Cottagecore


Cottagecore, stemming from online movements including grandmacore, farmcore, goblincore and faeriecore, is an Internet aesthetic which celebrates a return to traditional forms of craft such as foraging, baking and pottery. According to its proponents, the ideas of Cottagecore can help to satisfy a popular desire for "an aspirational form of nostalgia" as well as an escape from many forms of stress and trauma. The New York Times termed it a reaction to hustle culture and the advent of personal branding.
The movement gained further traction in many online spheres and on social media due to the mass quarantining in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, it has been described by The Guardian as a "visual and lifestyle movement designed to fetishize the wholesome purity of the outdoors." It emphasizes simplicity and the soft peacefulness of the pastoral life as an escape from the dangers of the modern world.

Antecedents and cultural context

While cottagecore arose as a named aesthetic in 2018, similar aesthetics and ideals have a long cultural history. Marie Antoinette was criticised for the expense and self-indulgence of her Hameau de la Reine, a model village where the Queen would host intimate gatherings with friends, and even dress as a shepherdess or milkmaid to play at living a simple life while servants maintained the working farm. This was not a unique folly; it was fashionable in 18th-century Europe for nobles to build picturesque ornamental farms on their country estates in the style of rural villages.
The 19th-century Arts and Crafts movement was an approach to art, architecture and design that embraced 'folk' styles and techniques as a critique of industrial production.
Idealised pastoral aesthetics enjoyed a resurgence in children's literature of the 20th century, particularly Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows. Both feature a pleasant portrayal of country life, an absence of advanced technology and industry, an appreciation for nature, and turn-of-the-century cottages. Interpersonal interactions within the framework of a close-knit and caring community play a central role in these stories. Characters are often seen baking, gardening, walking in the woods, or engaging in other peaceful, pastoral activities. Most items seen in the stories are handmade, rather than manufactured.
While the authors, A. A. Milne and Kenneth Grahame respectively, were familiar with turn-of-the-century rural English life, many of their contemporary and modern readers were not. Thus, these works offer a form of escapism into a calm and comprehensible world. Winnie the Pooh found popularity when first published in part because "the idyllic setting of the 100-Acre Wood was a welcome sanctuary from the horrors of the Western Front that remained fresh in his mind and those of many readers in the 1920s." The Wind in the Willows likewise focuses its attention on "quieter events." The two series continue to be read and adapted a century later.
Beatrix Potter's illustrated children's books, first published in 1902, populate an idealised English village world with anthropomorphic animal characters. Many of her most popular titles, including The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher, narrate old-fashioned country occupations and leisure pursuits; many cottagecore fans trace their interest in the aesthetic to a childhood love of these books.
The idyllic land of The Shire in J. R. R. Tolkien's works first appeared in The Hobbit in 1937. Its residents occupy themselves with baking and farming, living in small, cozy homes. It is the only set from the film adaptation to be converted into a destination for tourists, with particular attention given to its rustic aesthetics and its proximity to nature.
The Moomins picture book and comic strip series, first developed by illustrator Tove Jansson in 1945, introduced readers to a beautiful pastoral landscape called Moominvalley populated by peaceful, hippo-like residents. While the stories drew criticism from the New Left for “middle-class escapism” and “illusory security,” it has been noted that they serve as a response to World War II in their themes of bravery, resilience, and family ties in the face of natural disaster. The series has gained popularity through its many television and film adaptations.
During the 1970s, fashion, design and children's literature turned back to idealised country imagery, as many people were embracing rustic do-it-yourself culture in the course of exploring utopian hippie lifestyles. This was a time of self-built rural cabins, of the TV adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, of Laura Ashley's retro fashions and Holly Hobbie merchandise.
1970 saw the publication of Frog and Toad, a children's book series set in a small community of rural cottages. The narratives revolve around friends and neighbors interacting in emotionally supportive ways. The characters regularly engage in domestic activities like sewing and baking, as well social activities such as writing letters and visiting each other's homes. As in Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows, handmade items are commonplace.
First published in 1980, the Brambly Hedge children's books present themes of camaraderie and community against the backdrop of the English countryside. Stakes are typically personal in nature and the scope is limited to a small, "idyllic" rural settlement. Unlike The Wind in the Willows, which was set in the time of its writing, Brambly Hedge portrays turn-of-the-century country life in retrospect and so is an example of nostalgia in the genre.
Premiering in 2001, the social simulation video game series Animal Crossing has gameplay centered on crafts like fishing, gardening, and carpentry, as well as cottage upkeep and the building of social relationships in small communities. Because of its release near the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has received considerable praise as a means of self-care for those impacted by social distancing.
In the 2010s, documentary television programs such as Edwardian Farm and to varying degrees the rest of the BBC historic farm series show presenters living and working in cottages for periods as long as a year. Such programs examine the way culture romanticizes cottage life through the lens of anthropology. The shows recreate traditional methods of farming, cooking, foraging, and other activities for a combination of entertainment, education, and experimental archaeology.
The Great British Bake Off, first airing in 2010, regularly features traditional baked goods and baking methods, including some which were more common in historical cottages than they are in modern-day kitchens. The show's outdoor baking tent is meant to evoke the "cultural tradition of afternoon tea on sprawling country homes." Its spin-off series, The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great Pottery Throw Down, take a similar approach to other crafts.
Artists like Hozier, Lord Huron and Mitski often have their rustic and romantic musical style associated with cottagecore.

Politics and criticism

Cottagecore has become a subculture of the queer and particularly the lesbian community, stemming from the drive for escape from a heteronormative society. Cottagecore videos of lesbians performing tasks like baking bread, embroidering, and thrifting to calming music have gone viral on social media app TikTok. Some cottagecore aficionados report wishing to reclaim non-sexual ideas and images of intimacy and togetherness – as one Reddit user explains, "cottagecore sees love as a connection between two souls."
Others see cottagecore as a way to disentangle and reclaim traditional rural pleasures and surroundings from the homophobia and transphobia they experienced growing up in small towns. One cottagecore fan told i-D magazine, "Even now when I go back I can't help but feel watched and judged all the time for how I look or dress. It especially makes me feel like the things I loved in childhood, like having farm animals and picking blackberries in the fields and getting lost in the woods, are cis- and hetero-coded. So for me, cottagecore is an ideal where I can be visibly queer in rural spaces."