
This is far from the first time
people have sought solace in nature as a tonic for the anxieties
of modern life. During the 1800s,
writers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
espoused the philosophy of transcendentalism. “Transcend means the idea
of the spirit transcending matter.” “In the hands of Emerson,
transcendentalism focuses on the individual and the great
potential for every individual.” Transcendentalism was also -- according to historian
Stephen Saunders -- “a resistance movement against
the Industrial Revolution which introduced a life of complexity,
endless monotonous toil, the ugliness of factories, and the defilement
of nature by urbanization.” Thoreau famously spent two years living
in a small log cabin by Walden Pond, eating wild food and meditating,
while writing Walden. “I went to the woods because I wanted
to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out
all the marrow of life.” Transcendentalism was about
experiencing God through nature. “I need solitude,” Thoreau wrote. “I have come forth to this hill
at sunset to see the forms of the mountains in the horizon—
to behold and commune with something grander than man.” “But you’re wrong if you think
that the joy of life comes principally from human relationships. God’s placed it all around us,
it’s in everything.” Emerson’s famous 1841 essay,
“Self-Reliance,” meditated on the virtues of listening
to your inner self and not worrying
about what others think. Quote: “Trust thyself:
every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Essentially, Emerson tells us:
look inward and you’ll find everything you need. “But for our farm,
we can get free water from the land.” In the 20th century,
aspects of the Transcendentalist philosophy reemerged. Romantic accounts of moving
to the country became influential in the 30s on. And in the Back to the Land movement
which peaked in the 1960s and 70s, up to a million Americans
left cities behind in search of a more sustainable country life. “If we’ve lived in this country away
from the major urban centres, we’ve seen the process,
the gradual destruction of the natural systems around us.” While it overlapped with the greater
counterculture movement, “back to the land” was more
specifically a desire to get back in touch with nature. It was a reaction to suburban
or urban lifestyles that felt increasingly disconnected
from the fundamentals. And it may also have stemmed
from negative anxieties about the state of the world,
from disillusionment brought on by the Vietnam War and Watergate
to budding awareness of the devastating environmental destruction being
wrought by humankind. "All these young kids then,
who had sort of been radicalized and were sort of anti free-market
anti-capitalism... kept on marching except... instead of holding up
Chairman Mao's little red book, they were holding up
Rachel Carson's little green book." It’s telling that some of the most
popular television series reflecting the time’s Back to the Land
ethos – like The Waltons and
Little House on the Prairie – are influences on Cottagecore,
especially in the related trend of “Prairiecore.”
"The peace and beauty of the land
and sky around Waltons Mountains was a source of constant comfort
to all of us during those difficult Depression years." “It’s a beauty, what kinda knife
do you use to carve her?” “No knives, chisels!”
In the 2010s,
many of the same conditions that drove these past movements
can be seen kicking into overdrive. Between growing understanding
that climate change is becoming an existential crisis, “We can’t go on consuming,
wasting, overconsuming,” and “rise and grind” obsessive
work culture driving burnout, "The World Health Organization recently
added burnout to its classification of diseases as quote,
'an occupational phenomenon,'" the stage was set for the forced
collective isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerate
the rise of Cottagecore. “As the coronvirus pandemic unfolds,
it feels like everyone is baking bread.” As the world grows bigger and scarier,
it makes sense that we’re witnessing a resurgence of this nostalgic pursuit
of a back-to-basics escape. “We choose the nature,
so to live here, we are trying to solve
the problem ourselves.” And on a deeper level,
like predecessors, Cottagecore challenges
the assumed narrative that all forward ‘progress’ is good --
especially as we’re faced with mounting evidence of how much
damage capitalism and globalization are doing both to the planet
and to our personal well-being. The isolation that cottagecore
celebrates has an built-in creative element. The BBC’s Anita Rao Kashi reports
that a “Singapore-based artificial-intelligence
company Quilt.AI ... analysed more than 300 Instagram posts
with the hashtag cottagecore, and concluded that the top emotion
was creativity at 28%.” “I’m going to try making dandelion
petal cookies, so I spent a while separating the stems from the petals.” “It was my first time using something
foraged in baking, but it came out well” One name that’s become synonymous
with cottagecore over the past year is Taylor Swift, whose Folklore
and Evermore were products of the isolation of quarantine, “I’m just writing songs in quarantine,
and then, there, it just became
an album really quickly." and came complete with an aesthetic
of flowing dresses, homespun cardigans,
and bucolic tranquility. Swift wrote of Folklore,
“In isolation, my imagination has run wild,
and this album is the result, a collection of songs
and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness.” “Opening the album with the words,
‘I’m doing good I’m on some new shit, I’m saying yes instead of no’.” “I’m just saying yes,
I’m just putting out an album in the worst time
you could put one out.” More than a decade earlier,
Bon Iver championed this creativity in isolation with debut
album For Emma, Forever Ago, which singer-songwriter Justin Vernon
largely recorded isolated in a cabin in the woods. “He had a hunting lodge
in north western Wisconsin and I went up there
to just sort of be.” “I really had no intention
of making a record, but in the in the end,
that’s what happened.” So it’s fitting that Bon Iver
features both in one of Folklore’s most prominent singles - Exile,
about the perspective that comes from reflective distance, “I think I’ve seen this film before.” -- and the title track of Evermore
“and when I was shipwrecked” “can’t think of all the cost”
“I thought of you."
If we can’t all be Taylor Swift
or Justin Vernon, we can experience
the creative benefits of isolation. Moreover, we even need relaxation
in order to function productively in any field of work. We can even see this truth in stories
like 1989 Studio Ghibli gem Kiki’s Delivery Service,
where a young witch suffering from burnout
discovers a healthier form of work ethic
through a period of rest. “Why don’t you come
and stay at my cabin?" "Huh?" "It’ll probably make you feel better” The growing popularity
of “digital detoxes” and unplugging through
off the grid vacations --or even Airbnb “cuddle a goat”
“experiences” -- shows just how many people are currently
looking to reassess their relationship with the modern world. “It’s one of the only moments where
you don’t have any screens whatsoever.” “You have space to daydream.” But this brings us to why
the ‘escape from the world’ element of cottagecore
has been ridiculed as shallow. Are you really getting off the grid
if you’re uploading evidence of your spiritual fulfillment
to social media? The common accusation
is that Cottagecore is merely a silly performance seeking congratulation
on a faux-alternative lifestyle. The series Dickinson likewise
takes aim at cottagecore granddaddy Henry David Thoreau by joking
that he was his time’s equivalent of a phony hipster. “The people may be there,
but *I* have no use for them.” “Except for when your mom
does your laundry.” While it’s clearly
exaggerated for laughs,
“The pond is full of people,
they’re everywhere. You didn’t say that in your book.” it’s true that Thoreau wasn’t
quite the hermit in the woods he’s remembered as. As W. Barksdale Maynard writes: “[Thoreau’s] intention was not
to inhabit a wilderness, but to find wildness in a suburban
setting less than thirty minutes’ walk from Concord village in a landscape
heavily used for human purposes.” “I’m his sister.
I live, I live just down--” “Your home is far away,
and you must return there now.” What’s most interesting
about cottagecore is that it doesn’t fight this contradiction. Cottagecore doesn’t advocate
ditching our wifi routers; instead, it embraces technology
as a tool to allow like-minded people to connect over their shared values
and offer each other new ideas. "The great thing about online aesthetics
and kind of the growth of this which we've seen so much
you know this last year, is that you're able
to see yourself in them and you're able to get inspiration
and connect with like-minded people" This is supported by the fact
that Cottagecore took off during the pandemic,
when the only communities we could access were online. "As millions scramble
for connection amidst quarantines, more and more users of all ages
are hopping aboard." “So, of course when I look up google
images of the cottagecore aesthetic, it’s mostly white people
participating in the aesthetic.” “So that’s where I come in.” Another common criticism of Cottagecore
has been that it’s an exclusive space, built from cultural references
that are white and heteronormative: heritage movies
and period dramas in which marginalized
communities are absent. “Mr. Bingley how do you like
my ribbons for your ball?” “Very beautiful.” Its influences are mostly stories
focused on the lives of wealthy white people, who are never asked
to interrogate their privilege. “You have to pull the weeds up,
to give the flowers room.” The back-to-the-landers
of the 60s and 70s were also dismissed as
a bunch of entitled rich kids. And as Dickinson’s send-up
of Thoreau gets at, it’s long been a luxury to be
able to escape modern pressures and go back to nature. “Our dad owns a pencil factory.” “Yes you are brave to make such a
long journey into the wilderness.” But, perhaps surprisingly,
cottagecore is appealing to members of marginalized communities,
who are looking to engage with the aesthetic in a way
that helps empower them. “I have had so many black,
indigenous, people of color reach out to me
and thank me, because they’re finally
seeing themselves reflected in the aesthetics
they wanna participate in.” Many members of LGBTQ+ community,
especially lesbian women, have found a home in the cozy
world of cottagecore, reclaiming rural spaces
which may have previously felt threatening. “It allows them to imagine
a space without homophobia, fear and judgment that doesn’t
feel like a banishment, but instead a specifically
curated paradise.” Speaking to i-D, one queer
cottagecorer named Reid says: “Unfortunately, my hometown,
like many rural areas, is very anti-LGBTQ+...
It especially makes me feel like the things I loved in childhood,
like having farm animals and picking blackberries in the fields
and getting lost in the woods, are cis- and hetero-coded...
Cottagecore is an ideal where I can be visibly queer in rural spaces.” Diversity has a more complicated
place within the movement. As Bethan Kapur points out,
“A video of white women draped in long,
cotton dresses and wandering romantically
through fields connotes something else
when your history is shaped by enslavement and exploitation.” "Miss Scarlett! Where you goin'
without your shawl and the night air fixin' to set in? And how come you didn't ask
them gentlemen to stay for supper? You ain't got no more manners
than a field hand!" And writer Yannise Jean notes that,
“frilly dresses and bright flowers are symbolic of an era
built upon white-supremacist ideology that glamorizes pastoral
and settler living,” i.e., a reminder
of the Antebellum South. "The South's sinking to its knees.
It'll never rise again. The Cause. The cause of living in the past
is dying right in front of us." Still, diverse voices are breaking
through this inherent whiteness. “Baking - I bake all the time!
Reading - I’m an avid reader. Picnics - I do love a good picnic.”
“Am I a cottagecore girl?!” Influencer Noemie Sérieux,
who started @cottagecoreblackfolks, explains, “The reason I wanted
a vision board with Black women living the cottagecore aesthetic,
is that there’s almost a message in seeing images of people
who don’t look like you enjoying the life you want
and that message is: You don’t belong here.” Black content creators
are carving out space in a place that’s not usually reserved for them
and challenging the narrative of what black womanhood can be. “Cannot this be a sort of
reclamation of that, like reimagining a time
where you would have previously been in suffering
as just peaceful?”
At its best, cottagecore can be
a safe space in which to express a marginalised identity,
away from what society thinks that identity should look like. On the other hand,
Cottagecore’s semi-fictional, performative nature risks reducing it to a passing entertainment trend
that fades away as post-pandemic
life gets back to “normal.” To disprove the accusations
of frivolity, the Cottagecore ethos
has to prove that it’s more than just diverting escape for individuals
to temporarily forget their capitalist discontent. Cottagecore testifies to a deep desire
to have a more direct connection between what we make
and what we consume -- to recover certain aspects of life
that have been lost with all our progress
and increased comforts. “Maria, there is only one thing
that can save us now.” “Classical French needlepoint.” In the wake
of a globe-altering pandemic, Cottagecore’s values
do seem to have a greater chance of being incorporated
into mainstream life. The exhaustion many of us have felt,
as our work and home lives have blurred, raises questions about how we
want to spend our time in a post-pandemic world. Would we all be happier -
and more productive - if we had more time for ourselves? “Have you always wanted to be a writer?” “Always, yes, it’s a perfect job.
Sitting, indoors,
and always near a teapot.” As Jenny Odell writes in How to Do Nothing:
Resisting the Attention Economy, “To capitalist logic, which thrives
on myopia and dissatisfaction, there may indeed be something dangerous
about something as pedestrian as doing nothing:
escaping laterally toward each other, we might just find that everything
we wanted is already here.” “You need to understand nature,
to appreciate the great, great things that have been created.” “We spend so much of our life
walking around looking, but never...
never, never seeing.” More than ever, the urgent need
to address climate change demands a widespread shift
toward sustainability and a questioning of the
growth-obsessed assumptions of our corporation-ruled society. “Gather only the things we need.” Emerson once wrote: “Leave this military hurry
and adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience.” Cottagecore has adopted that mantra -
now, maybe it’s time the rest of us
followed suit. "Take root in the ground.
Plant your seeds in the winter. And rejoice with the birds
in the coming of spring." This is The Take on your favorite
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