Types Of Dark Academia Characters, According To Their Outfits

Reasons to be excited for school

Coffee in the morning as you blink sleep out of your eyes

Cool air and changing leaves, rain hitting the windows as you take notes

The sweaters and dress pants you can finally wear

Completing homework assignments and feeling the sense of accomplishment

Staying in the library to read a book about something that interests you

Looking over your notes before a test you know you’re ready for

Learning about things you never knew about and wanting to learn more

Opening your umbrella as you go out into the rain to take a walk between classes

Long, thick coats from vintage stores

Carrying stacks of books you can’t wait to read

Cups of tea and lighted candles

Dark Academia Lookbook
 “Fashion is what one wears oneself; what is unfashionable is what other people wear.” - Oscar Wilde 
I’ve noticed that a lot of dark academia inspired fashion uses brown and beige as neutrals - which looks great, however they don’t always go with all skin tones (like mine). Here are a few outfit ideas that use black/grey/white as base tones!
Remember, you don’t have to be rich to afford the aesthetic:
Tartan skirt - vintage, charity shop
Green corduroy trousers - vintage, depop
Burgundy paisley shirt - vintage shop
Ugly blue shirt - charity shop
And the burgundy suit was from my y11 prom, which I’m still wearing!

Even more dark academia outfits for any gender!

you’re my favorite person

Helpful Books To Learn Languages

French

50 Ways To Improve Your French

Barron’s French Idioms

Learn French: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning French!)

2,001 Most Useful French Words

Say It Right in French: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly 

Streetwise French

Berlitz Hide This French Phrase Book

Italian

50 Ways To Improve Your Italian

Berlitz Self-Teacher Italian (Personally, I don’t really care for these types of books, mainly because I don’t the things you learn in the first few chapters. Unless you have a base in the language, I don’t think this book will work for you.)

Learn Italian: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning Italian!)

Barron’s Italian Idioms 

Easy Italian Phrase Book: 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use 

Correct Your Italian Blunders

Spanish

50 Ways To Improve Your Spanish

Correct Your Spanish Blunders 

Just Enough Spanish

Dirty Spanish - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Barron’s Complete Spanish Grammar Review 

Making Out in Spanish (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Spanish, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Ven Conmigo! Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook: Level 1 (This is the actual workbook I use in my Spanish 1 class. It is great and I love it. If you want to teach yourself Spanish, I highly recommend getting a workbook like this.)

Hide This Spanish Book (This has a lot for a small book. Mainly just some basic phrases, along with some that are more vulgar.)

Hide This Spanish Book for Lovers (The title speaks for itself…)  

Mierda! The Real Spanish You Were Never Taught In School

Say It Right In Spanish

German

50 Ways To Improve Your German

Dirty German - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Say It Right In German: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly

Easy Way to Enlarge Your German Vocabulary

Barron’s German Idioms

The Tell-Tale Heart - If you want to read in German, this seems like a pretty good book to get. 

German-English Visual Dictionary

Scheisse!: The Real German You Were Never Taught In School - I love all these books. They have them in every language (The title means “Shit”). Although it doesn’t have the pronunciations, its still pretty great for the vocabulary it has. It’s a bit vulgar though, but not too bad.

Portuguese 

Just Enough Portuguese: How to Get by and Be Easily Understood

Portuguese Verb and Essentials of Grammar

Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Books & Dictionary

51 Portuguese Idioms - Speak Like a Brazilian 

Arabic

Arabic-English Visual Dictionary

The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read and Write It

First 100 Words In Arabic

Learn Arabic: The Fast and Fun Way

Making Out In Arabic  

Instant Arabic!

Japanese

Berlitz Concise Dictionary

Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters

Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region

Speak Japanese Today 

Making Out In Japanese - I just bought this book, and it seems pretty great. 

More Making Out In Japanese 

Korean

Say It Right In Korean 

Korean Made Easy

Instant Korean

First 100 Words In Korean

Making Out In Korean

More Making Out In Korean

Korean For Travelers - I think this might only be a Nook book, which kind of sucks.

Dirty Korean -  Warning: This is really vulgar.  

Basic Korean: Workbook

Intermediate Korean: Workbook - I’m not sure if this is worth getting because of the price, but it seems like a helpful book

Korean At A Glance

Teach Me Everyday Korean

Chinese

Making Out In Chinese (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Chinese, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Mandarin Chinese - English Visual Dictionary

Survival Chinese 

Get Talking Chinese - This book is so great. It’s kind of like a children’s book, but for learning basic Chinese, it’s great.

Hide This Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book 

Instant Chinese!

Polish

Say It In Polish 

Berlitz Polish Concise Dictionary

Berlitz Polish Phrasebook and Dictionary

Polish: An Essential Grammar

Russian

Learn Russian: The Fast and Fun Way

Say It Right In Russian

Russian Vocabulary

Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used

Russian At A Glance

Just Enough Russian

General Language Books

Barron’s 501 Verbs (comes in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, English and German)

Note: I love Berlitz and Barron books for learning languages. Most are just reference books for verbs, grammar, or basic phrases instead of textbooks. But once you have a base in the language, they help you improve so much. I highly recommend buying any Berlitz or Barron language books. I love the 50 Ways To Improve Your books. They are the best grammar/vocab/correction language books ever. I use the Spanish one to help teach myself Spanish, and I absolutely love it. And it isn’t very expensive either!

Academic aesthetics

Dark Academia

Long Black coats, thunder but no lightning, red wine, blood, forests in winter, a single guttering candle, latin, bones, all of history in your hands, Tchaikovsky, piles of old books, the hour before sunrise, complicated cravats, Hozier, true crime, Donna Tartt, secret diaries.

Light Academia

Sunshine in shallow water, white cotton, lacy dresses, champagne, the plays of Oscar Wilde, summer rain, wind rustling the pages of a book, jacket over on shoulder, Maurice, frost covering new flowers, Florence + the machine, roses, bare feet, girls school, old books about species of plant or butterflies, biological Diagrams, flowers in your hair, perfect notes.

Chaotic Academia

Two top buttons undone, scribbled notes in pencil or biro, kill your darlings, untied laces, so much coffee, all nighters, crying in the library, Mozart, writing film scripts for fun, rain Storms, moorland, swimming in the dark, movie soundtracks while studying, procrastination, muddy boots, unsent letters.

Grey Academia

Jane eyre, sunrise, cold hands, perfect handwriting, beat gen, Edgar Alan Poe, crows, small animal bones, writing essays until 2am, Vivaldi, February or November, zodiacs, loving history and art, Leonardo davinci, Tamino.

Romantic Academia

Billowing pirate sleeves, Lord Byron, theatre, violets, achilles, reading poetry aloud, bloody cheekbones, love letters, doodling in class, doc Martins, long ball dresses, gothic churches, dead poets society, sword fights back stage, wind and mist and violent Storms, tea, long journal entries, wide brimmed hats, museums.

Spring Academia

Cotton shirts with large jumpers, celendines, maypole dancing, reading short stories, old traditions, Jane Austen, new term, beautiful notes, pastel colours, period dramas, magpies, 2005 pride and prejudice soundtrack, new leaves, cold feet, dancing.

Summer Academia

Flower crowns, studying late while the sun is still up, full moons, parties outside, sun dresses, warm rainstorms, exam season, bare feet, ancient Greece, herb tea, singing to the radio, lying in the grass, bird song, biology textbooks, the Lord of the rings, studying outside, mystery of love by sufjan Stevens.

Autumn Academia

Foxes, dead leaves, large coats and scarves, old stone walls, steaming black tea, mist, travel journals, forgetting to study until the last minute, frankenstein, old songs, nostalgia, carrying a book everywhere, rebel rebel, the picture of dorian gray, soup, studying in the morning as the sun rises.

Winter Academia

Long walks, misty breath, so much reading, shunning capitalist society, sad music, learning about witch hunts, philosophy, wuthering heights, mystery books, Dracula, black and white photos, transcribing music, old statues, silence.

Feral Academia

Pin stripe jacket with jeans, Dionysus, "norse" makeup, cold sweet tea, running through the forest, mythology, I got an unconditional so I don't need to try hard, scraping the grades, shouty music, helenic polytheism, obsessive interests, reading a 500 page book in one sitting, love learning, hate the education system, vive le revolution.

wholesome student life things that we should collectively start romancizing

waking up and being genuinely thrilled to go to class because today is THAT CLASS you love so much you’d like it to never end

coffee breaks with friends, chatting and joking about this particularly hard essay and the prof’s mannerism

coffee breaks on your own, as you absent-mindedly watch the people around you, while thinking about what you’re working on

finding this book you’ve been dying to read for so long, and borrowing it from the library

the feeling of excitement that goes through you whenever you remember The Book is in your backpack

understanding everything during demanding classes and being genuinely interested in the subject

buying a New Special Pen and taking colorful notes that look super pretty

not being able to shut up about your school projects (no your friends dont really care about the intricate details of what you’re working on, they don’t even have the same major as you, but they’re happy to hear you rant with such a burning passion)

actually doing the extra reading and having your curiosity so piqued by what you’re reading that you go on and on and suddenly its 1am and what happened

printing the project you’ve spent so much time and energy on and feeling the paper’s warmth

actually submitting that project without feeling awful about it because you know you did your best and aren’t responsible for what happens next

when you finally finish this Super Hard And Important Essay at like 3am, open the window and feel the cold night air on your burning cheeks and everything is dark and quiet and you can see the moon and you’re at peace with everything for a few minutes

when this professor you admire says you did a great job and/or that you’re talented!!!!

realizing two concepts that seemed so far away from each other and that you discovered in wildly different contexts are actually interlinked, then Realizing™ things and linking concepts/works/articles to each other at the speed of light & being super excited about it

being so deeply immersed in your work that you didn’t realize two hours have passed

finding the Perfect Spot at the library

that Pure Joy moment when you FINALLY understand that super obscure sentence/text

when you feel anxious because you’re not done with your homework & the deadline is super tight & your friend tells you they aren’t done yet either

same but with an even more intense relief feeling when you realize you both haven’t even started yet

when the professor starts a new reasoning and you can predict what the next idea/the final conclusion will be

when the professor mention your favorite novel/author/fictional character in class and you feel like your internal screech of joy could shatter glass

the Academic Salt™ that has you like 👀👀

when the professor tears apart an author or scholar you hate and you’re like YES I WANT BLOOD GIVE ME BLOOD

when you learn that Cool New Fact that makes you reconsider your whole life

leaving the library after a long productive day and feeling like nothing is real but experiencing everything more intensely

leaving the library at night after a long study session and everybody has left already and its just you and the long neon-lit corridors then stepping outside and smelling the crisp night wind

feel free to add your own!!!

Hi, i love your posts and the dark academia aesthetic and I want to start dressing in the da style but there are no good thrift stores where I live, could you recommend some online clothes shops please?

Hey! Sorry for the delay, here are some ideas that will hopefully help.

Facebook Marketplace and ThreadUp are great options for online thrifting, though the former can also depend on your location and honestly the furniture is the greatest selling point, at least for me. But I do often find good shoes on there. 

Etsy is great for higher quality staple pieces, especially for good materials like linen. Though I know it can run a bit more expensive, especially since the stores often sell hand made products. So, for things on the cheaper side, try:

Stein: Stein is great in both price and style. They have a filtering system that includes the “elegant” filter, which gives tons of dark academia styled clothing. The only downside is most of their clothes isn’t great quality in terms of fabric; it’s mostly polyester. You can filter fabric type for higher quality, like cotton. Still, I’d highly recommend them for unique cheap pieces as well as staples. They’re pants especially are great. 

Old Navy: This surprised me at least, but Old Navy has some very high quality items, if you’re willing to hunt. If you use the right keywords (High waisted, ankle pants, trousers, cigarette pants, button down, etc.) most of their stuff is around 100% cotton, and quite cheap. Most of their stuff is pretty basic, but that means they’re good for cheap basics. 

ASOS: A bit more expensive then the previous two, but still on the lower end price wise. Check out their “suits and tailoring”, especially for good pants or matched sets. Plus, they seem to have a broader array of clothing for different body types, so that’s a bonus. Most of their stuff seems like good quality; they have a lot of linen and cotton blends.

White House Black Market: Okay, now we’re at the more expensive side of things. Obviously with that, comes higher quality. WHBM has some gorgeous stuff, and a lot of my favorite pieces come from them, though admittedly I’ve never bought anything from them that wasn’t heavily discounted or thrifted. They have both staples and some wonderful statment pieces. You can try entering higher end brands like them into ThreadUp though, so maybe try that if this is too expensive?

Let me know if you have any more questions, and everyone else feel free to add more in the comments! 

“it is only a bruise”

— Leo Tolstoy

Dark Academic Reminders

Please rest. The moonlight will always await your gaze, and even the poet’s dusk recedes in and out of our dreamlike realm. 

If you didn’t achieve the grade you had desired, please remember that it is okay and you can and will try again. Savour a perfumed kiss from your favourite black tea or coffee, settle in your favourite secluded spot on the campus courtyard, breathe in the crisp air, and try again. 

You don’t need to possess a luxurious collection of vintage clothing. Your treasured oxford blouse will do, as it rises and falls with the autumn wind on your walk past the window of the used antique bookstore. The tweed blazer that you adorn each day is filled with your own secret history; memories of sitting in your favourite lecture while rain fell outside the window. 

Remember why you are here and don’t belittle your own achievements. You are now another face of your library’s labyrinth, another soul who has sworn fealty to hidden knowledge, and another academic who has found their place in the fresh parchment with your ink stained hands and morbid curiosity.