Romantic Academia: An Aesthetic for the History Fanatic

 Dear Venturers,

What is romantic academia? What are the academia aesthetics? How do they relate to other aesthetics? What does it mean to be a romantic academic?

Romantic academia is an offshoot of dark academia, as are all of the academia aesthetics (light, dark, romantic, chaotic, theatre, STEM, fairy, etc.) 

Academia aesthetics are all centered around one thing- that is the pursuit of knowledge. 

Because they’re all centered around one thing, they all have similarities.

But what makes an academia aesthetic romantic?

Romantic academia centers around romanticizing the little things. Romanticizing learning for example. 

Seeing the beauty in all the little things. Daydreaming is a staple for romantic academics. Being lost in a book or poetry. Dreaming about a past life.

But this is where you have to be careful. Dark academia can daydream too much. They can get too lost. Romantic academics still dream about unrealistic things and events, but they also turn their own reality/life into thier own romantic view. 

Maybe on the way home from school they spotted a bird. 

Perhaps they got lost thinking about the bird and what it might be doing. Maybe they went home and sketched it in a leather bound journal. 

Romantic academia sees the beauty in everything. 

They romanticize  things until they do become beautiful in thier own dark sort of way.  

Romantic academia uses the term “romantic” in every definition.

•Deep and passionate loves, kissing in the rain, and perhaps a bitter heartache. 

•Romanticizing life, seeing the beauty in all the small and random places

•The romantic era, taking inspiration from a past time, being influenced by the airy and sort of dramatic beauty of the romantic era

Clothing-

An aesthetic is part of your entire life. Especially the academia aesthetics because they focus on a way of thinking that turns everything into learning. For romantic academia, they take in the world around them (and the world that has already past- history) and try to see the beauty and learn from the beautiful, romantic parts. Thier clothing should reflect that. 

 Of course, the academia staples stay the same. Those loose or tight fitted plaid pants, oxfords, and button-ups are now paired with more romantic (almost cottagecore) items. Billowing blouses, flowers or ribbons in the hair, dainty and feminine shoes, and sometimes even a floral printed dress will fit the look.

Although romantic academia differs from cottagecore, the clothing can take inspiration from it. Pairing dark academia clothing with romantic style clothing is the perfect look for the sort of messy but elegant, Ivy League look. 

This is also where history bounding can come into play. Because romantic academia takes inspiration from the romantic era, history bounding is perfectly acceptable in this aesthetic. 

This also helps differentiate romantic from cottagecore. While cottagecore is more of a feminine/fairy sort of look, romantic takes more of a feminine/historical look. History bounding for this look should center around the early 20th century.

This brings us into hair because the “Gibson Girl” look of the 20th century is the perfect romantic look for romantic academia.  

Loose curls framing the face, thick hair ribbons, and flowers are perfect.

Hair should be up, but loose. Maybe a loose hair touches a novel as you read. 

Of course, books are very big for all the academia aesthetics, as the term pursuit of knowledge implies.

Any book you wish to read is accurate for the aesthetic, but the main authors that should sit on your bookshelf should center around classical female authors such as:

•Charlotte Brönte

•Jane Austen

•Louisa May Alcott

• Frances Hodgson Burnett

Jane Eyre is perfect for romantic academia because it combines a gothic with a romance.

Music of course is also important. 

Just like all the academia aesthetics, jazz and classical are musts.

Singers like Ella Fitzgerald, and composers such as Chopin, are perfect.

Chopin fits into the romantic academia aesthetic for many reasons, but personally I love the nocturnes he’s written, and how it combines with his more daytime related pieces. 

As you may know, Latin is big for academia aesthetics. For romantic academia, you might consider adding some of the “love languages” such as French or Italian.

A plus for romantic academia is that, somewhat unlike dark academia or other academia aesthetics, you don’t need a lot of material items to be a romantic academic. 

Why? Because romantic academia sees everything as a chance to be part of the romantic academia aesthetic. So maybe you use a Pen+Gear notebook as opposed to a fancy leather bound one. Who cares? You’ll still dream regardless! It will still hold the sketches you’ve made and they poems you’ve jotted down! 

Romantic academia relates to cottagecore quite a bit, but how is it different? 

Romantic academia combines the darkness of dark academia with that airy romanticism side to create this constant mix of light of darkness.

By light and darkness I do not mean a contrast good/evil, but rather, in the sense of tone. Of colors almost. 

Let me elaborate. 

You might search up “cottagecore” and find a lovely picture of a woman in a flowing dress running through a sun-drenched meadow. Cottagecore expands on the beauty of what’s already beautiful: flowers, sunshine, and rainbows, while romantic academia sees non-stereotypical items/situations as beautiful. A romantic academic May see a sunny meadow as beautiful, but they also savor those rainy, overcast days. They see “darkness” (tone, not evil) as beautiful. They find the beauty in everything, especially in situations that they thrive in (messy bookstores, heaps of studying, castle ruins, rainy days, and sometimes even sadness). 

Romantic academia is very special. It’s different. Really, all the academia aesthetics are special. They make learning beautiful, because that’s all that academia is about: the pursuit of knowledge. The romantic part just adds a little more beauty.

Semper Doctrina