All this time spent at home over the past few months has, it seems, got many people dreaming of a quiet life in the country.
If hygge made everyone want to transform their homes into a cosy Danish dream in 2018, then 2020 is the year of cottagecore.
Also known as grandmacore or farmcore, the cottagecore aesthetic is one of idyllic countryside living. Think open space, rolling fields, cosy floral interiors and, usually, livestock.
The ethos has been around for years, but the pandemic has pushed many people to crave rural living, spurred, in part, by a number of celebrities who have been living a very cottagecore lifestyle since the Covid-19 outbreak forced many around the world into lockdown.
The Hadid family, consisting of supermodel siblings Gigi, Bella and Anwar, along with mum Yolanda and partners Zayn Malik and Dua Lipa, have all spent time on the family's sprawling farm in Pennsylvania, US.
Over the past few months, they have been sharing images and videos of themselves planting trees, riding horses and feeding baby goats, as well as posing for at-home shoots for magazines such as Vogue, channelling the cottagecore aesthetic.
The Beckhams have also spent the past few months giving the world some serious cottagecore inspiration from their rural Cotswolds estate, often pictured out for long country walks with their pet dogs, making hearty meals in their huge country kitchen and even engaging in a spot of beekeeping.
David and Victoria's eldest son, Brooklyn, 21, had spent most of his time in self-isolation with his girlfriend Nicola Peltz's family in the US, but waited until his return to the UK to announce the couple's engagement, with a portrait shot of the pair embracing in a field of wildflowers – giving cottagecore fans the ultimate "goals" picture.
Harry Styles, Millie Bobby Brown, the Kardashians and Kaia Gerber are also among the celebrities to have posted some cottagecore inspiration during the pandemic.
A rise in home baking has also given this wholesome trend a boost over the past few months, with many people hunkering down in the kitchen to whip together everything from fresh bread and cakes to endless batches of banana loaf.
In essence, cottagecore is an appreciation of the simple home comforts people have spent time rediscovering, as well as a celebration of nature which, again, has been something many people have enjoyed during lockdown as they escaped their homes for a daily walk around their neighbourhood.
Even British Vogue switched up its usual cover image style in celebration of all things nature, sharing dreamy rural landscapes on the cover of its August 2020 issue.
#Cottagecore has become a growing trend on TikTok, with many people making DIY videos showing you how to give your own space a cosy makeover.
The #cottagecore hashtag will also bring up almost half a million images on Instagram, so whether you are looking for some inspiration, or just fancy getting lost in the dreamy aesthetic of cottagecore pictures, it’s a good place to start.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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