- Incorporate floral and botanical patterns, animals, and natural colors into your wardrobe and home décor to convey a strong cottagecore look.
- Aim for clothing and home décor that is cozy and dainty, like knit cardigans, lace, or fairy lights.
- Think self-sufficient and sustainable: make your own clothes, grow your own food, buy local handmade goods, or reuse or refurbish old materials.
Achieving the Cottagecore Aesthetic
Embrace the magic and whimsy of the natural world with florals. The cottagecore aesthetic is all about entering into harmony with the environment, and florals are just the way to showcase that. Deck yourself out in blouses or skirts with dainty flower decals or patterns, or wear a flower crown and lean into the fae look. If you wear fragrance, spritz yourself with floral scents. Jasmine, rose, and lavender are popular floral fragrances.
Showcase natural colors and patterns. Florals may be the cottagecore trademark, but any natural color scheme and pattern fits into the cottagecore trend. A good rule of thumb is: if you can find it in nature, you can find it in cottagecore. Celebrate the natural world by wearing clothes featuring botanical patterns and colors reminiscent of the natural world: neutral tans and browns, pale pinks and grays, earthy greens and reds. Not big on floral scents? Go deeper into the woods! Pick scents inspired by other natural elements, like mountain streams, cedarwood, musk, or vanilla.
Scour your local thrift store for vintage looks. After all, the cottagecore aesthetic is largely rooted in nostalgia, whether you’re looking back to the hippy styles of the 1970s or to anti-industrialization movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Cottagecore embraces a “lived-in” look, so don’t worry if the clothes you find at the secondhand store are somewhat worn or faded—in fact, all the better if they are! Slow fashion is another big cottagecore value: when you buy secondhand fashion, you will cultivate a more sustainable, eco-friendly wardrobe. If you're interested in 50s vintage looks, look for a brand named Modcloth—they make fit and flare dresses that capture a classic 50s silhouette.
Wear sturdy, natural materials. Sturdy fabrics embody the cottagecore fantasy of rural independence. Whether you’re foraging for mushrooms or playing Animal Crossing, you can manifest the cottagecore value of self-sufficiency by donning sturdy overalls made of linen, burlap, denim, or another hearty fabric that will stand the test of time. Wearing clothing that will last a long time has the added bonus of contributing to your slow fashion wardrobe!
Wear comfortable, flowy outfits. Cottagecore isn’t all work and no play. Despite the emphasis on self-sufficiency and resilience, cottagecore is also about comfort and ease, with an old-timey bent—think The Secret Garden or Jane Eyre. For sleepwear, try a loose-fitting eyelet lace nightgown, or for comfortable daywear, try a flowing prairie dress. If you’re out for a subtler cottagecore look, you don’t have to go full Brontë: swap out the prairie dress for a chic maxi skirt and loose blouse with a Peter Pan collar.
Make your own clothes, or buy handmade fashion. A big part of cottagecore is the emphasis on handcrafted goods. Buy from local clothes makers or shop online for handcrafted outfits. Better yet, make your own dress, or assemble a flower crown with flowers you picked yourself. The more handmade your cottagecore outfit looks, the more it fits the cottagecore aesthetic. So if you’re not a skilled seamstress, don’t fret: it’s the small imperfections that will showcase your outfit as handcrafted! Take a deep dive into self-sufficiency and create your handmade outfits from discarded materials in your home, like tea towels. You can also practice self-sufficiency by repairing worn or holey clothes you already have, instead of tossing them out!
Sport a milkmaid neckline. This swooping neckline adds pastoral character to any outfit. You don’t have to literally be milking cows—you don’t even have to live in the country—but blouses and dresses with milkmaid necklines will give your wardrobe a dainty farmland vibe. Go simple and elegant with an unadorned peasant dress, or accentuate your cottagecore glam with a maximalist ruffled neckline!
Wear Peter Pan collars. Give your outfit a delicate accent. Named after the boy who never grew up himself, the classic Peter Pan collar will lend you a vibe that toes the line between “fairytale” and “Victorian elegance.” You can sport a conservative Peter Pan collar for a subtler cottagecore look, or go full cottagecore by wearing a shirt with an oversized, frilly collar.
Show off your dainty elegance with lots of lace. Cottagecore is all about daintiness! Wear a maximalist lace gown that looks like it was designed by the spiders living in the cottage cellar—or enhance a simple frock with lace trim to add a small dose of Edwardian whimsy to your look. Lace headbands and chokers make excellent accent pieces to any cottagecore outfit. And don’t forget to slip on some elegant lace gloves to complete the transformation into cottagecore champion!
Deck yourself out in gingham. It’s the ultimate picnic fabric—and when you’re living the cottagecore life, you’ll be spending a lot of time outside, so you’ll need a great gingham-printed outfit to accessorize your romantic hillside brunches. Whether it’s a dress or slacks, the checked cotton material is a must for cottagecore representatives. Going for a less overt cottagecore look? Try gingham accessories, like headbands, bandanas, or handbags.
Wear puff sleeves. A cottagecore closet is incomplete without leg-o’-mutton shoulders. Otherwise (and more commonly) known as “puff sleeves,” leg-o’-mutton sleeves are straight out of Anne of Green Gables. These fluffy shoulders add just the right amount of old-fashioned whimsy to your attire. Maybe you don't want to mimic Dame Maggie Smith's look in Downton Abbey. You can still achieve a casual, contemporary cottagecore look by pairing a button-down with tiny puff sleeves with a chic pencil skirt.
Wear lots and lots of cardigans. Don an oversized cardigan for cottagecore coziness. Whether you’re wandering down a candle-lit corridor in the middle of the night in search of a Victorian ghost or sitting by the fire drinking tea made from lavender you grew yourself, a thick, textured sweater is just what you need to embody the cottagecore spirit. Follow the cottagecore spirit of self-sufficiency and knit or crochet your own sweater! If you get warm really easily, treat your cardigan as your jacket!
Invest in plenty of jute, straw, and wicker accessories. Nothing says “cottage” like cozy wicker accents. Complete your look with a straw hat to protect you from the sun while you’re gardening or picnicking—and of course a wicker handbag or basket to carry your produce or your finger sandwiches. Carrying flowers or gingham textiles in your basket or embroidering your wicker accessories with floral and botanical decals will give your look an extra cottagecore oomph!
Throw on some cowboy boots. These symbols of Americana will give your outfit a dash of pastoral charm. Whether you’ve got lambs of your own or are visiting them at the petting zoo, you’ll need the appropriate footwear for the activity. Throw on some cowboy boots to give your cottagecore wardrobe an agricultural-chic feel: wear them with overalls for a classic country look, or add some romance and whimsy with a floral frock. Add some floral-printed tights or botanical-patterned fishnet stockings for a look that says "My other horse is a unicorn."
Cottagecore Home Decor
Grow a garden. One of the main tenets of cottagecore is to be self-sufficient, and gardening is one way to implement that value. Whether you plant wildflowers under your windowsill or cultivate a lush patch of fresh fruits and vegetables in your backyard, growing a garden is a quintessential cottagecore move. If you don’t have the time, space, or money to invest in an outdoor garden, you can start a quaint herb garden in your kitchen. For the cottagecore look without the cottagecore labor, decorate your abode with dried flowers and fake plants. Fill your home with the scent of flowers using candles and room sprays.
Bake bread. Homemade bread is the cottagecore poster-food! A steaming fresh loaf of sourdough cooling on the windowsill in a gingham tea towel is the epitome of cottagecore coziness—but making any of your own food contributes to the cottagecore values of self-reliance and domesticity. In order to achieve the most cottagecore aesthetic, bake sourdough bread, make hearty soup, brew kombucha, and make your own herbal tea blend. For the ultimate cottagecore experience, throw a cottagecore potluck: invite your friends to make their own dishes too, and then share the feast in your cottage or at a hilltop picnic.
Make your own curtains. Push your domestic creativity to its limits: embroider, knit, sew. If you don’t already possess any of these skills, you can take classes or teach yourself using Internet tutorials. And don’t stop at curtains—homemade textiles of any sort, from quilts to tea towels to dresses to scarves, is hardcore cottagecore. (You’ll need a homemade tablecloth for your cottagecore potluck!) Or buy local handmade goods—it’s the next-best thing to making them yourself!
Keep lambs. Of all animals, none is quite so cottagecore as the baby lamb. If you have the time, the money, and the acreage to spare, invest in some sheep or other farm animals. Wrap your arms around a soft, bleating babe and experience that cottagecore peace that transcend all understanding. And take plenty of photos! Of course, keeping lambs can be expensive and inaccessible. You can satisfy your fluffy baby animal hug quota by volunteering at a farm, or visit a petting zoo. If you can’t keep your own farm animals, adopt a kitten, puppy, or bunny. And be sure to deck your house out in farm animal knickknacks and designs!
Play dreamy, vibe-y music. Cottagecore music encompasses a lot of styles and genres from classical to indie folk to country, but across the board, it is dreamy and fairytale-esque, and usually pretty folky. Try Florence + the Machine for a more ethereal, dramatic feel, Hozier or Taylor Swift’s “folklore” for cozy indie vibes, Vashti Bunyan for vintage cottage folk, Sufjan Stevens for narrative songwriting and dreamy piano (and a good amount of banjo), or Joanna Newsom for fantastical medieval freak folk (and lots and lots of harp). Enhance your vintage vibes by getting an old-school record player to play your favorite cottagecore music. Or go full cottagecore and learn to play an instrument yourself: try a harp, banjo, piano, or acoustic guitar. Or just float around your cottage practicing your bird calls.
Invest in some rattan furniture. Wicker, wicker, wicker! Rattan chairs and tables will add a cottage or picnic feel to any room in the house. Wicker will give a natural aesthetic to your interior design that is very much in line with nostalgic, cozy cottagecore. You don't need to stop with furniture: buy or make baskets to hold all of your flowers or cottagecore books, or just set up baskets around the house for decoration.
Make your décor. Handcrafted goods are the heart and soul of cottagecore, so it makes sense to adorn your home with knickknacks and ornaments you made yourself. Make garlands from dried flowers or use scrap fabric, or construct tree ornaments from paper. Two birds with one stone: grow flowers in your garden and turn them into garlands or potpourri!
Fill your home with nature-themed décor. Seashells from the beach, flowers in a vase in every room, floral and faunal designs on every throw pillow and area rug, climbing pothos over every mantle and doorway—there are a million ways to bring the outdoors in for a cozy, maximalist cottagecore environment. Focusing your efforts on bringing the outdoors inside is also a great way to approach cottagecore if you don’t live in a rural environment! Every day is a day at the farm when your tea towels are covered in baby pigs.
Hang fairy lights. Once you’ve turned your apartment or house into a forest from a Studio Ghibli film, really amp things up with fairy lights. Fairy lights will add a delicate glow to the darkest corners, giving your cozy home a magical lift. Wrap them around gauzy curtains, over your headboard, or around your houseplants. Or hang them over your bed for a canopy of starlight. Don’t forget to add fairy lights to your garden or yard for magic outdoors, too!
Invest in a clawfoot tub. If you have the means, swapping out your modern shower stall with an elegant clawfoot tub will give your home an indisputably cottagecore vibe. Follow it up by decking out your bathroom with cottagecore accessories and knickknacks: seashells, dried flowers and potpourri, rustic wooden cabinets, and lots of floral-scented candles. A more feasible (but just as whimsical) option is to use a vintage clawfoot tub as a planter in your garden. Let the tub spill over with crawling vines and flowers—or use it to grow your produce!
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