My Thoughts About Cottagecore

A few months ago, a few sewing YouTube channels I like to watch began to post videos with a reference to something called Cottagecore. I’m not great at following trends online or internet aesthetics, so I had no idea what Cottagecore is until I Googled it.

According to Wikipedia, “Cottagecore is is an Internet aesthetic that celebrates a return to traditional skills and crafts such as foraging, baking, and pottery”. Cottagecore is new to the internet, but the aesthetics are not new. Marie Antoinette is known, and criticized, for a model village called Hameau de la Reine where she would live similar aesthetics and ideology that Cottagecore has.

Although Cottagecore isn’t the same as what Marie Antoinette lived like, it does peak my interest in some ways. I love traditional skills and crafts. I sometimes sew my own clothes and, if I had it my way, I’d have a closet full of clothes I made with my own hands. I’m not as good at knitting as I am at sewing, but I’m trying to work my way up to a level to knit myself sweaters and other knitted items besides scarfs, hand warmers, and beanies. To see baking as a trend inspires me to try new recipes. And as for wearing long, flowing dresses, I’m down with it. A sustainability trend? Absolutely. Posting photographs that look like a fairy tale? I’m 100% on board with it for the artistry.

There are so many things I love about Cottagecore, but there are other things I don’t. First, I don’t like the some of the sexual tones to a few of the posts I see. According to what I read, it has become a subculture of the LGBT community online. I don’t mind Cottagecore as part of the LGBT community, in fact I’m happy that it’s accepted as a subculture because I believe everyone needs a fairy tale romance, but some of the posts are defiantly not geared towards someone who is straight. (Like me) Because of this, I’m surprised and sometimes unsettled when when I scroll through photographs in posts on Instagram and find LGBT content when the first photograph is of something I really wanted to look at.

Secondly, I can’t wear long, flowing dresses. The reason is because of practicality reason. I will get them caught on Arizona desert plants (Such as cacti) and other things while walking outside. And finally, baking, knitting, sewing, and anything else associated with the aesthetics is hard to do. It takes time to master, patience to understand the mistakes made and how to fix them, and a lot of energy and hard work to create. Because of the sometimes time consuming nature of these hobbies and crafts, it can be very difficult to make everything from scratch. (Like I said before, if I had things my way, I’d have a closet full of clothes I made myself. Unfortunately, I currently don’t have time to make anything more complicated than simple pajama bottoms.)

The hard work associated with many things in keeping with Cottagecore aesthetics doesn’t mean anyone should shy away from trying them. I just hope anyone that tries something new, such as sewing, knitting, and baking, they should expect to not succeed perfectly the first time. Have patience and keep trying!

As for me, I sometimes like to see Cottagecore photographs and posts. They are pretty to look at and, since the photographs are usually of places in Europe or inspired by places in Europe, it makes me wish I could go to Europe to see the areas in the photographs are taken for myself. But as for living a Cottagecore lifestyle all the time? I’m afraid it’s not something I can, or want, to do. I do fully intend on continuing to focus on everything I already do when it comes to hobbies and crafts, but I probably won’t tag it Cottagecore.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!