An Introduction to Cottagecore
By: Gitte Alexander
Tags: Style Guides, Fashion, Style

Courtesy Sarah Christine | sarahstylesseattle.com

The Tik-Tok machine has had, since its release, the unique ability to constantly spawn and popularize many fashion trends. Late last year, many of its and the rest of the internet’s biggest trends were mixes of collegiate and normcore styles, pulled straight from the 90s. But it seems that much of it’s most fashion forward userbase, a very large wave of former Tumblr users, have slowed down and mellowed out. Not losing their plainness, but yearning for a different era of style. And so there has been a huge surge in what is called cottagecore.

To use as few words as possible, cottagecore fashion, is the sartorial replication of Phoebe from Friends. On the surface it is very reminiscent of “born in the wrong era” teens that we all hate but in it’s execution it’s so much more than that. It’s an attraction to the simpler aspects of life, to nature and to self sustenance. For some it’s a phantom nostalgia for a time never experienced. Any avid Friends binger knows that these are qualities of Phoebe’s, so it is no surprise that cottagecore fans share a look so heavily with her.

Stylistically, cottagecore borrows a little from many trends that would often be associated with conservatives (redcappers) by themself, such as trad and country, as well as academia. This is perhaps an intentional reappropriation as cottagecore’s demographic has been demonstrably left wing, LGBT-forward and hyper aware of social “woke” movements. The look is also influenced greatly by soft, alt, grandmacore and normcore genres.

The main formula of cottagecore is comfortable quietness punctuated with cutesy quirkiness. Ill fitting garments are mixed and matched make for interesting silhouettes and are paralleled strikingly by the franken-ing of preppy innocence and pastoral adventurousness. It’s the modern life on the prairie, the new farmstead being a rent controlled mid century studio flat forested by a hanging indoor garden.

Not much knowledge is needed to properly execute this style as it’s all about the “feeling”. Airy midi dresses with puffy shoulders in pastels may be the flag ship of cottagecore but there are is so much else to it. There is 90s-esque cottagecore, with light denim dungarees and jeans, cuffed pant hems, oversized tees, seersucker blouses and chunky cardigans. This is cottagecore at it’s most infantile.

The most popular is obviously the borderline tradwife, complete with frilly, floral, floorsweeping dresses and skirts, basket weaved sun hats with chinstraps, wooden jewelry, dainty slippers and mary janes. An unexpected comfort for many, it is this style that blew the prairie fantasies of 15 year old suburban girls into headlines and slid the style onto runways.

Menswear in cottagecore, however, has garnered a lot of popularity more recently. It’s the most jacketed take on the trend with tons of old man patterns being recycled. Plaid, tartan and other large chequered prints are helpful in combing together this style. Fabrics like corduroy, seersucker and linen define this it, along with more “normie” materials like twill, wool and herringbone. Ironically most men doing cottagecore on Tik Tok are more likely to do drag than look like actual farmers.

The main colours in any of these reflect the styles’ relationship with nature in that they are light but subdued. Think pastels, but also a ton of earth tones usually accessorized by bold reds or yellows.

What this aesthetic really exemplifies, is confidence. It is, for lack of a better word, “based”. Cottagecore at its core, is about being open, free and not giving a fuck and part of that is embracing quirks, colours and styles that don’t really work together, but actually do because of the confidence of the wearer. Which is why it’s so beautiful to see this trend embraced by so many brands and people across the world on a platform like Tik-Tok. The trend is that people are wearing something bizarre and out of this decade but it fits without needing to be forced. And for the first time in a long time, it has nothing to do with hypebeasts.