Julia stands in front of the Turning Torso in Sweden, wearing a black puffy jacket.
Fashionable Eye Global
Spring has reached Sweden.
There was an article in the Swedish newspaper not long ago where it, believe it or not, said that the sun had been shining for eight minutes, for the first time in three weeks. The sun is not something us Swedes have seen much of. But finally, spring is approaching which means, lighter, brighter clothes and times and of course divine spring fashion. Finally spring has come and Julia Lönnegren is going to tell you all about it!
"With flowers in my hair!" Marks the Spring for Stockholm, Sweden.
Prepare for a walk on the beach or a trip on a boat with fashion from the navy.
One big trend that has replaced our thick and warm clothes is the navy inspired fashion. We move from snow and ice skating into boats and beaches. The colours are red blue, white and beige like the beach sand. The colours are great combined together. It gives a fresh and very springy look. White sweater with blue stripes and vice versa is a hit. The sweaters look very nice to a pair of dark- or light blue jeans and some white fabric shoes, for example a pair of white converse shoes (mine are almost worn out already and not really white any more, but I'll definitely invest in another pair of them soon. Even though converse look even better as they have been on the streets for a while). The navy inspired jackets look like a short trench coat. One example is one with a belt in the waist and big buttons on each side from breast height down to the jackets lower part, and of course preferably navy blue.
Back to the fifties; dotty and high waist skirts and trousers.
Another nice niche that goes hand in hand with the navy fashion is dotted, dresses, skirts, sweaters and singlets. Black background with white dots in every shape is very pretty and fashionable. The dotted skirt this spring starts mainly in the waist and often ends by your knees; it can be well matched with a red, black or white singlet or top. The high waist skirts, jeans and trousers go back to the fifties with a touch of the Grease movie. So “this is the ones you want o o o, the things you need, oh yes indeed!”
Accessorize yourself and get inspiration from a mermaid.
There have been tendencies reminding of mermaids this spring, all kinds of green and blue colours. Accessories made of shells and in colours taken from the ocean; blue, turquoise and green are well-liked. The accessories can truly lift up an outfit and make you look a little more like a mermaid. During early spring we did not really put on the white and skin/beech sand coloured clothes – don’t want to look paler than we already are. But since the sun has started to shine I’ve seen much of these colours the latest week and it gives a very delightful and romantic look. Regarding to romantic, the lace from the most popular winter items is still holding on but instead of tops made of black lace the spring lace is white and beige coloured. Tunics and shirts that are in white and puffy over the shoulders just like in the fifties are also nice. Loose fitted dresses in beige and tight dresses like a body sock matched with a necklace and/or bracelets made of shells is something we will see more and more of in Sweden as the temperature increases along with, a tanned and sparkling skin.
Pick up an old blazer deep inside a closet, vintage is very fashionable.
Not to forget when mentioning the Swedish spring collection of the broad-spectrum is the typical Swedish vintage look: a blazer/jacket in any shape or colour, a small hand bag and your favourite pumps and drainpipe trousers. It’s a very common outfit I see when walking around the city centre, it gives a personal impression while still wearing trendy clothing.
A black & white polka-dot dress.
Flower power.
Something that also has to be mentioned is all the flowery clothes. Colourful and perfect a sunny sprig day, basically all items you wear can have a material with flowers. My favourite is a jacket full of flowers, matched with a pair of jeans and singlet in one colour, so the attention remains on the jacket.
Dressed for success – a mix from different continents.
During spring I always get déjà vu from the last season when hearing good old music. One of those songs I heard a few days ago is an old Roxette song called: Dressed for success. I decided to observe the most popular and successful outfits while attending the Swedish nightlife, both at parties and on the dance floor. I observed everything from Egyptian harem trousers made of thin woollen (very comfortable) matched with a massive necklace in silver, to a western look with fringes on the singlet’s and shoes, like a cowboy. Vests made of leather or woollen on top of a singlet or even a sweater appears a lot. The shops are teeming with metallic accessories, jeans jackets and clothes with fringes. Big earrings and broad bracelets in silver are in style as well. It is still much of the black clothes as in the winter collection, but it’s often matched with turquoise details or dark purple items to brighten the outfit up. The coiffure is very plain but many people have hair ornament in it. Plaits of rubber or leather band around your head or two thin plaits is my favourite hair style. A band with a flower on it is also very charming. Basically high heels, leather material, black, cowboy and Egyptian style are the words we keep in mind while getting dressed for success!
Soft pastel colours.
Last springs colours were soft pastel colours which I loved, and they are back again, yes! Pretty tops in a pastel colour are what I will wear at school, at home, at a shopping tour or while having a coffee on a nice outdoor café.
Everything that comes along with the spring is putting footprints on the fashion (hopefully not the lovely smell of the first real barbecue outdoors though); but we are changing from our impersonal huge jackets into hot but still light clothes. Colourful and flowery shirts and skirts are exchanging our knitted tops, and boots are replaced by fabric shoes and sandals. We are moving from indoors to outdoors. Put a smile on and some fresh springy mermaid, romantic or flowery clothes and enjoy the lovely season! Finally its spring!
Julia Lönnegren