Straight black woman here. Cottagecore is less about escape for me and more about enjoying the little simple things in life. Loving and appreciating the work you do with your own hands.

Let's be honest, the original cottagecore lesbians are Liana and Alexa from Barbie & The Diamond Castle

Anyone who watched Studio Ghibli as a child is now cottagecore and you can't deny it

I know Rowan says it's a very feminine thing, but I turned my cottagecore dreams into me constantly wearing overalls and Wellies while taking care of the chickens and the constant presence of dirt on calloused hands and knees from weeding the garden. There are some very traditionally masculine aspects to cottagecore which also appeals to wlw, because of the freedom to escape the pressure of heterosexual, pressurized idealism many of them grew up with.

ok but a cottage core lesbian + dark academia bisexual movie where they solve crimes AND do magic AND be gay sounds like a hit to me

As an asexual, I love cottagecore partly because of how desexualized it is.

Ah yes, the sexualities of lifestyles: -Lesbian CottageCore -Bisexual DarkAcademia -Pansexual Witch work - Gay CoffeeShop And -Asexual CabinCore (The last one is my idea..)

Cottagecore is such an idealised version of nature, living in the woods and living off the land is way more difficult and no where near as innocent as shown... As someone whose lived in the countryside and in a ‘cottagecore’ way, (making stuff, having chickens and growing my own stuff) it’s a lot more difficult and you often find yourself in difficult situations, such as a fox is killing your chickens... you find yourself dealing with death more often than not... I absolutely love moving back to nature, but the way it’s portrayed in cottagecore is not accurate at all lol... of course cottagecore is just an aesthetic lol

As a gay man who grew up in rural Ireland, I really feel the need to de-bigot my cottagecore childhood. Since leaving home I got some houseplants, covered my walls in flower paintings and filled my life with poetry. Even though I'm now locked down in an urban setting, it feels like I'm reclaiming (at least a little bit) the idyllic childhood that I could've had if I hadn't felt so ostracised. Love this video and your others, the flower crown is an amazing extra touch

Can we please make a self-sufficient cottage-core lesbian community? We can built a whole town

Cottage core is fun unless you live in a tropical area. The “walking in the woods” becomes getting your hair stuck in a branch on the dense rainforest while you escape from a snake in the middle of a thunderstorm. The mountainous land doesn’t help either

I think people really love cottagecore because it’s almost the “counter Internet” and instant gratification/fast paced lifestyle. Everyone needs a bit of a break from it all. That basket weaving tik tok clip makes me want to learn how to make one

The "nostalgia" element of cottagecore definitely relates to the anti-capitalist reading. Personally, part of the appeal of cottagecore to me is thinking back to my childhood when I had the free time to do things like exploring in the woods and reading novels all day long. The productivity-driven capitalist society robs many people of the "free time" to do these activities. // I should clarify that a person's having nostalgia for the time to do these activities does not mean that that person is anti-capitalist or even is aware of the possible anti-capitalist connotations.

Give me techno-cottagecore: a nice little cabin in the woods with a fiber-speed internet connection, smart speakers playing relaxing music, and an Arduino project taking care of the watering of my herb garden. Nice for a vacation, at least.

Reasons why all the cottagecore lesbians should move to Ireland: * Tons of plant life and beautiful scenery. The forests are full of flowers and trails * The fresh food from our farms are delicious and perfect for baking * When it’s not pouring rain, it’s really pretty outside. Picnics near the duck lakes are fun * When it is pouring rain, you stay inside by the fire with tea * The folklore and fairies are so interesting, and you can see foxglove everywhere * S n a i l s * There are no lesbians in small towns and I want a gf ;(

In the 2000s we called it “shabby chic”. My mom’s best friend had a gorgeous little cottage, with ALL the “trimmings”.

Can cottage core be ace too? Lol. All I wanna do is live alone in the woods and adopt a child and water my vegetable garden and sew 14th century clothing.

We just wanna live a nice, stable, sustainable life full of quaint times. We wanna be away from judgement. We want to be happy. I’m disabled, and I really wish I could live a nice life that involves being outside, crafting, gardening, and so much more. I wish I could own a home. It’s wish fulfillment for late Capitalism

Li Ziqi is a Chinese youtuber who has this lifestyle, but Chinese. She makes traditional Chinese foods and makes traditional Chinese arts. Chinese cottagecore is pretty sweet too.

I took a buzzfeed quiz a while back that said my aesthetic was cottage core, and I felt connected to it for a different reason. I've lived in a foresty area my whole life surrounded by deer and foxes, and I can't imagine a life without them But on a deeper level, my family is from Pakistan. A lot of the aspects I found associated with cottagecore reminded me of what my mother tells me about her childhood. Bread making (roti in her case), and girls putting small flowers in their braids. Those stories made me interested in bread making and putting flowers in my hair. Not to mention people cite pride and prejudice and Anne of green gables as cottagecore inspo. When I read those books I connected with them because of my pakistani heritage. I guess what I'm trying to get at is cottagecore is an aesthetic that anyone can enjoy and should enjoy, especially if it's capable of bringing them so much joy.

When you realize you’re part of a community you didn’t know existed.

Today I found my aesthetic. No no not cottage core, Dark Academia bisexual.

Personally I see it as a way to say "being a girly/feminine girl is ok and it doesn't automatically make you the cis straight heteronormative stereotype" - kinda like liking movies where main protagonist is a very feminine woman who wears skirts & dresses & likes girly things (think Barbie and the pink shoes or 12 dancing princesses) opposed to movies where main girl always wears baggy jeans, never wears pink & has messy hair (but is still pretty) while her rival/the evil girl is always dressed up and only cares about make up & clothes (pretty much every movie I remember watching in my childhood)

im not lesbian, but i wanna live like cottagecore near the forests and maybe even the sea, travel the world to all mother nature stuff, to see the northern lights, to connect to the universe, but i don't see a straight man wanting to do the same 😭 lol

It’s not a coincidence that every lesbian has an inner arm tattoo of herbs

I just wanna live in a studio ghibli movie, why is that so hard?

To me, as a straight woman, personally think it's that sense of escapism that I like. I struggle a lot with anxiety and PTSD, so the idea of a cottage tucked away in a forest, with my milk cow and goats all by myself is delightful. I've just now have gotten into cottagecore and I have unfortunately met some very toxic straight people within the community. I just want everyone to know that we're not all like that and I would love to come over once a week and bake with you and your significant other 🥰

"Maybe they just- be gay-" For some reason that sentence sums up my entire life

I think the good thing about cottagecore is that we are all visualising it with such specific details, that we almost manifest it into our lives. For most of us, it's not possible to live in an old cottage in the English countryside, but by imagining it, it somehow becomes slightly more real. One of my favourite quotes of all time is "true self care is building a life we don't feel the need to constantly escape from" so even though cottagecore is inherently escapist, it's a lifestyle we potentially want to have at some point in the future. (Sorry if that didn't make any sense lol)

Recently in my life: I've finally admitted to myself I'm gay and come out of closet after 30 years. Wow I feel so energized and finally want to act on my deep love of cottage core. Rowan Video: Why cottage core is gay. Me: .....yea this track's.

You seriously described this perfectly!!!! The whole “cottagecore shows that femininity can be powerful” is so true!!!

I feel like why cottagecore is so *gay* is because it feels free when you're in the woods doing nature things without the modern society bringing you down

When I think of cottagecore, I often picture a Ghibli film

Cottagecore started to be gay when Leslie Feinberg wrote: "The sky was crayon blue. I pretended I was lying on the white cotton clouds. The earth was damp against my back. The sun was hot, the breeze was cool. I felt happy. Nature held me close and seemed to find no fault with me."

You ought to look into the Solarpunk aesthetic. It's my favorite aesthetic community I found on tumblr and it highly emphasizes the sustainability through solar/green technology. Art Nouveau architectures and styles; stain glass, craftsmanship, and what I like most of all is the inclusive and coexistence with the natural and modern worlds. As for the fashion aesthetics, it's pretty open to any and all cultural backgrounds. Anyone can interpret their vision of what solarpunk means to them. Vintage to futuristic, it's all fair game.

I'm so glad you mentioned the colonial accepts. As a indigenous person, I really just see cottage core as a romanticize version of the relationship that indigenous people have with the land from our traditions. I'd love to see a video on solar punk 🥺 because that's my shit right there

Lesbianism has never been so cozy. Seriously my wife and I can always trust our fellow gays will tell us about their succulents :D

I love the young generation. If I could tell my teenage self that one day, a young woman with a paper flower crown would drop an incredible thoughtful analysis of a wholesome internet subculture, mostly populated by LGBT+ people, and get thousands of likes... Keep it up kids. You're on to something there.

I am a 60 year old straight woman, but have loved what is now being called "cottagecore" ever since I was old enough to speak. I begged my mother to teach me how to make a braided rag rug for my doll house when I was three years old. Fortunately, my mother also found more beauty in the past and decided when I was three that we would get rid of everything modern and therefore ugly and decorate our home entirely with antiques. Even my bedroom would only have child-size antique furniture. I loved it then and still have the same antique ice box, antique dresser and commode as well as the antique chamber pot (I put my pencils and pens in it), milk pail and old school desk (now used as a nightstand) that I had in my bedroom when I was 3 years old! I've always longed to take it further and wear only handsewn long dresses and handknit shawls, but haven't managed to realize that fantasy yet. Anyway, I inhabit the idealized country cottage in my mind where everything is made by hand and sleeves are always big and billowy and made of natural fibers and people are always polite and kind. It is in such stark contrast to this world of machines, technology, artificial everything and people gloating over how rude and offensive they can be.

Straight white autistic woman here. For me cottagecore is all about just being my self without being judge or mocked by people. It’s also so much less stressful then other fashion communities I’ve joined. Cottagecore is so welcoming to everyone and of all styles of clothing. I don’t feel I have to complete change my life and wardrobe just to fit in. Cottagecore is there when you need it but only when you need it. It doesn’t have to be a 24/7 thing unless you want it too. It’s also helped me discover my love for hand embroidery and baking. Things I hadn’t really looked into until the lockdown hit. Cottagecore has let me slow things down and discover new things about myself. It’s been super freeing and relaxing to find a group of welcoming people who share my interest without being Condescending or judgmental because I’m not doing something ‘right’. Because as you said cottagecore is whatever we want it to be, there’s no real wrong way to do it.

I always saw "cottage-core" as a kind of revitalization of 19th century Romanticism, and I think the critiques of that movement also apply here

since I'm trans and grew up in the welsh countryside, my cottagecore aesthetic is sort of a reclamation of a childhood that i feel I never got to have. it lets me live the beauty and the innocence of those books and films and activities and that sort of environment as the person I truly am

I had a discussion about this like 3 weeks ago: Ms. Honey from the movie matilda gives cottage core vibes,

“A dark academia bisexual” Heheheh

I remember like literally yesterday being like: "I want to live in a cottage in the woods with my butch wife! I want a rabbit! I want a small garden and a kitchen with herbs hanging over the sink! I want to our cottage to be near a small village where we own a bakery and my wife chops wood and helps me bake!" Except say all of that with a John Mulaney accent.

Here to watch as fast as I'm ready to come out and U Haul into an adorable log cabin.

My lifestyle switched to cottagecore-hippie when I realized that modern life wasn’t contributing anything positive to my mental health. I’ve noticed a huge change in my depression and anxiety, and I appreciate so much of my world now.

I've always loved the whole "living in a cottage and painting poorly" (poorly because me) and Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" vibe. So when I realized Cottagecore/Dark Cottagecore (Dusky Cottagecore?), I was all over it. 💗🖤💗

I’m very glad you included a critique of cottage core in relation to settler colonialism. If you’re into cottage core and want to be anti-racist and pro indigenous sovereignty research “land-back” initiatives in your area

to me, cottagecore represents an escape from capitalism, as well as a respite from the sensory intensity of life. as an autistic person, i fantasize about being in flower fields or experiencing good textures like a warm blanket or cool grass. i can see the tradwife element but cottagecore isn't about being subservient (imo, at least.) anyone of any race, orientation, class, etc. can find happiness in cottagecore. it's as simple as baking a loaf of bread, or sitting outside and reading, or tending to a plant. it's freeing!

oh THAT'S why I've always been obsessed with Pooh

I feel like I am into so many different -core aesthetics, that I can't pick one and have circled back around to just being a normal-ass person

I'm very disappointed that your list of examples of cottagecore didn't include Miss Honey from Matilda.

Showerthought: Amish Romance is cottagecore for evangelical Christians

I feel like there's a definite overlap between the tiny house movement and cottagecore.

Im straight and in love with cottagecore e.e

“the idea is older than the internet itself” oh shit it’s just transcendentalism 2.0! thoreau and emerson would be proud

"Baking can be a tremedous form of stress relief" I can not relate to this at all. Any time I bake, I am stressed af.

All I want is a house up in the mountains somewhere (internet please tho) where I can take walks in the woods with my wife and my dogs. Somewhere where people have horses (but are rich enough that they don't want to shoe their own horses) so I can work as a farrier. But I want to be close enough to a small city that my wife can work at a hospital (because that's what she wants to do) and that my kid(s?) can go to a nice school. I want a library with hundreds of books and I want to come home every day and make a pot of licorice tea for me and my wife and just read on the front porch for a few hours before the sun sets. On the weekends, I want to wake up to warm golden sunlight and the sound of the birds and have lunch date picnics with my wife. I want to pick her up and spin her around to make her laugh and I want to lay on the ground and find shapes in the clouds. If it's raining, I want to make her pancakes for breakfast in bed and just cuddle and watch the rain. I want to chop firewood to keep the house warm in the winter. I want a secret staircase behind the fireplace that leads up to the attic, where the whole roof is made of glass so we can watch the stars even if its cold out. Is all of that REALLY too much to ask for?

This is extremely profound, and absolutely explains my affinity for cottagecore. Bravo! I can't help but think about the author of Frog and Toad sharing this sentiment!

My little Welsh heart was so happy when you mentioned hiraeth! Welsh people, culture and ideals tend to get forgotten or straight up ignored in discussions like this even though, in my opinion, it can provide an interesting/new insight into the topic of discussion and also into Welsh culture as well

points for spotting the two silence portions of this video where i had to remove the sound for copyright reasons! 🙃

I’m hella straight but my style/ aesthetic has always been like granny chic/old fashioned. I collect antique tea cups, decorations, tea sets and furniture as well as clothing...I grow my own veggies, live out in the country in a farmhouse, bake and cook from scratch, have a bunch of house plants and woodland animal/floral decor with lots of wood furniture, embroider, draw, sew, crochet, read historical fiction, picnic, etc wayyyy before cottagecore.... but now EVERY aspect of that “simple way of life” is correlated to cottagecore and now I’m associated with that niche but I’m totally straight hahahahah

I want to dress cottagecore but I can’t find any clothes I’m male and I’m gay HELP ME

As a person from a tropical region, I wonder what the tropical/rain forest variant of cottage core. I would really like that. Edit: (That is not beach centric) Like picking passion fruit and mangoes from your back yard and overlooking the rainforest.

It is kind of the age old gay dream, isn't it? Find the love of your life and escape with them to a cottage in the country. Then write long letters home about how happy you and your "friend" are.

my goals: become a cottagecore femboy witch living in a meadow with my significant other sadly, the only thing i have down so far is the femboy

THANK 👏 YOU 👏 FOR 👏 CREDITING 👏 MORI 👏 i love seeing people loving this style ♡

Look, I'm just a middle aged enby in a floral suit growing my own herbs and working out of an office I built on my balcony and decorated with vintage delft china. I have no idea where all y'all came from but OMG WELCOME!

Cottagecore seems to me what Mexi calls radical creativity. It's a way of imagining a utopia that on the one hand, is escapist and not entirely possible but on the other hand, might guide us towards real life, tangible goals. Like, it's not realistic to move to a cabin in the middle of no where and be totally self sufficient, but it is realistic to start cooking your meals and swing your clothes.

I love cottagecore but as someone that lives in the rural and whose entire family lived always in the rural without access to good education, resources etc, it looks better in the images that in the experience

my straight self thought that "cottage-core" was something similar to studio ghibli art. boi i was way off target haha

watching a rowan ellis video about gay cottagecore while I‘m stitching a bean bag frog for my girlfriend.... just need to grow some veggies now and I’ll be a living stereotype lol

I was a huge fan of cottagecore back when it was only called morikei in japan, I'd be nice if there were more men that were also into the lifestyle cause what's better than one hermit in the forest? one hermit in the forest with his lumberjack aesthetic husband

For me, it kinda reminds me of folklore with witches , old women , and spinster worn in the woods. “Don’t bother me unless you have a good reason or I might eat you”. Leave me alone and let me enjoy my own company at my own pace. As a demisexual, it’s like a security blanket. I don’t have to worry about being infantilized or sexualized. You can take control of how you present yourself without pressure to conform. The colors are soft and warm. I like how the interior design is the opposite of modern minimalistic design.

I am straight and obsessed with cotage core but I never feel welcomed

Cottage Core Meets Solar Punk is a fantastic idea. The witch in me can't help but feel like the dystopias we've spent SO much of the last half century depicting are manifesting because of the intense focus that we've given them. Like with capitalist realism we've decided there is no other alternative than cyberpunk and in the process made it so. DREAM A BETTER WORLD INTO EXISTENCE =D

Henry David Thoreau was the original cottagecore lesbian

I feel so so lucky, as a single mum on benefits, to live in a little country cottage with lavender patches and ducks and cats and vegetables. This has been my safe haven 💜

Does anyone remember that scene from Merlin when Arthur tells Merlin about how he wishes they could run away together and live a quiet farm life together without worries or royal responsibilities? And you're telling me that Merthur were not dreaming about cottagecore life?

random but a friend noticed cottagecore is more common with hijabies and I think the reason for that is because cottagecore has more modest clothing its harder to do some aesthetics ,,, I’m gonna use myself as an example but it’s harder to pull off a y2k / scene aesthetic with a hijab

I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!! I’ll tell you my Cottagecore experience as a Disabled, Neurdivergent, Mexican Lesbian! It’s long, sorry. I’ve been into Cottagecore for about two years now and was into Mori Kei before. I was born and raised and still live in Mexico City, a city where nature is reserved for the ultra rich, a status even I as a privileged, private schooled woman only have access to on special occasions. To me Cottagecore is escapism, although my career might take me to countries like Ireland at some point, I know idilic cottage life is not such a reality there either, not for everyone. In my escapism I get to live somewhere beautiful where the fact that I cannot work normal hours and need to lay down sometimes for days is not important, I get to get married and live quietly with a woman I love, I get to escape from a city where 7 women get murdered a day and the negative effect this has on my PTSD, which I suffer from BECAUSE I live in this city that is so woman UNfriendly. In my reality, I will keep fighting for the rights of indigenous people in my country and others, for the rights of other women, for the rights of afro descendant people in my country and others and for the environment itself, even though being disabled does hinder my ability to avoid fast fashion and single use plastic. I will also bake pies, embroider, grow plants and sing in the meantime 🌸🌿💕 P.S. To my fellow non-indigenous Cottagecore lovers (particularly Mexican) Indigenous Art, including textiles and painting, is for us to asite, support, and never steal, being Mexican is not a monolith and for example, Oaxacan textiles are not for us to steal and resell as our own just because we reside in their country and they fit our aesthetic.

I thought the nostalgia part of cottagecore was that it was very much the fantasy every kid had. Where you basically only had what you could find in your back yard to make your own world and your imagination was fueled by fantasy shows/cartoons. And you had no control or dependence over your life cause you were child so you wanted to go out into the woods and make a tree house or a little cottage hut out of mud and live there. And you would/wanted to explore all the little creeks in your neighborhood and see all the pretty trees and flowers and mushrooms and all the tadpoles and little fishies and you just wanted to live their like a little elf or gnome or fairy. That’s why it’s nostalgic to me at least. Thought it was the same for everybody.

*Quick Question:* Do you have to be gay to like cottagecore? I'm straight but I like the aesthetic Btw I do support the LGBTQ community

Now I have a word for my fantasies about inheriting my dad's rural wooden house and walking outside to see my husband wearing a baggy shirt and woollen vest chopping logs in the garden.

For me as a lesbian who grew up feeling a little alienated from femininity as it was expected of me through patriarchy, cottagecore for me means reclaiming that femininity for myself - and dreaming of wearing flowy skirts and baking fresh bread for my gf

Ok but I'm just wondering why Mary Oliver is never recognized for being the grandmother of Cottagecore lesbians... Writing poetry while walking through the woods foraging mushrooms and berries, and coming home to her life partner Molly, she literally lived that life and her poetry is lovely.

I'm straight but my aesthetic is cottagecore with a mix of dark acadamia, it's honestly kind of uncomfortable when people assume I'm gay or bi...

something awakened in me with the idea of blending solarpunk and cottagecore, the imagination

I’ve always liked the sort of cozy “grandma” vintage aesthetic, things to do with cottages and farm life. Old things in general. I think this is because some of the happiest times of my childhood would be spending March break with my grandma on her farm. She was past the point of having animals, but it was still the small and creaky farmhouse and all of the old furniture and books and baking and fields to explore. I was so happy when I found out that cottagecore existed, and I could once again immerse myself in this feeling of true solace that I haven’t had in a very long time (with my grandma’s passing and our selling of the farm almost ten years ago). It’s escapism and self-care at its finest 🥰

As a hetero sexual male and someone who is well accustomed to living in a cottage, I think cottagecore is positive influence on people to use their best attributes in life and what is more attractive than that, great video thankyou. 😊

When you like cottage core aesthetic and listen to songs people claim to be lesbian anthems, but you're straight _"Hehe, I've managed the art of blending into my surroundings"_

I had no idea what this was till I got called it yesterday by my friend. This was an education. Sitting in my William Morris bedroom listening to Vaughn Williams is apparently an aesthetic. Well I’m stumped.

if you want a story about a dark academia bisexual and a cottagecore lesbian doing magic then look no further than Clare Siobhan's mini magic series cuz it's exactly that c:

Didn't realise I loved cottagecore until you explained what it was and I realised the minecraft world I was making at the very moment was cottage core, peaceful world, small house on top of a hill and the first thing I built after that was a flower shop...

I have listened to so much piano and watched so many ghibli films over quarantine, I immediately knew that was howls moving castle

We have the different types of cottage core: Cottage-core: Calm Witch-core: Magick calm Frog and mushroom-core: Cute animals calm Goblin/creature-core (me): Everything the other categories have plus rocks, chaos and the fucking fae

I think one of the biggest aspects of cottagecore imo is that it’s performative. It exists through all of us owning and wearing and doing things of an inherently fantastical nature. It’s a fantasy, but you make it true, you see real people doing these things, there’s a big aspect of tangibility to it all. I feel this is part of why it appeals to leftists and the lgbt community, who can feel like what we hope for ourselves is a fantasy, like happiness and stability are a fantasy, like living with nature is a fantasy, or living the romantic lives of our childhood dreams are a fantasy. In this way, it’s less larping or escapism than it is the act of, metaphorically, pursuing and achieving the impossible.

Cottagecore-vibe stuff makes me wanna buy a corset and a long dress, then go out into the woods and pick berries for a pie. Luckily, there’s a park nearby my house with lots of blackberry bushes and apple trees so guess who’s making a bunch of pie this autumn

I never realized I liked cottagecore before it became a thing. I didn’t even know it had a name.