Shop as the natives shop….

So my weekend in Stockholm (and my first time to Scandinavia) yielded some very good things indeed.  To be honest, I had been scare-mongered beforehand by every person telling me ‘Ooh… Stockholm…it’s frightfully expensive!’ so I wasn’t actually expecting to come back with anything.  As I said, I was simply there to observe and breathe in Stockholm’s coolness, and take away an experience rather than a shopping haul. 

However, I didn’t figure in the fact that I’m basically poo at arithmetic.  I was dividing all prices into 10 when really the rate is about 13.4 Kr to ¬£1.  So in fact, what I bought was VERY reasonably priced.  Joy of all joys.  It’s like Christmas when you tap in those figures on XE.COM and find out you’ve spent less than you thought. 

What I saw in terms of streetstyle in Stockholm heavily influenced what I bought which almost never happens as I have my own whims and fancies that aren’t particularly localised.  However, when you’re bombarded with impossibly stunning, whippet thin girls donning slightly uniform combos of skinny jeans, draped jersey t-shirts or perfectly voluminous simple trapeze dresses, opaque tights and the obligatory scuffed white plimsolls walking around in a strict palette of grey, black, white and navy….well…. it did have to have an effect on my purchases.  Somehow, even though I saw a lot of uniform style, it all worked because they all seemed so well put together.  Perhaps I was blinded by their overall aesthically perfect package but there is something quite desirable about the simplicity in the way Stockholm femmes dress.  (Pic to the left was snapped by Modette for their blog, showing me looking not too crazily out of place but clearly not a Stockholm-er either!)   

Ergo… Stockholm style must have been on my mind when I was shopping.  First up – vintage shopping.  I was a little lazy with combing through the vintage shops, of which there are quite a few in SoFo, Stockholm.  We have tons of vintage stores in London and time was precious.  However, Lisa Larsson (48, Bondegaten) came highly recommended and what caught my eye was a pair of Olivia Morris for Preen shoes in the window (sadly too small for me but a great find for those with size 37 feet!).  I found this vintage Balmain navy crepe de chine dress that has a wonderful draped back and front side buttons at the bargainous price of 450 Kr…reduced from 950 Kr!  Shortening it would have been my natural reaction but for now, prim and neat contrasted with scuffed canvas pumps and beaten up leather jacket works too.

For much more edited (and easier to navigate) vintage, Life is Good (32 √Ös√∂gatan) also in SoFo is brilliant.  Everything is very much purposefully picked.  This swimsuit (have worn it as a ‘onesie’ here but I do have every intention of sunbathing in it sans tights and t-shirt!) was a cool little buy.  I may don it as a ‘onesie’ (a word that my boyf likes to yelp out everytime he sees a one-piece…) as well though…

Another recommendation that everyone name-dropped was the shop Tjallamalla, stocking small, indie and established Scandinavian designers.  Though the shop was small, the selection is a little mind boggling (though better for women than for men as the boyf petulantly pointed out) as there seems to be only one of every piece out on display making the selection massive.  With rails high high up as well, I ended up craning my neck wishing to check out everything on offer.  I had to come back twice just to make sure I got a whiff/view of everything.

In the end, despite very colourful/metallic (note: neons and metallics seem to have had a bigger effect on garments on sale rather than in streetstyle reality) offerings, I plumped for a lovely draped black and white Ulrika Sandstrom blouse….

….and a very uniquely constructed Tro Hopp Karlek navy top.

Some people also advised that the sale at Weekday was superb and too right they were!  50% off everything.  It’s one of those sales where the sale prices haven’t been worked out so it’s again like Christmas when you find out the real price.  Seeing as the brands stocked were typically Swedish, I went for some very typical brands that are defintiely hard to find in London.  This Acne dress is starkly simple and a little 90’s body-con but at 600 Kr, I don’t mind succumbing to the LBD.  Then the Cheap Monday satin trousers were too bargainous (250 Kr) to pass up and will go nicely with the tops above.  Acne.  Cheap Monday.  Couldn’t get more Swedish really…  which I suppose was the point….

Oh, and the Vanessa Bruno sweater dress is a super cheap find from Stadsmission, one of the best organised charity shops I’ve ever seen.

So if you scroll through those pics, you’ll find black, navy, and little else in shapes that beg for the garments to be worn simply.  Whether or not I’ll actually do that is another matter altogether…  I suppose the design aesthetics of a lot of Swedish fashion is that less is more and as cliched as that sounds and even though it’s not something I usually subscribe to, I have been temporarily swayed.  Now back in London, amongst my varied hotchpotch of a wardrobe sits all this well-crafted simplicity….what fate does that hold for future outfits…..

(Background illustrations by Nikki Pinder)