What’s your aesthetic?

In the rsquo90s teenagers were either indie kurtaclad jholacarrying nerds science streamers rockers only black allowed or jocks basketball players These days with many spending their time online the vocabulary to describe their ldquoidentitiesrdquo and ldquofashion choicesrdquo has evolved Itrsquos is now called ldquoaestheticrdquo which a YouTube blog post titled The Rise of Aesthetics defines as a ldquothematic expression of visual and musical tastes as a representation of selfrdquoTodayrsquos youngsters especially the ones on Instagram and YouTube are following aesthetics like Cottagecore popularised by Taylor Swift Dark Academia 2021 version of book lovers and nerds and Y2k inspired by the colours and style of 1995 to 2004Neshka Savera 15 says aesthetics makes her regular life more interesting for her YouTube followersAryaki Joon who is studying at the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology in Bengaluru had her friends throw her a Cottagecore party for her 19th birthday ldquoWe had it in a garden like the Europeans and I dressed in a flowy dressrdquo says Joon who has around 17k followers on YouTube and 100k followers on Instagram ldquoEveryone wants to belongrdquo adds Joon of what drew her to Cottagecore The aesthetic became popular after Taylor Swift released her album Folklore last year Cottagecore is all about yearning for a pastoral life which is comfortable and closertonatureAmanda Brennan a social media strategist who is known as the ldquolibrarian of the Internetrdquo saw ldquothe antecedents of the Cottagecore aesthetic as early as 2014rdquo ldquoBut it wasnrsquot until 2020 that Cottagecore really took off with 50 million views on YouTuberdquo Brennan was reported as sayingSingersongwriter Natania Lalwani who lives in LA and is a Taylor fan explains the lure of Cottagecore ldquoFolklore was released at a time when we were all at home and in quarantine Everyone was looking for that cozy cottage sweater vibe that feels fuzzy comfortable and warm inside I think it reminds us of things like baking being one with nature and just the simplicity of life but at the same time escaping into your fantasy worldrdquoSanjana Cherukupalli 19 found that the aesthetic Dark Academia made her more comfortable about her fashion choicesFor Joon trying different aesthetics every day is what gives her the thrills ldquoI hate labels So I want to be everything and everyone at once The different aesthetics let me do different things according to my mood Some days I feel happy so I wear bright colours like Y2K On other days I may be feeling studious so Dark Academia is the way to gordquoPunebased Neshka Savera who follows Joon and has her own YouTube channel says that for her aesthetics is a way to show her life to people in a way that they will enjoy it ldquoI do everything like a normal 15yearold but aesthetics like Y2K and Dark Academia make me more interestingrdquoSavera also offers YouTube tutorials to help her followers ace the look Even her room changes according to her aestheticmdashsometimes there are more books around like in Dark Academia especially when she is preparing for her exams According to a New York Times report Dark Academia is a subculture with ldquoheavy emphasis on writing learning and readingrdquo Some of the articles of clothing most associated with the aesthetic are cardigans blazers dress shirts plaid skirts Oxford shoes and clothing made of tweedIf Joon and Savera are seeing aesthetics as a way of expressing their moods and style Hyderabadbased architecture student Sanjana Cherukupalli sees it as a ldquorespectfulrdquo way of describing a teenager ldquoInstead of saying lsquoshe is a nerdrsquo we can say lsquoshe is into Dark Academiarsquordquo suggests the 19yearold For Chrukupalli it means she likes to read classics loves visiting museums and enjoys drinking tea ldquoI can relate to this aesthetic more than others as most are very American Dark academia is more diversemdashyou have Indian Dark Academia Pakistani Dark Academia and Turkish as wellrdquoNatania Lalwani and Rahul Da CunhaSunday midday columnist Rahul da Cunha the man behind the legendary Amul ads says that during his college days in the rsquo80s identity was mostly about being antiestablishment ldquoWe were inspired by the Beatlesmdashkurtas jeans beads It was prefashion and preMTV so we carved our own nicherdquo he says Da Cunha feels that since the onset of social media and trolling teens prefer following existing trends in order fit in ldquoCarving your identity has become harder now We went against the herdmdashwe stood out by being different Teens today merge in All these social media platforms which promote lsquotrendsrsquo are hurting identityrdquo he feelsAs Cherukupalli says ldquoBefore I found aesthetics I used to think twice about the way I dressed I didnrsquot know if I looked good Now I know if itrsquos the Dark Academia it must be good I am not unsure anymore I have accepted myselfrdquo