Light academia is an internet aesthetic and subculture, [1] that emphasizes visually light aesthetics and positive themes, including optimism, joy, and friendship. [2] [3] Accordingly, light academia is often considered to be the visually and emotionally lighter counterpart to dark academia. [3] [4] The term light academia was coined on Tumblr in 2019 and gained popularity during the early 2020s. [2] [4]
The term light academia was coined on Tumblr in 2019 by the user 'plantaires,' who wrote: [2]
"You’ve heard of ‘dark academia’, now its time for ‘light’ academia… wearing light linen sundresses in foreign countries, eating picnics and pastries in the afternoon sun while reading poetry and laughing with your friends, the burning passion and excitement when you finally make a breakthrough in your research, falling asleep in your lovers arms sunkissed and happy… everything is beautiful and hopeful and no one dies".
Comparing it to dark academia, Tumblr trend analyzer Amanda Brennan has stated that light academia "still embodies the love of learning, but with an airier, less doom-focused feel that shows that knowledge brings light and happiness in the outdoors rather than a gothic darkness seen curled up in a corner". [5]
By the end of 2020, light academia was ranked seventh for Tumblr's top ten aesthetics. [4] By the end of 2021, light academia was the third most popular aesthetic on Tumblr. [6]
On Pinterest, the number of users tagging the terms 'Light Academia clothing" and "Light Academia clothes" increased 236-fold by December 2022, compared to December 2021. [5]
On Depop, searches for "Light Academia" increased by 900% by October 2022. [5]
Light academia utilizes a neutral and earthy color palette consisting of white, beige, and brown. [2] Clothing items associated with light academia include pleated skirts, dress shirts, sweater vests, cardigans, turtlenecks, and hair ribbons. [5] [7] [8] Light academia clothing has been described as "cottagecore with some more cosmopolitan elements", [3] and as taking inspiration from school uniforms and early to mid-20th-century college wear. [8]
Literature that has been classified as light academia includes the novels Brideshead Revisted, Never Let Me Go and Little Women , and manga series Little Witch Academia . [9] Films classified as light academia include Call Me by Your Name (2017), Persuasion (2022), and Pride & Prejudice (2005). [10] Light academia television series include Netflix's Anne with an E , Derry Girls , Gilmore Girls , and Netflix originals Bridgerton, Heartstopper , and Sex Education . [10]
A light-on-dark color scheme, better known as dark mode, dark theme or night mode – is a color scheme that uses light-colored text, icons, and graphical user interface elements on a dark background. It is often discussed in terms of computer user interface design and web design. Many modern websites and operating systems offer the user an optional light-on-dark display mode.
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Applied aesthetics is the application of the branch of philosophy of aesthetics to cultural constructs. In a variety of fields, artifacts are created that have both practical functionality and aesthetic affectation. In some cases, aesthetics is primary, and in others, functionality is primary. At best, the two needs are synergistic, in which "beauty" makes an artifact work better, or in which more functional artifacts are appreciated as aesthetically pleasing. This achievement of form and function, of art and science, of beauty and usefulness, is the primary goal of design, in all of its domains.
Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.
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Soft grunge was both fashion and music trend that originated on Tumblr around the late 2000s and early 2010s. Beginning as an outgrowth of the 2000s indie sleaze fashion trend but with a greater influence from the 1990s, particularly grunge fashion, the style began as a reaction against the glamor fitness culture which was dominant in popular culture at the time. It is characterized by its merger of cute and aggressive fashion hallmarks like chokers, tennis skirts, leather jackets and boots, flower crowns, distressed denim and pastel colors. Soft grunge reached its peak popularity around 2014, by which time it had been embraced by high fashion designers including Hedi Slimane and Jeremy Scott and been worn by celebrities including Charli XCX. Its internet-based merger of subculture, fashion and music made it one of the earliest examples of an internet aesthetic. In the early 2020s, the style experienced a minor resurgence due to videos posted on the video sharing application TikTok.
Mark Cagaanan Aguhar was an American activist, writer and multimedia fine artist known for her multidisciplinary work about gender, beauty and existing as a racial minority, while being body positive and transgender femme-identified. Aguhar was made famous by her Tumblr blog that questioned the mainstream representation of the "glossy glorification of the gay white male body".
Bisexual lighting is the simultaneous use of pink, purple, and blue lighting to represent bisexual characters. It has been used in studio lighting for film and television, and has been observed in the cinematography of various films. While not all films, television shows, photographs, and music videos that use this lighting intend to portray bisexuality, many queer artists have deliberately used this color palette—which resembles that of the bisexual flag—in their work.
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Cottagecore is an internet aesthetic idealising rural life. Originally based on a rural European life, it was developed throughout the 2010s and was first named cottagecore on Tumblr in 2018. The aesthetic centres on traditional rural clothing, interior design, and crafts such as drawing, baking, and pottery, and is related to similar aesthetic movements such as grandmacore, goblincore, gnomecore and fairycore.
Dark academia is an internet aesthetic and subculture concerned with higher education, the arts, and literature, or an idealised version thereof. The aesthetic centres on traditional educational clothing, interior design, activities such as writing and poetry, ancient art, and classic literature, as well as classical Greek and Collegiate Gothic architecture. The trend emerged on social media site Tumblr in 2015, before being popularised by adolescents and young adults in the late 2010s and early 2020s, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Coquette aesthetic is a 2020s fashion trend that is characterized by a mix of sweet, romantic, and sometimes playful elements and focuses on femininity through the use of clothes with lace, flounces, pastel colors, and bows, often draws inspiration from historical periods like the Victorian era and the 1950s, with a modern twist.
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