“It’s out with the old,
And in with the new
Goodbye skies of grey,
Hello skies of blue”
— Sharpay Evans, Fabulous
Spring is quite aesthetically appealing. Cottagecore, gardencore, bloomcore, and flowcore are just a few examples of aesthetics that come to mind, off the bat. My hazy notion of aesthetics is directly related to lifestyle decisions rather than just being dependent on outward appearance. For instance, a person who adopts the garden core style does not reside in a city. They seek out an area that is remote and has lots of greenery. The majority of these communities also grow their own food.
To me, Spring represents the idea of “soft life.” Really being gentle with oneself and allowing oneself to take form. Towards the end of winter, there’s a short phase when a lot of vegetation is budding — preparing itself for a new season — nature is giving us hints that it is about to take its most beautiful and primitive form.
Much like most trendy aesthetics, digital visual culture has made the cottagecore fashion aesthetic, which celebrates an idealised rural lifestyle, popular. It was created throughout the 2010s and was given the label cottagecore on Tumblr for the first time in 2018. Grandmacore, farmcore, goblincore, and fairycore are similar aesthetic movements that share a focus on the traditional rural dress, interior decor, and crafts like sketching, baking, and ceramics.
The mori girl fashion trend, which gained prominence in Japan in the late 2000s, served as an early model for cottagecore.
The connotation of Spring is synonymous with rebirth; freshness; newness; colour and the idea of beginnings. These ideals are important to every life cycle, especially after one survives the wrath of winter. Winter could be a representation of a tumultuous time in your life. A phase of unprecedented cold fronts and terrible flu. Without dwelling too much, I do want to acknowledge how tiring it is to consistently show up and cosplay as an adult that has their life together.
Here are some perceived ideals and rituals of people who are pursuing something new this upcoming season:
- Moderation:
According to Dash Wellness, here are specific areas in one’s life where one needs to learn and practice moderation:
Work — Remind yourself that you should live to work, not the other way around. You are more than your career and there are other accomplishments in your life that you should be proud of that call for the same kind of concentration and focus. All elements of your life should be balanced and diverse, and you shouldn’t focus too much time or attention on just one of them. Lifestyle Portfolio Management is the term used for this.
Diet — The trick is to eat more small meals often than eat one big meal occasionally. Obviously staying hydrated, and eating more fruits and vegetables while enjoying yourself.
Alcohol — Alcohol use is best when done in moderation. A glass of wine with dinner can be beneficial to your health, lowering your risk of heart disease, but when alcohol is consumed excessively, the risks exceed the advantages.
Technology — Make it your goal to reduce your screen time. Having an hour off your phone before you sleep will improve the quality of your sleep.
- Going outside:
Do you want to know where we’re at? We are having picnics; hugging trees; reading pan African literature in obscure coffee shops; taking long walks and swimming.
- Introspection:
Plainly, it is focused on bettering oneself to contribute positively to their immediate communities and environments.
So it’s time to bring out all the pastel colours, wear our hair out and walk around with obnoxiously large water bottles. It is that season to wear long maxi dresses with open toe shoes with little to no cards in the world. Maybe it is the Virgo season influence, but we are getting our lives in order and taking care of our spaces.
