Frilly scraps of lace embroidered with the words "Heaven Sent." Esoteric photos shot with a digital camera. Side-by-side comparisons of a ballerina’s beautiful pink slippers and their battered feet.

Old fog-shrouded buildings, tweed jackets, yellowing collections of poetry, and classical music are staples of the academia aesthetic, which has taken over the internet in the past year. At their core ...