From colours and styles to themes and sensibilities, have a click around here to identify the aesthetics that fit you best, get ideas for pretty things and looks of all kinds, and generally beautify as much (or little) of your life as you want! So… what’s your aesthetic?
What’s all this “having an aesthetic” thing about?
The idea of “having” an aesthetic means that you identify (strongly or passively) with a certain aesthetic in terms of visual styles and expression. You might favour a particular style of clothing, interior design, prefer different types of media, or just collect pictures, videos or items that are associated with the aesthetic you favour. You might say you “have an aesthetic” if you just happen to enjoy a particular distinctive visual style, for example, or you could adopt a distinctive and predictable sense of fashion, curate things on a blog or social media platform, follow a subculture down to preferred activities and lifestyle choices, or just see a particular visual style and think “hey, that’s pretty neat.”
Okay… but what is an aesthetic?
Generally most people think of an aesthetic as a particular visual style or type of appearance that makes you feel a certain way (ideally some form of positive, but not necessarily). Everything from color schemes to textures, shapes, silhouettes, light/dark balance, and other core design principles can work together to create a look that works together in some sense. Traditionally, aesthetics are the domain of pursuits like art, fashion, or interior design, but not any more!
Important: nobody needs to have an aesthetic
Social platforms like Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube are full of people who seem obsessed with an “aesthetic life,” from being highly selective in their decor and fashion choices down to editing their content with particular filters or color gradients. Embracing an aesthetic to that level is cool if you want to do it, but nobody needs to worry or even care about moodboards or coordinated desk sets or even fashion choices! The way I see it, the world can often be far too good at telling people what they should be, do, and enjoy, which might make you think of finding your aesthetic is some kind of mandatory requirement… but it isn’t!
I think curating pretty, cute, or striking things and understanding the origins and histories of certain aesthetics and subcultures is fun. That’s why I made this site. If you think those things are fun too, and looking at them or embracing them into your life in some way makes you happy, I hope you enjoy what I’ve put together. If not, that’s great as well – the internet is a huge, weird, and wonderful place with something for everyone. Find what makes you start smiling. If that’s looking at collections of cute cartoon frog lamps, fantastic. If not, that’s fantastic too: hit up Ecosia, search and explore, and find something you do like (and plant some trees on the way).