187 thoughts on “Dark Academia

  1. Anonymous says:

    is there a more casual/lite form of this style? I like the look a lot but it feels way too dressed up with the wool trousers and I worry the general look would just give off weird Indiana Jones or grandpa vibes if you’re not like, an ivy student.

    • Anonymous says:

      I’m not so much concerned with the formality as it is that it is a style much more suited to cold weather, and unfortunately I currently live in a very hot part of the country

      • Anonymous says:

        Go full linen. Baggy shirt, tucked into baggy slacks, leather woven huaraches, bucket or panama hat. I live in Las Vegas and that’s exactly how I dress, and it breathes as if I’m wearing nothing at all.

      • Anonymous says:

        fair point lel. My area definitely gets cold enough for this but fashion here is mostly hypercasual normie or punk/streetwear among zoomers so it feels too reviewbrah-y especially since I lack the frame and CoNfIdEnCe for it.

      • Anonymous says:

        normiecore

        What kind of music do people with this fashion style listen to?

        https://i.imgur.com/tcQe9nY.jpg

        Would this jacket be good for dark academia?

        leather is for dark academia accessories at most

        https://i.imgur.com/Rgbt5nG.jpg

        whitnailcore

        kek

        personally, i’m worried that the "academic look" is a relic of the past- specifically prewar anglosphere. Modern day profs rarely wear "academic" clothes and just wear what is comfortable/looks professional. Most students follow suit, since the fashion element seems to be irrelevant to sweaty stemfags/business students etc. Basically the only people dressing like this are "artsy people", and then they just look like regular artsy people rather than particularly academic… Is there any way to not look like an artsy or a cosplayer? I’m not so sure… but I want to believe

    • Anonymous says:

      no, the anachronism is the whole point of DA. i’d look into modern casual suiting if you’re interested in the style but not the LARP, there’s a lot of smart pieces out there that wouldn’t look out of place on a zoomer (chore coats, camp shirts, relaxed chinos, chunky sweaters)

      What kind of music do people with this fashion style listen to?

      i’d say older jazz. DA fashion overlaps with mod fashion to an extent in terms of edgy prep vibes

    • Anonymous says:

      because harry potter fans are incapable of viewing the world without the lens of harry potter.
      not even classic menswear.

    • Anonymous says:

      They like the movie character and want to dress like him. That is by far the least insane thing about HP fans nowadays especially with the death threats against Mrs Rowing.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Currently an undergrad student, employed w/ my school (& upcoming student trustee), and dress like this fairly often. Hard to find a compromise in the hot summer heat though. I attend conferences and meetings every so often, it’s so damn hard to find this style in my size however because I’m so damn weirdly built, hafta buy second hand and get a seamstress I know to fix ‘em up. Finally managed to find a tweed with elbow patches in my size for winter. Anyone know shops on Depop that sell stuff like this in extra small sizes? I’ve been having to buy vintage clothing from people’s mothers who were girl bosses in the 80s. Also, I’ve been looking for a signature frag. Everyone likes the smell of tobacco I carry from smoking cigars but I don’t smoke often, and every scent I’ve tried from suggestions here have turned out awful. The One turned out smelling fluorescent and not smoky at all. Damn near everything else I’ve tried reeks like medical alcohol. I liked the quality of D’Hermmes but citrus doesn’t fit my personality in the slightest.

    • Anonymous says:

      "tobacco" fragrances don’t smell like actually smoking tobacco. They usually mean like, before it’s smoked or whatever. I don’t think it will work if you’re trying to find a fragrance like that. I haven’t tried terribly many fragrances, especially not smoky ones, so unfortunately I don’t think I can be of much help.

      I have a bottle of Quorum which has a green incense-like smell to it. It’s not quite tobacco smoke though. Another scent I’ve really enjoyed for the autumn is Caron’s 3rd Man (also known as le 3eme homme).

    • Anonymous says:

      I bought Floris No 8 after seeing it paired with an image of a 30s Ivy League guy in a meme on here and I deeply regret it because it smells like my dead grandma.

    • Anonymous says:

      >Currently an undergrad student, employed w/ my school (& upcoming student trustee), and dress like this fairly often.
      post ass, twink

      • Anonymous says:

        I misunderstood nothing
        >tfw no twink gf

        Win for the gays

        Dark Academia core is great for cold wear, but what the heck do you wear in the scorching summer heat?

        Corduroy shorts with half armed linen button ups and a tank under

    • Anonymous says:

      Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille smells almost exactly like the Country Squire’s Second Breakfast pipe tobacco that I smoke

  3. Anonymous says:

    the problem with these ‘i look like a movie character’ styles is that you need to have the personality/lifestyle to match them. you cant dress like a protagonist if your days are mostly made up of videogames and watching vtubers.

    • Anonymous says:

      heck you. I’ll wear a three-piece suit while I watch kizuna niku whatever the heck in my bean bag chair and there’s nothing you can do about it

      • Anonymous says:

        Nothing we can do about it, sure. That doesn’t make it any less pathetic. IMHO there’s nothing wrong with LARPing but you at least have to put some effort into it

        not gonna post any because "dark academia" is a cringe concept and phrase.

        twitter-addled stupids need to invent gay new words for things that already exist or else they don’t even exist to them. Never mind that Ivy league sort of style has been around for half a century.

          • Anonymous says:

            as far as I’ve seen, it practically is, only with autumn colors. I won’t pretend there isn’t more to it, of course, but a lot of the stuff I’ve seen is either what I’ve mentioned above, or if it’s different, it’s often stuff that doesn’t really make sense to wear in reality, larpy harry potter stuff.

            I understand that even tweed and elbow patches are already borderline or complete larp at this point, but nevertheless it’s still something that’s been around and not really comparable to the more fantastical inspo I’ve seen

          • Anonymous says:

            >tweed and elbow patches
            why does this feel like a direct fallout to my earlier post in this thread? Anyways not who you’re replying to but I feel the need to chime in now. You definitely look out of place wearing this outside of a certain circle. I wore a pinstripe suit to a conference for educators and only one other guy there bothered to wear a suit. Felt a little embarrassed to be honest but at least I was taken seriously (or maybe I was just humoured? Hard to tell with these types). You have to wear it and not let it wear you. I actually juggle a lot on my campus and am constantly talking to people farther up the ladder, this “LARP” look helped me climb it. tldr; it’s doesn’t come off as a LARP if you’re not roll playing. Just get gud.

          • Anonymous says:

            Pinstripe is really lame looking and too evocative of a 30s mobster. The one Philip handed down did not fit anyways. The only stuff of his clothes that actually fit and looks good are the mauve high waisted pants. I wear those pretty much every day.

          • Anonymous says:

            I would say that, for the most part, Academia is Ivy League with all the prep aspects either removed or heavily modified. They also, as you said, tend to use primarily earth tones. I think it’s important to categorize then differently because they grew to popularity at different times (Ivy during 60s, Academia during 80s/90s) and catered to different demographics (Ivy for old money, Academia with the college boom of the late 1900s).

          • Anonymous says:

            Yeah, that sounds about right. I suppose I’m glad it’s a "new" style because it means that at the very least, people are interested in it. It’s a stupid name though, and the basedification of it is lame, but it’s still better than wearing capeshit t-shirts.

          • Anonymous says:

            >Academia is Ivy League with all the prep aspects either removed or heavily modified. They also, as you said, tend to use primarily earth tones
            So….what you’re saying is….Dark Academia is just Trad style.

          • Anonymous says:

            Basically, I would classify them as near the same. The main difference are that the Instagram "dark academia" is married to earth/cream tones, while trad is much more varied. Also Instagram "academia" rarely dresses formally, and is heavily influenced by modern trends like loose-fitting clothing and coats. But talking solely about the 70/80s there really is no categorical difference. The best classification would be defining Academia solely as a modern (2000s+) fashion style as many do, but lexically I find that way too confusing. The modern trend is just too young to cleanly separate it from Trad style.

          • Anonymous says:

            I would agree; Dark Academia is merely a name used for trad style circa 70s-80s by those who aren’t totally familiar with the original context of the style.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Friendly reminder that quality of materials and craftsmanship is what separates good DA fits from Harry Potter cosplay.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Are these acceptable fits for balding guys in their thirties to wear?

    I’m talking about balding guys who grow it out and rock the horseshoe. Not "shave it off bro" baldfags who are insecure and trying to hide the fact that they’re balding.

    • Anonymous says:

      No. The ironic thing is that you’re too old to pull off wearing the older clothes the youngsters wear. When they wear it, it’s cool because they’ve turned it into their own thing. When you wear it, it just seems like you never got the memo. I’m not stopping you though, if it’s really what you want to wear just do it. Confidence > Style

    • Anonymous says:

      the dude from permanent style pulls off the balding look pretty well imo but he isn’t exactly dark academia just menswear really

    • Anonymous says:

      "Dark academia" is just a very specific kind of New England menswear that would work for just about anyone, as long as you’re well-groomed and in decent shape.

      What kind of music do people with this fashion style listen to?

      If we were discussing simply a general Ivy/Prep/New England style I’d include yacht rock or Americana, but for "dark academia" specifically it’s almost entirely classical. Maybe some sea shanties or other old-world folk music (irish folk comes to mind), but those are less common because I think one of the main selling points of DA is the upper-class, "old money" aesthetic.

      • Anonymous says:

        You know not everyone likes to larp, some just like the style and don’t base their whole lifestyle on the clothes they wear

        Go full linen. Baggy shirt, tucked into baggy slacks, leather woven huaraches, bucket or panama hat. I live in Las Vegas and that’s exactly how I dress, and it breathes as if I’m wearing nothing at all.

        Good advice. Linen is super comfortable too. While it is fine if it has wrinkles one of the annoying things is if it gets an unpleasant crease

      • Anonymous says:

        I’ve listened to absolutely nothing but Bach for the last 2 months. Maybe I’ll buy some new wool trousers for this winter.

    • Anonymous says:

      Looking at my playlist
      >the smiths, Lana Del Ray, Alt-J, RHCP, Mac Demarco, Artic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant,The Neighbourhood, Glass Animals, Seal, Raury, Peach Pit, Jeff Buckley, Townes Van Zant, Andrew Bird, some foreign artists I enjoy as well

      Pinstripe is really lame looking and too evocative of a 30s mobster. The one Philip handed down did not fit anyways. The only stuff of his clothes that actually fit and looks good are the mauve high waisted pants. I wear those pretty much every day.

      Based high waisted pants wearer. I pretty much only wear high waisted pants with button ups at this point.

      • Anonymous says:

        It’s both the high waisted aspect and the fabric of this specific pair. It’s not cotton and most of my other pants are cotton. Cotton is a cheap material I can not stand. These pants are very breathable.

        • Anonymous says:

          >Cotton is a cheap material I can not stand.
          Yea all the varieties and countless weaves and weights of cotton are just awful and unsuitable for pants.
          embarrassing take anon

    • Anonymous says:

      If you really want to under the mentality of people who adopt this style, read "Closing of the American Mind" by Allan Bloom. To answer your question directly though, it’s almost entirely classical, although there is more ambient being introduced. Anything popular since the 1950s is frowned upon for being too "visceral" and "worldly." Read Bloom’d book if you want more explanation.

    • Anonymous says:

      I do not listen to music, mostly just audibooks. When I’m tired of audibooks I just put on whatever random lo-fi background music to fill the void, like Haircuts for Men or Flamingosis.

    • Anonymous says:

      I found this style primarily through wanting to dress similar to 80’s UK indie acts like The Smiths and various Sarah/Factory Records bands, though I occasionally enjoy Jazz. Are there any other styles I should look further into to match my tastes?

  6. Anonymous says:

    i wish i could find a dude that dressed like this they all dress like stupids and paint their nails at the moment.

  7. Anonymous says:

    What brands even make this kinda shit anymore with decent quality? There’s only so much thrifting and ebaying for old Armani and Calvin Klein a guy can handle

    • Anonymous says:

      >thrifting old armani and calvin klein

      honestly dude you can come up with fits like this at any department store, like macys, with brands like ralph lauren, CK, etc. you buy some trousers, a cardigan, and a button down and some nice shoes and bobs your uncle. it’s gonna run you like $600 an outfit, but yea i’ve been pulling it off, although i do all black (self proclaimed goth academia gay)

      • Anonymous says:

        I buy my shit from the Vinted app, every time someone wants to throw out everything off their deceased gramps.
        Last time I got:
        >4x wool trousers
        >3x tweed jacket
        >2x sweater vests
        >2x suit vests
        >3x suspenders
        >23x neckties

        For 70€ and everything looked and felt like it wasn’t even worn once.
        Get hecked with your 600 bucks for one set.

          • Anonymous says:

            Changed my location to NYC (Largest city in US) and still got poor results. Now if you’re trying to sell me on some LA start-up or Danish charity company, just say so.

        • Anonymous says:

          Nice ad. Downloaded it an everything on there sucks or isn’t appropriately priced for its condition.

          Did the same. Use Depop instead.

          Nice that you compare whatever shithole you’re living in with where I’m living.

          Where you living?

          • Anonymous says:

            Already use DePop, that’s why this shill’s start-up vintage app wasn’t impressive. I just don’t see how they can provide reliable sales, growth, and customer service without some sort of fee on clothes sold. I would much rather pay $3 on a service charge than my pants arrive 2 months late or not even arrive at all.

          • Anonymous says:

            Already use DePop, that’s why this shill’s start-up vintage app wasn’t impressive. I just don’t see how they can provide reliable sales, growth, and customer service without some sort of fee on clothes sold. I would much rather pay $3 on a service charge than my pants arrive 2 months late or not even arrive at all.

            Changed my location to NYC (Largest city in US) and still got poor results. Now if you’re trying to sell me on some LA start-up or Danish charity company, just say so.

            I live in Germany where Vinted was invented. Back then it was Mamikreisel and Kleiderkreisel but when non-German speaking countries showed interest in the App, they changed the name to Vinted and added multi-language support.

  8. Anonymous says:

    goth academia: its like dark academia but no earth tones. grey, white and black monochromatic outfits only. silver shoe/belt buckles and hebrewelry when done tastefully

  9. Anonymous says:

    Where to get pants like the second from right that are affordable (like under 200 euros?). I need long, comfy pants for summer that won’t make me overheat like jeans do. any specific brands? i can’t really thrift them, because I never find anything that’s my size (28/32-33)

      • Anonymous says:

        >minimalist brands
        Do you have any specific recs? I’m terribly out of the loop. The shit I used to like (like Our Legacy, Acne) have doubled in price in recent years.

        • Anonymous says:

          arket and cos I guess.
          and don’t be afraid to check the women’s department as a last resort (especially for wide cuts like pic rel), a lot of classic masculine styles have been appropriated by women and these brands cater to flat b***hes anyway. you just have to be a lot more picky to choose stuff that is genuinely masculine and also make sure to get the measurements right.

  10. Anonymous says:

    alright man, i gotta ask. i see a lot of open collar shirts on that picture that seem to have to have a lapel angle roughtly parallel with the collarbone. thats an old style of collar as far as i know.

    is there anyone that makes shirts like that nowadays? ive got a far afield polo that has a similar collar and i really like it.

    • Anonymous says:

      Thrift Store. Most of the mid-range (no cheap synthetics) trousers and dress pants these days are made in SE Asia and sold at a 700% markup. The only way you can get any decent deal is finding a good pair of them at a thrift store. You find brands like Ralph Lauren there all the time, you just have to look for some your size. It’s either that, or actually spend the money getting a custom pair of pants fitted for you. This isn’t a practical solution for an entire wardrobe though.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Dark academia is full of subversive gays trying to wear European academia as a skinsuit. Ditch DA for ‘Shinecore the true common man’s look.

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