20 Jan 2022PopsciRoyalcore brings grandeur to the everyday
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Royalcore is an umbrella aesthetic that sees people bring a feeling of aristocratic living in the everyday. A grand escape from their humdrum reality, it's gaining traction among people keen to escape the daily grind and reclaim some elegance and whimsy that might have been lost over lockdowns.

Author
Elizabeth Gabrielle LeeElizabeth Gabrielle Lee is a behavioural analyst on the cultural intelligence team at Canvas8. With a background in cultural studies, creative direction, and photography, she’s an interdisciplinary practitioner who works between the fields of visual art, cultural research, and education. She co-runs XING, a research and curatorial platform championing artistic practices from Southeast and East Asia, together with its diasporas.

If cottagecore was a quest for quaint pastoralism, then royalcore is about permissible indulgence. It’s luxurious and opulent – think crowns, chandeliers, and corsets. At over 244 million views on TikTok, royalcorists share their version of aristocratic life, with people cosplaying having high tea, making flower crowns, and playing a classical instrument. “People are adopting this trend as a way to add a touch of elegance to life – which has been made increasingly unrefined as a result of the pandemic,” says Shakalia Forbes-Bell, consumer fashion psychologist at Afterpay. Despite royalcore being anchored in European monarchies, it’s become a space for people of colour to reclaim their identity by performing their fantasies through dopamine dressing.

Royalcore is also resonating among netizens in China, where Gen Zers have reframed Disney’s princesses as symbols of feminine strength, while others have found joy in imperial court-era food. Royalcore has come to signify an alternative to monotonous living, and brands that are able to inject elements of extravagance and regal fantasy into their offerings will be met with enthusiasm from young people. And considering the global success of Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit, period content that’s able to whisk people away to a different time and place is another way to resonate with the pandemic-weary.