It wasn’t enough that I had to spend 2008 and 2009 in a fashion black hole when it came to Swedes’ sensibility on the catwalk.
Now that it’s summer again, I am faced with the same fashion horror everywhere I walk. The 80s fashion look is back in full force but in a different way. The extra large garbage bag shirts with twisty ties are replaced with smaller garbage bag shirts with neon colors.
And girls still wear black short leggings no matter what color dress they wear. Pink skirt? Black leggings. White flower dress? Black leggings. C’mon people!!! GET OFF THE BLACK OBSESSION! We don’t want to see knee-length black leggings when you are wearing an adorable printed skirt.
Splendid Willow remarked that Odd Molly’s pretty summer Swedish fashion was full of flowers and romantic yet modern style. I rarely see these beautiful dresses on the streets of Stockholm.
And what’s with men and the myriad of red pants? Did the Red Pants Shop have a buy-one-get-1o-free sale? While I do love that Swedish men have style (there’s no baggy ass jeans with dirty t-shirts), in typical Swedish fashion, everyone looks the same. Some women even match by wearing the same neon blue pants (see photo 9). And by the way, this look originated in the 1970s according to the exhibition at Nordiska Museet.
Last week, my friends and I checked out a sale at H&M. While the selection in colors, prints, and styles was disastrous, we figured the best way to show off our Swedish fashion was to try on a few things.
First up: black jean dress with frills. NOTE: A bright yellow sticker attached let you know that color leaks onto furniture. Brilliant, just what I wanted to buy…
Next look: pull-up jean leggings with neon t-shirt. If you grew up in the 1980s and your parents did not torture you enough with stupid leggings and crazy graffiti neon-pink tops, well, here’s your chance to do it again!
And finally: grey long-sleeve t-shirt with fuchsia belt and lingerie top. This horrible look says it all.
I may be too old or unhip, but I am lost in Swedish fashion. It is unflattering on women and completely disfigures their feminine bodies. No one should wear black leggings with pretty dresses. That’s not just wrong but sacrilegious to the airy, summer love feeling.
Sapphire is an Indian American living in Stockholm, Sweden. When not
ranting about Swedish bedsheets or System Bolaget, she loves
kanelbulle and swedish waffles. She discusses the highs and
lows of living abroad in the arctic north on her blog Lost in Stockholm and beyond.
She has shot in countries from Iceland to the Phillipines and her photos have been featured in museums in Los Angeles and on the front page of Sweden’s largest national newspapers.
