How to Live Your Dark Academia Truth: A Guide

Step One: Romanticise Your Entire Existence

To live the dark academia aesthetic, you must first develop a deep disdain for fluorescent lighting and a burning love for candlelight (pun oh-so-very intended). If your house doesn’t look like a haunted library where a ghost librarian might shush you at any moment, what are you even doing?

This is where handmade notebooks come in. Jot down your thoughts like you’re the tragic protagonist of a Victorian novel - bonus points if you cry ink tears onto the page.

Step Two: Dress for Your Own Funeral (Daily)

Crisp autumn mornings demand oversized coats, turtlenecks, and the constant presence of an umbrella you never open. You *must* look like you’re either going to a seminar on gothic literature or running away from a duel at dawn.

Accessories? Oh yes. A Kindle sleeve - preferably in a moody, Halloween-themed fabric (if only that was a thing you could find from somewhere) because even your e-reader deserves to cosplay as an ancient spellbook.

Step Three: Read Like You’re Summoning Spirits

Dark academia isn’t about casual reading - it’s about devouring gothic classics until you start narrating your own life in 19th-century prose. Pick up Dracula, Frankenstein, or Pride and Prejudice (yes, Jane Austen counts, she’s the OG romcom queen).

If you want to do it properly, you’ll need a handbound gothic novel from The Reliquary. Because nothing says witchy baddie like casually pulling a stitched volume out of your tote at the café. Be the performative person you were always born to be! Get a copy of The Bell Jar!

Step Four: Journal Like You’re Being Watched by an Invisible Council

All true witchy baddies keep a grimoire. In the modern world, this translates to “having at least three half-used journals scattered around your flat.” One for spells, one for poetry, one for list-making when capitalism drags you back into its clutches.

My collection notebooks are ideal for this (isn’t that so convenient!) Handsewn, tactile, and ready for your ramblings about your nemesis who wronged you in 2013.

Step Five: Romanticise Your Demise (But in a Cute Way)

Dark academia isn’t just about studying in haunted cloisters - it’s about vibes. Read in the rain. Write at midnight. Sip black coffee you secretly hate (PSL I miss u). Live like every email is written on parchment with a quill. And when the world feels too sharp and joyless, remind yourself: you can always retreat into your bookish autumn nook with candles, tea, and a stack of haunted-looking notebooks.

The dark academia aesthetic is more than a vibe. It’s a lifestyle, an energy, and occasionally, a haunting. Whether you’re treating yourself or gifting your favourite witchy baddie (maybe if I keep saying those particular words, they’ll feel less cringe), you’ll find everything you need to live your dark academia truth - from handbound classics to witchy notebooks and Halloween Kindle sleeves - right here in my little corner of the internet.

So go forth, tragic scholar. The semester awaits.