Dark academia

Dark academia is a social media aesthetic and subculture centered around higher education, writing/poetry, the arts, and classic Greek and Gothic architecture. The subculture is associated with ancient art, and classic literature. 
The increased popularity of dark academia has been credited to the shutdown of schools caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Antecedents and cultural context.
The fashion of the 1930s and 1940s features prominently in the dark academia aesthetic, especially clothing items worn by students at Oxbridge, Ivy League schools, and prep schools of that period. Some of the articles of clothing most associated with the aesthetic are cardigans, blazers, dress shirts, plaid skirts, Oxford shoes, and clothing made of houndstooth and tweed, its color palette consisting mainly of black, cold white, beige, brown, dark green, and occasionally navy blue.
Donna Tartt's novel "The Secret History", published in 1992, has been credited with creating the dark academia literary genre. It tells the story of a murder that takes place within a group of classics students at a New England college.
Dark academia was popularized on Instagram by Ryan Taylor and Maria Teresa Negro in 2017.
Reception.
Dark academia has been observed to be an affordable aesthetic to cultivate, especially in comparison to cottagecore. One writer noted that while a cottagecore lifestyle requires a home in the country and leisure time for crafting, "the simple act of putting on a blazer and reading Dostoevsky is far more doable."