#dark academia guide

[dragons-for-the-win]

12am. Rain poring down my window. Everyone asleep. No noise whatsoever. A brain full of inspiration.

I've wished for a night like this for ever, and I'm not gonna waste it.

[michele-apricity]

𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓪 ˙⟡🪶─

.୨୧‧₊ 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓹𝓽.1 .୨୧‧₊

Dark academia fashion is all about blending timeless, academic-inspired pieces with moody, vintage aesthetics. Here's a guide to the essentials for building your own dark academia inspired wardrobe:

First, let's talk about the colour palette. The dark academia aesthetic is known for its muted, earthy colours, so try to stick with that.

neutrals: black, white, grey, and beige

earth tones: brown, navy, forest green, maroon, and rust

accents: mustard yellow, dark gold, and deep burgundy

The second thing we must discuss before jumping onto the essentials are fabrics and patterns.

fabrics: tweed, wool, corduroy, velvet, and cotton - rich textures create depth and warmth

patterns: houndstooth, plaid, pinstripes, and argyle - if you have anything with some kind of gothic pattern, wear it

That is all that is needed for the foundation of the dark academic fashion. In the next post I'm going to show you some wardrobe essentials that are a must-have if you're trying to dress in the dark academic style.

Have a lovely day,

-michala♡

(ps. Sorry for the late post, it's the Christmas season and things are crazy at work but I'll try to be as consistent with posts as I promised)

[quietflowersgarden]

Dark Academia Music Guide

Classical:

• Lacrimosa by Mozart

• Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act 2: No. 10, Scene. Moderato by Tchaikovsky

• Nocturne No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1

check out this playlist

Folk:

• Northern Attitude by Noah Kahan, Hozier

• Ho Hey by The Lumineers

• Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths

check out this playlist

Rock:

• Wicked Game by Chris Isaak

• Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles

• Girl With One Eye by Florence + The Machine

check out this playlist

Jazz

• Feel Good Inc. by Scott Bradlee

• Wildflower and Barley by Hozier, Allison Russell

• The World We Knew (Over and Over) by Frank Sinatra

check out this playlist

I also have this playlist that have a bit of everything I mentioned.

[itgirldiaryathy]

✨What I do on my morning routine✨

Brush my teeth, when I'm affirming mentally.

Have a shower.

Dress up.

Moisture my body.

Skincare.

Hair care. (Brush it and I do a hairstyle)

Drink water. At least 100mls.

Do some breakfast. Coffee to my mother and something to me.

I fill my water bottle.

Read the virtual journal called "the news".

Get to school.

When I'm at my school (at 6:45 AM), I take a book and read it. It's common to me, hug everyone that arrives and It's my friend. (Before the professor arrive)

(English isn't my fist language, and I'm trying to do not use translators, please, feel free to correct me)

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

🐚⚓️🫧List of Random Things For Your Dark Coastal Settings | For Writers🐚⚓️🫧

Since you all loved the list of random things for Dark Academia, here’s a list of items, things, sights etc.. you might find in a Dark Coastal setting.

The Cliffside 🌊

Jagged slate-gray rocks jutting out from the churning sea

Swaths of wild, windblown grasses and mosses clinging to the cliffs

Crumbling stone ruins half-hidden in the fog

The eerie cries of seabirds circling overhead

Gnarled, salt-weathered driftwood scattered across the shoreline

The Cove 🐚

A small pebbly beach tucked into a sheltered inlet

Seaweed-covered tide pools teeming with mysterious marine life

Centuries-old fishing nets and lobster traps hung to dry

Weathered wooden rowboats moored at a rickety dock

The salty, briny scent of the sea lingering in the air

The Lighthouse 🗼

A tall, round stone tower with a flickering lantern on top

Faded nautical charts and weather-beaten log books inside

An antique brass telescope trained on the horizon

The heavy thump of the lighthouse bell in the distance

Coils of fraying rope and a tarnished brass spyglass on the windowsill

The Shipwreck 🛥️

The rusted, half-submerged hull of an ancient sailing vessel

Tangled knots of kelp and barnacles clinging to the metal

Fragments of shattered wood and twisted metal debris

The eerie, echoing creaks and groans of the wreckage in the waves

Fragments of weathered, sun-bleached bones glinting in the murky depths

The Coastal Cottage 🏠

A small, weathered wooden house with peeling paint

Tattered sheer curtains fluttering in the salty sea breeze

Shelves lined with antique glass bottles and driftwood sculptures

A wood-burning stove with a teapot whistling softly

The distant sound of foghorns cutting through the mist

The Shipwreck Cove 🚢

Jutting black cliffs, their bases strewn with the bones of broken ships

Seaweed-covered ribs of an old shipwreck, barnacles clinging to the wood

Rusted metal and shattered glass glittering in the crashing waves

Cawing of crows circling overhead, their shadows flickering on the rocks

The hollow, echoing sound of the wind whistling through the caves

The Seaside Cemetery 🪦

Rows of crumbling tombstones covered in moss and lichen

Twisted, windblown trees casting long, ominous shadows

The faint scent of night-blooming jasmine on the breeze

A rusted wrought-iron gate creaking open to the path

Fog rolling in, obscuring the distant sound of the surf

[faustianacademia]

Free Classics Courses - With Certificates!

Studying "the classics" is a rich, rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable experience. Unfortunately these days, many of us lack the opportunity or resources to integrate ancient civilisations and languages into our formal education.

I, for one, am forever grateful that the advent of the digital age heralded new and interesting ways for society to share a wealth of information. Since the early noughties, I've tracked down free online courses in areas of personal interest. Naturally, the Classics is a subject I gravitated towards, and it saddened me to notice that over time free courses in the arts and humanities dwindled in favour of modern, digital, knowledge.

However, I am gladdened to share that OpenLearn (a branch of The Open University) have a growing selection of free Classics courses! All of these courses offer a free certificate to download and print on completion, and are drawn from the various undergraduate courses provided by the university proper.

These courses vary in length and difficulty, but provide an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the Classics, or who would like to sample university level content before committing to a more formal course of study.

Here is a full list of courses in the Classics category at OpenLearn, though I strongly suspect more will be added over time:

The Ancient Olympics: bridging past and present

Highlights the similarities and differences between our modern Games and the Ancient Olympics and explores why today, as we prepare for future Olympics, we still look back at the Classical world for meaning and inspiration.

Discovering Ancient Greek and Latin

Gives a taste of what it is like to learn two ancient languages. It is for those who have encountered the classical world through translations of Greek and Latin texts and wish to know more about the languages in which these works were composed.

Getting started on classical Latin

Developed in response to requests from learners who had had no contact with Latin before and who felt they would like to spend a little time preparing for the kind of learning that studying a classical language involves. The course will give you a taster of what is involved in the very early stages of learning Latin and will offer you the opportunity to put in some early practice.

Continuing classical Latin

Gives the opportunity to hear a discussion of the development of the Latin language.

Introducing Homer's Iliad

Focuses on the epic poem telling the story of the Trojan War. It begins with the wider cycle of myths of which the Iliad was a part. It then looks at the story of the poem itself and its major theme of Achilles' anger, in particular in the first seven lines. It examines some of the characteristic features of the text: metre, word order and epithets. Finally, it explores Homer's use of simile. The course should prepare you for reading the Iliad on your own with greater ease and interest.

Hadrian's Rome

Explores the city of Rome during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (117-38 CE). What impact did the emperor have on the appearance of the city? What types of structures were built and why? And how did the choices that Hadrian made relate to those of his predecessors, and also of his successors?

The Body in Antiquity

Will introduce you to the concept of the body in Greek and Roman civilisation. In recent years, the body has become a steadily growing field in historical scholarship, and Classical Studies is no exception. It is an aspect of the ancient world that can be explored through a whole host of different types of evidence: art, literature and archaeological artefacts to name but a few. The way that people fulfil their basic bodily needs and engage in their daily activities is embedded in the social world around them. The body is a subject that can reveal fascinating aspects of both Greek and Roman culture it will help you to better understand the diversity of ancient civilisation.

Library of Alexandria

One of the most important questions for any student of the ancient world to address is 'how do we know what we know about antiquity?' Whether we're thinking about urban architecture, or love poetry, or modern drama, a wide range of factors shape the picture of antiquity that we have today. This free course, Library of Alexandria, encourages you to reflect upon and critically assess those factors. Interpreting an ancient text, or a piece of material culture, or understanding an historical event, is never a straightforward process of 'discovery', but is always affected by things such as translation choices, the preservation (or loss) of an archaeological record, or the agendas of scholars.

Introducing the Classical World

How do we learn about the world of the ancient Romans and Greeks? This free course, Introducing the Classical world, will provide you with an insight into the Classical world by introducing you to the various sources of information used by scholars to draw together an image of this fascinating period of history.

Introducing Virgil's Aeneid

This free course offers an introduction to the Aeneid. Virgil’s Latin epic, written in the 1st century BCE, tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey to Italy, where he would become the ancestor of the Romans. Here, you will focus on the characterisation of this legendary hero, and learn why he was so important to the Romans of the Augustan era. This course uses translations of Virgil’s poem, and assumes no prior knowledge of Latin, but it will introduce you to some key Latin words and phrases in the original text.

Icarus: entering the world of myth

An introduction to one of the best-known myths from classical antiquity and its various re-tellings in later periods. You will begin by examining how the Icarus story connects with a number of other ancient myths, such as that of Theseus and the Minotaur. You will then be guided through an in-depth reading of Icarus’ story as told by the Roman poet Ovid, one of the most important and sophisticated figures in the history of ancient myth-making. After this you will study the way in which Ovid’s Icarus myth has been reworked and transformed by later poets and painters.

Getting started on ancient Greek

A taster of the ancient Greek world through the study of one of its most distinctive and enduring features: its language.

The course approaches the language methodically, starting with the alphabet and effective ways to memorise it, before building up to complete Greek words and sentences. Along the way, you will see numerous real examples of Greek as written on objects from the ancient world.

Travelling for Culture: The Grand Tour

In the eighteenth century and into the early part of the nineteenth, considerable numbers of aristocratic men (and occasionally women) travelled across Europe in pursuit of education, social advancement and entertainment, on what was known as the Grand Tour. A central objective was to gain exposure to the cultures of classical antiquity, particularly in Italy. In this free course, you’ll explore some of the different kinds of cultural encounters that fed into the Grand Tour, and will explore the role that they play in our study of Art History, English Literature, Creative Writing and Classical Studies today.

[wedarkacademia]

But don't forget who you really are. And I'm not talking about your so-called real name. All names are made up by someone else, even the one your parents gave you. You know who you really are. When you're alone at night, looking up at the stars, or maybe lying in your bed in total darkness, you know that nameless person inside you.

― Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake

[rheas-chaos-motivation]

How to feel alive/stop being bored out of your mind, a guide for losers

jump on your bed, write something teeny tiny on the walls, break a small rule

get a dollar worth of pennies and write lucky on them and drop one or two at places you go

bury something small that you like in a place you feel safe

make a small bracelet/anklet, even if its just a piece of sting and never take it off

take a really really cold shower

go star gazing/look at the moon

write a letter to your past/future self

write bad poetry/nice messages and tuck it into books at the library

sit and listen to a song that was your favorite four or five years ago, don't do anything else but sit and listen to it

make a trash journal. Get a cheap notebook and write down EVERYTHING in there, carry it around with you. It will help you figure out who you are/remind you that you are a person.

when was the last time you felt alive? Like really alive? If you remember, write it down in as much detail as you can. If you don't know, write down a time you were happy or very angry. Honestly, any strong emotion will work.

create a bad drawing, like kindergartener level. If you want, fold it up and stick it onto your fridge.

block that person

tell someone how much you appreciate them

put old things you don't need anymore in a box, write take care of it on top, and leave it somewhere

write positive graffiti in public restroom stalls

bake bread

[pomegranatepanacea]

ahem.

[literatureaesthetic]

beginners guide to classics:

novels —

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde (the classic that started it all for me - oscar wilde is KING)

dracula - bram stoker

rebecca - daphne du maurier

a christmas carol - charles dickens

frankenstein - mary shelley

their eyes were watching god - zora neale hurston

the haunting of hill house - shirley jackson

lolita - vladimir nabakov (my current read)

jane eyre - charlotte bronte

plays & short story collections —

the importance of being earnest - oscar wilde

the crucible - arthur miller

the bloody chamber and other short stories - angela carter (adore this)

edgar allen poe's short stories

poetry —

goblin market - christina rossetti

sappho

[nicheguides]

How to Impress a Pyromaniac

She’s cute and she carries a box of matches everywhere she goes🔥 She had particular tastes, so prepare to cater to them or get burned trying

[dragons-for-the-win]

drinking tea while playing online chess is peak chaotic academia

[michele-apricity]

𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓪 ˙⟡🪶─

.୨୧‧₊ 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓹𝓽.2 .୨୧‧₊

Since we have already discussed the importance of colours, fabrics and patterns when it comes to dressing in the dark academic aesthetic, we can now dive into the wardrobe essentials and how to style them.

First on the list we have tops:

button-up shirts - if you want that vintage feel, look for details like Peter Pan collars, ruffles, or high necklines

turtlenecks - ribbed or knit textures add warmth and visual interest

sweaters & cardigans - oversized knit sweaters, fitted wool pullovers, cable-knit cardigans, and sweater vests to layer over shirts

Next, we have to obviously talk about bottoms:

trousers - high-waisted trousers in tailored cuts, cropped or pleated pants

skirts - pleated skirts in midi or knee-length styles, a-line skirts for a touch of sophistication

maxi skirts - flowy, dark skirts for a more romantic take on the aesthetic

Now that we have tops and bottoms done, we'll have a look at proper footwear to make your outfit complete:

oxfords & brogues - they are the classic shoes everyone thinks of when talking about the dark academia aesthetic

loafers - sleek, vintage-style loafers with or without tassels are a must have

boots - ankle or knee-high boots for colder months

mary janes - to add a feminine touch to balance out structured outfits

We could be done here since these are the main essentials you need in your wardrobe, but we're not even close to being done. What if it's cold outside? You'll definitely need some type of outerwear. Let's have a look on some:

blazers - they evoke a scholarly vibe

coats - long trench coats, wool overcoats or peacoats to keep you warm

capes or cloaks - for a more dramatic, old-world touch, consider a dark, tailored cape

Okay, stunning! Now let's hop onto dresses:

shirt dresses - structured, button-down dresses

pinafore dresses - layered over turtlenecks or blouses

Perfect! And the last thing on this list is accessories:

scarves - wool or cashmere scarves, long, flowing scarves for a dramatic, intellectual flair

hats - berets for a parisian academic touch, newsboy caps or fedoras

eyewear - round or tortoiseshell glasses for a scholarly look

jewelry - minimalist gold or silver rings, pendants, and vintage-inspired pieces like pocket watches or signet rings

belts - leather belts to cinch coats, dresses, or trousers

Finishing touches:

books as accessories - a book or a journal completes the scholarly aesthetic, and you can read/write anytime you want

vintage pieces - you don't have to buy brand new items, incorporate thrifted or secondhand items both for authenticity and for your wallet to not hate you

layering - mix and match textures, patterns, and layers for academic, put-together look

have fun - don't forget to have fun while creating your looks, there are no rules in fashion so do and wear whatever you like and suits you! Confidence is the key to a fabulous outfit.

Love you all, and thank you so much for your support!!

-michala♡

[inknbrew]

Guide to Dark Academia: Research

The history of the authors of classics (Oscar Wild, Homer, Etc.)

History (the French Revolution, World War I, Historical Figures)

College Secret Societies

Types of Coffee

History of Coffee

Literature

Music Theory

How music impacts the brain

History of Great Artists

The history of Commonplacing (one of my favorites)

How to solve a mystery

Film related topics

Mythology (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc.)

Poetry and its historical significance

Secret codes

Language of flowers (bonus if you make a bouquet for yourself or a friend)

Vintage Cars

You can suggest content or ask something by clicking the ask me questions button!

[thelailasblog]

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

List of Random Things For Your Dark Academia Settings | For Writers

The Library 📚

Towering mahogany bookshelves filled with ancient leather-bound tomes

Antique globes and faded maps mounted on the walls

Heavy velvet drapes blocking out the sunlight

Ornate brass reading lamps casting a warm glow

The musty smell of old books permeating the air

The Study 🪶

A large oak desk strewn with papers, quills, and ink bottles

Walls lined with pinned insect specimens and anatomical drawings

An antique typewriter, its keys clacking softly

Stacks of well-worn leather journals and notebooks

A cabinet of curiosities filled with skulls, fossils, and scientific oddities

The Classroom 🎓

Rows of old wooden desks, surfaces scratched with generations of graffiti

A blackboard covered in elaborate chalk diagrams and Latin phrases

Dusty shelves holding jars of formaldehyde-preserved specimens

Antique microscopes and brass telescopes waiting to be used

The tick-tock of a grandfather clock counting down the minutes

The Dormitory 🕯️

A four-poster bed heaped with tattered quilts and faded velvet pillows

Parquet wood floors layered with antique persian rugs

Flickering candles in tarnished silver holders casting dancing shadows

A steamer trunk overflowing with vintage tweeds and wool knits

Tea-stained pages of love letters and poetry scattered on the nightstand

The Secret Society Meeting Room 🗝️

An imposing stone fireplace with Latin phrases carved into the mantel

Worn leather armchairs circled around a low table set with tarnished silver

The air thick with pipe smoke and burning incense

Shelves lined with ancient masks, ceremonial daggers, and dusty alchemical tomes

Shadows dancing on the tapestry-covered walls in the candlelight