Take it straight from the internet’s Britannica — Wikipedia says that cottagecore “celebrates an idealized rural life,” that it “values traditional skills and crafts” and satisfies “a desire for ‘an aspirational form of nostalgia’ as well as an escape from many forms of stress and trauma.” And that sounds great; cheaper than therapy at least. But what exactly does cottagecore entail?
Picture this: a charming rustic cottage in a sunny meadow or a clearing in the woods. Whitewashed kitchen and drying herbs plucked from the garden, mismatched stoneware on the table, homemade sun tea steeping on a windowsill. It's a porch swing, a foraging basket, a floral cotton apron. And, of course, the smell of freshly baked artisanal bread.
Cottagecore is an aspirational lifestyle, fashion, and home aesthetic that represents an escape from modern-day stress and celebrates an idealized rural life. It embraces traditional skills like scratch baking, gardening, and handcrafting. At its core, cottagecore is about a generation that's seeking a vision of tranquility that would be right at home in Little House on the Prairie. It is the romanticization of a life that many of its adherents have never known — rural, slow, kind, and unplugged.
For art, fashion and home decor, picture muted, gentle, earthy colors — dusty pinks, golden yellows, sage greens. Natural, cozy textures and materials are essential: warm wood, clay, and stone. The unifying principle is a kind of dreamy bohemian cheer, a plucky do-it-yourself simplicity, set against a pastoral scene.
