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Scandinavian Street Style #1
- Thread starter Mettchen
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yeah it makes sense since it's a swedish clothing chain.
it says you're partly from LA, so you know my H&M situation. we have like two in LA, one in San Francisco and then the next closest one is in NYC
yeah.. i wasnt there when h&m opened in l.a. and pasadena but i know.. and i bet you dont get as much good stuff either (than here in scandinavia, especially sweden). 
its so weird how stockholm now has urban outfitters.. there has been one in london for awhile. urban is kind of your h&m but maybe a bit more better quality and different style.
its so weird how stockholm now has urban outfitters.. there has been one in london for awhile. urban is kind of your h&m but maybe a bit more better quality and different style.
Usually Scandinavian people are so stylish.
Now, this beeing my first post here it's a shame for it to be a negative post. Yet I must say, I live in Norway, so i have a bit of experience of scandinavian street fashion.
Most scandinavians, like most people in general. Dont know how to dress themselves well! Norwegians in peticular just know how to fake it better, Norway is a rich country so what is high end prices in some countries ends up mid range in Norway, in the sence that it's very high! Yet still affordable. While the clothes that have high end prices in Norway is the top end in other countries.
Thats the single reason i could come up with on how anyone can mistake scandinavians in general for beeing stylish. Sad thing is theyre just the same as in the rest of the world. Where people living in cities are better at faking style then those living on the countryside.
Jean Paul Gaultier said:
Not too shabby of a first post, going to bed now so. Good night
so_jealous
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actually if you are heading to canada it would be a better route. one just opened in coquitlam, bc and there's already one in edmonton (first one in western canada!)yeah it makes sense since it's a swedish clothing chain.
it says you're partly from LA, so you know my H&M situation. we have like two in LA, one in San Francisco and then the next closest one is in NYC
tòth - don't take this personal, but Norway (IMO) is the Scandinavian country with the worst style. It is way too tacky.
i love Norwegians, some of my best mates are Norwegian, but i have to agree with this. i've never been to Norway but based on Oslo FW, i assume that the streetstyle isn't as great as the others if that is what local designers are putting out. but it's based on pure assumption, i'd have to go to Norway to make a clear judgment. the rest of Scandinavia seems to have pretty good style, but of course my favourite so far is Copenhagen
also i don't think it matters how much the clothes cost, whether it's designer or not, but how it's all put together. i've seen many people wear high end stuff, and look tacky as hell. (if that was what you meant about the prices of designer things in norway)
actually if you are heading to canada it would be a better route. one just opened in coquitlam, bc and there's already one in edmonton (first one in western canada!)
if i ever head to canada, i'll be out on the look for them
tak!tòth - don't take this personal, but Norway (IMO) is the Scandinavian country with the worst style. It is way too tacky.
Definitely. As a statement of fact. However, any comparison between danish and norwegian street style is unfair, in my opinion. The danish have a whole different culture as far as design goes - they've grown up with a cultural and governmental focus on design which makes for a more independent style, especially in the greater Copenhagen area. In Norway they've never had this same fascination for design, something that is obvious when you look at the lack of decent norwegian fashion magazines - there's never been anyone there to educate the norwegians about design and fashion. I mean, the country of Norway is "new money", in it's purest sense. It is traditionally a working class society, with an economy that excelled explosively in the 70's and 80's. Now, norwegians have a great spending power, but they don't really know how to spend the money - and this has resulted in a general norwegian style that is very casual, and most larger trends are focused on logodriven brands (be it D&G, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Ed Hardy, Von Dutch or whatever). But this is generalizing with a broad brush...with the introduction of broadband internet and low-fare flights, globalisation has hit Norway in the last ten years, and you can start seeing signs of more varied and indepent styles emerging. But there is still a long way to go before one can make a fair comparison between danish and norwegian street style, and part of this has to do with the retail markets. While Copenhagen has a huge amount of smaller independent boutiques, larger retail chains dominate the norwegian market, and there aren't that many options for those trying to experiment with different styles.
As for Stockholm...this is where I feel criticism is due. The swedish people have a great feminine and classic tradition, dating back to their french influences, but in the last few years I feel Sthlm has been extremely introverted and closed. It almost seems like the wave of success for swedish design went straight to their head and filled it with helium. I mean, hardly any of the swedish brands communicate a feel, but they seem to be focusing purely on products and collections in black, black, black, antracit and black. On the fourth year running it get's a bit tedious...step it up!
tòth - don't take this personal, but Norway (IMO) is the Scandinavian country with the worst style. It is way too tacky.
oh really
yep, i know...
but in general there arent any stylish countries at all. just a few hotspots, like for instance stockholm in sweeden. i've been to a few other sweedish cities and stockholm really stands out.
Im going to speak in men, as they would probably illustrate my point better.
There's definantly more stylish men in the mens section at H&M then in the stores in the middle of the price range. Because the men shopping at H&M usually know what theyre looking for.
Small example though: Take 100 random men of the street in for example London. Then make them pick themselfs an outfit each from H&M first, after that you take them all to selfridges and tell them to pick up an outfit there.
My guess is that the outfits from selfridges in general would look better then the ones of H&M. Not only because of the nicer clothes but because of the help you get while shopping at a bit more of an expensive place. When men in peticular buy clothes they do for some reason refuse to try them on, and ends up buying one size too large instead of buying the right one.
Dohertysgirl
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Most Norwegians dress in jeans, sneakers and a jacket/top/t shirt (according to the various occasions). Norway is a country where people ask why you are dressed up if you wear a skirt or a dress. I don't know why it s like that, but in general I don't think Norway (or Sweden for that matter) have ever been a great influence on fashion or art, even though many Scandinavians will deny this. The lack of history, cultural sophistication & foreign influence might have something to do with it, but it can also be the fact that Scandinavians seem to be afraid of standing out in a crowd. They tend to under-do something instead of risking to over-do it, which makes Scandinavia quite boring compared to places like London (where frankly most people over-do it when it comes to fashion - & therefore makes it both interesting & colourful ). The result is a sort of chavvy dress sense, which for some reason (however tacky) is widely accepted in Norway & Sweden.
Of course there are exceptions.
). The result is a sort of chavvy dress sense, which for some reason (however tacky) is widely accepted in Norway & Sweden. Of course there are exceptions.
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Most Norwegians dress in jeans, sneakers and a jacket/top/t shirt (according to the various occasions). Norway is a country where people ask why you are dressed up if you wear a skirt or a dress. I don't know why it s like that, but in general I don't think Norway (or Sweden for that matter) have ever been a great influence on fashion or art, even though many Scandinavians will deny this. The lack of history, cultural sophistication & foreign influence might have something to do with it, but it can also be the fact that Scandinavians seem to be afraid of standing out in a crowd. They tend to under-do something instead of risking to over-do it, which makes Scandinavia quite boring compared to places like London (where frankly most people over-do it when it comes to fashion - & therefore makes it both interesting & colourful
Of course there are exceptions.
Precisely!!
Most Norwegians dress in jeans, sneakers and a jacket/top/t shirt (according to the various occasions). Norway is a country where people ask why you are dressed up if you wear a skirt or a dress. I don't know why it s like that, but in general I don't think Norway (or Sweden for that matter) have ever been a great influence on fashion or art, even though many Scandinavians will deny this. The lack of history, cultural sophistication & foreign influence might have something to do with it, but it can also be the fact that Scandinavians seem to be afraid of standing out in a crowd. They tend to under-do something instead of risking to over-do it, which makes Scandinavia quite boring compared to places like London (where frankly most people over-do it when it comes to fashion - & therefore makes it both interesting & colourful
Of course there are exceptions.
You are right on a couple of points, especially regarding a lot of Scandinavians being cautious and wary of standing out in a crowd. But I must say I'm a bit surprised by the timing of questioning whether or not Scandinavian fashion has had an influence on fashion. Clearly the swedish black/white aesthetic has had a dominant impact on fashion in the last few years. I'll be the first to admit that swedish designers seem heavily inspired by a couple belgian designers, but even still; the black/white aesthetic of lately is considered as a trend hailing from Sweden. As evident from the fact that Opening Ceremony did swedish brands this last season, or the international success brands like Acne, Cheap Monday and Filippa K has experienced, and the acclaim brands like Minimarket, Back, Hope, Jens Laugesen, Julian Red and Rodebjer have been receiving. And last but not least...there are now quite a lot of scandinavian designers working for the biggest designers/houses, either as assistants for the main line designers or as lead designers for diffusion lines - I would definitely say that Scandinavia has an influence on fashion, now more than ever.
In addition, I feel I have to point out that the Scandinavian market has been widely regarded in the denim industry as a market on the forefront of denim trends. I know quite a few denim brands that visit Scandinavia frequently for this reason only. Part of the reason is that it is a small market, with a rapid adaptation of local trends across demographics - thus resulting in trends being easy to spot. But still...which countries would you say are more up to date on denim trends than the scandinavian countries? I can't name any, excluding Japan, but that's practically on another planet as they have their own set of denim trends which seldom relate to the rest of the world.
Norway doesnt really pick up new trends too fast, not even jeans trends. Could by that add in that i havent seen a single peice of nice plain unwashed jeans in Norway this year. And I would say thats the new thing as far as jeans goes.
My wardrobe is in norway a pretty rare thing, as it is completely jeans free.
My wardrobe is in norway a pretty rare thing, as it is completely jeans free.
Dohertysgirl
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The alternative to jeans in Norway seem to be clothing mainly made for workout, usually combined with loads of foundation and eye make up + lip gloss. This is what I mean using the term chavvy. Also, Louche, I might have overstated when I said that Norway & Sweden has had no influence on fashion, although I do think you would have to look for a long time to find someone wearing a local designer (or any designer) on the streets.
However, I don't thing wearing designer clothing is synonym with being fashionable; I would rather say that Norwegians & Swedes stick to jeans in a combination between habit & cowardliness when it comes to fashion, standing out in a crowd & being creative. (On the last point I could've started this long speech about how being in a Social Democracy for the last 50 years by no means encourages creativity - but don't wanna go too off topic
) Point is however, as toth said, a wardrobe without jeans in Norway is very abnormal. Also, second hand shopping (as an example of a widespread trend) is still considered a bit strange & maybe even unclean, which is very behind (& a bit narrow minded) IMO. Also, as I said earlier, wearing a skirt is synonym with dressing up for a party or some other special occasion, & these are all factors I consider when claiming that Scandinavia is somewhat behind when it comes to fashion. Again, I must underline that there are wonderful colourful exceptions, but these certainly stand out from the masses on the streets.
However, I don't thing wearing designer clothing is synonym with being fashionable; I would rather say that Norwegians & Swedes stick to jeans in a combination between habit & cowardliness when it comes to fashion, standing out in a crowd & being creative. (On the last point I could've started this long speech about how being in a Social Democracy for the last 50 years by no means encourages creativity - but don't wanna go too off topic
) Point is however, as toth said, a wardrobe without jeans in Norway is very abnormal. Also, second hand shopping (as an example of a widespread trend) is still considered a bit strange & maybe even unclean, which is very behind (& a bit narrow minded) IMO. Also, as I said earlier, wearing a skirt is synonym with dressing up for a party or some other special occasion, & these are all factors I consider when claiming that Scandinavia is somewhat behind when it comes to fashion. Again, I must underline that there are wonderful colourful exceptions, but these certainly stand out from the masses on the streets.
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I can't relate to what you're writing.
First of all, there's been sold plenty of denim washes with an "unwashed" look in Scandinavia the last couple of years; like one rinse, carbon, dry, resin coated and dark mercerized denim. Pretty much all the scandinavian jeans brands have been focusing on this type of clean look, mainstream brands like Diesel and Levi's have been selling a lot of this look for the last four seasons, and even high street chains have been pumping out clean looking denim.
And second, I would not say that plain unwashed denim washes is a trend that is on the forefront of denim trends, as I explained in the last paragraph; even high street has embraced this trend.
The alternative to jeans in Norway seem to be clothing mainly made for workout, usually combined with loads of foundation and eye make up + lip gloss. This is what I mean using the term chavvy. Also, Louche, I might have overstated when I said that Norway & Sweden has had no influence on fashion, although I do think you would have to look for a long time to find someone wearing a local designer (or any designer) on the streets.
However, I don't thing wearing designer clothing is synonym with being fashionable; I would rather say that Norwegians & Swedes stick to jeans in a combination between habit & cowardliness when it comes to fashion, standing out in a crowd & being creative. (On the last point I could've started this long speech about how being in a Social Democracy for the last 50 years by no means encourages creativity - but don't wanna go too off topic
A couple of things...
I think a main reason for Scandinavians wearing a lot of jeans has to do with the colder climate. This last spring/summer season denim sales fell dramatically in Scandinavia, as pretty much all girls ran around in tights and/or summer dresses - but now the denim market has exploded because of the cold temperatures of lately.
You seem to draw a connection between a creative and colourful sense of style, and being fashionable. I don't necessarily agree with that. Take Copenhagen; you barely see anyone over the age of 14 dressing up in strong colours or superslim jeans anylonger. Is this because the older generations don't dare to wear colourful outfits, or does it merely have to do with trying to move past a new rave inspired way of style, and moving on to the next thing? I find it much more creative to be able to make a strong expression with more low-key fashion and hidden luxury, rather than screaming out at everybody with an outfit that is overdone in terms of colour and fit. That being said, I'm not claiming that Scandinavians are the most creative and fashionable people around, but your statements seem a bit over the top.
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