Personal Aesthetic & Main Project Ideas

My aesthetic doesn’t really have defining boundaries. It’s built upon my experiences and the things I’ve grown to love over time. Generally speaking, I consider it to be comfortable, whimsical, subtle, functional, and intentional. And if I separated it into smaller categories, I could better define the things that make up my aesthetic.

Furniture

When it comes to furniture, I care most about function. The main pieces of furniture I have are a wooden table/bookshelf and a wooden frame. These were items gifted to me when I was young, and I grew to love them. Over the years, I’ve combined them with woven wooden baskets, orange-red roses, and a warm yellow lamp. Together, the space feels warm and comfortable, reminding me of cottagecore.

While I’ve attempted to keep a cohesive theme, I’m not opposed to replacing them with or adding minimalistic pieces. I’m using some of the shelves to store notebooks, binders, paper, supplies, etc. Additionally, I have a teal metal cart that I use to hold other stuff. That’s because I’m a bit of a hoarder and collector, so the functionality of my furniture is more important than the aesthetic.

Fashion

Fashion-wise, my aesthetic is comfortable, whimsical, and subtle. I prefer clothes that can be worn on a daily basis that have a whimsical charm to them, whether it be graphics or a fun quality/feature. They were influenced by the styles of people I grew up watching. I want clothes that are simplistic in nature and/or design because they can be easily matched with other clothes. Moreover, I probably won’t grow tired of these styles. Hence, most of my clothes are mainly black, white, or some other non-vibrant color. 

Decor

Most of my decorations are hand-made. They’re sometimes minimalistic (featuring a quote and motif) and other times artistic (being a craft or painting). But they always mean something to me because I intentionally decorated my space with them.

A common aesthetic in my work is whimsical and doodly. It was influenced by my childhood of sketching a lot of things (never inking because I couldn’t draw a like that I was satisfied with). Moreover, I love the freedom of sketches and watercolors—the lack of perfection and guide. Over time, t hat feeling has been incorporated into my personal style and aesthetic.

Main Project

The aesthetic of my final project will be some part of my personal aesthetic. Since I’m spending time, money, and effort on it, I might as well make it something that I’ll keep and continue using in the future. And that was also my train of thought when deciding on my project.

I considered various potential projects (pull-tab book, kite, shelf, backpack, clothing, pop-up book) before deciding to sew a skirt and top (at the very least) and embroider designs into them. I have an old sewing machine at home and have been gathering embroidery materials, so this seemed like the best excuse to try sewing. After some research, I found Juli Lynne Charlot’s 1950s style poodle skirt. Currently, I’m considering designs inspired by that style.