With winter creeping close, YLC’s Victoria Hussey has been foraging in the forest of fashion to bring you the top three must-do trends to get you through the dark Swedish winter months ahead.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. It may not yet be winter and the thought of dark, winter months may send shivers to your very core, but I bring you glad tidings fashion fans for this autumn/winter. There’s glamour afoot.
Nature is out. The city with her moodily lit streets and opulent catwalk-ready pavements is in. If, like me, you find yourself wrapping your coat around you in dramatic, femme fatale fashion when battling Stockholm’s city winds, prepare yourself for more of the same.
Dreams of romantic rendezvous, steam engines and the glamour of old Hollywood come together this season for Sweden’s top three fashion trends for autumn/winter 2013. Next stop, Glamourville.
1940s mannish overcoats
Let me paint you a picture; tissues at the ready. An unremittingly romantic gentleman places his overcoat upon his lady’s shoulders in a beautiful, sweeping gesture of love; they fear to say goodbye, but they must. Teary-eyed and heart-poundingly beautiful, she (let’s call her Daisy) catches a glimpse of herself in the rain-speckled glass of the shiny, green steam-engine. Hang on a minute; she thinks to herself, I look top drawer amazing; he sees it too. She keeps the coat. And the man.
Got it? Winter coats this season are long, elegant, forties-inspired and boxy. Think Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca.
Tiger’s long coats are certainly reminiscent of a bygone era of steam trains and romance so too are uniform-inspired coats, caps and capes at House of Dagmar. Pair with cut-off leather driving gloves, a borrowed boyish cap, and riding boots (as seen at H&M). Or wear nonchalantly over Dagmar’s thigh-split dresses for a trés ladylike silhouette.
At Stockholm design house, Whyred, mannish overcoats in khaki fitted impeccably with tailored pant-suits, simple black tailoring layered with ankle-skimming dresses. At Acne; oversized, masculine aviator coats were the winter-warming covering of choice.
Another alternative? The cape is big news this season. Seen at Tiger, House of Dagmar and J. Lindeberg, capes usher in notions of Victorian gentlemen, brawny and important yet on a woman, a cape signifies care-free elegance; perfect for this winter.
Metallics
Remember the light at the end of the tunnel I mentioned earlier? Dressing in all things shiny is already looking big on the international fashion scene for spring/summer 2014 but Sweden’s top designers have decided to get in early with this one. Luckily for us.
Tiger, Acne and Whyred all weaved flashes of silver and dappled metallics shades into their winter collections. Plum, aubergine and midnight blue did the trick in cute A-line dresses and on type, Acne’s metallics in electric blue and silver were punchy against swamping silk dresses and blazers in dove grey, almond and soft apricot.
Furry things
Whatever your opinion of fur, fluffy-shaped and shaggy is de rigeur this autumn/winter. Without wandering into the depths of a murky fur debate – just go for synthetic to get this look – House of Dagmar, H&M’s Autumn Collection and Carin Wester took inspiration from nature’s furry creatures for a very Scandinavian play on texture.
At Carin Wester, models wore Davy Crockett Hats on the catwalk in January with boyish loose-fit trousers in sumptuous silks. Tiger of Sweden came over all cute and purry this season with fluffy dresses in plum and murky teal with purrfectly soft and sumptuous knitwear; and Whyred’s inky blue fur hats and jackets are less wild-animal, more pampered pooch.
If fur – man-made or otherwise – isn’t your thing, go big for texture in oversized chunky knits perfect to keep out the winter chill. Carin Wester’s cashmere and silk combinations are the perfect antidote to boring warm and practical dressing.
H&M’s Autumn Collection certainly had me all in a flap with enough old-school glitz and glamour in covetable pieces that would not have been out of place at a Jean Paul Gaultier catwalk or on the delightful Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby for that matter.
Be it the Roaring Twenties or Fabulous Forties, with Sweden’s new romance with old-fashioned glamour, the coming dark winter months need not be a problem. With this season’s glitzy trends, you’ll be shining all the way through to next spring.
So, “Here’s looking at you kid.”
RELATED GALLERY: THE YLC GUIDE TO AUTUMN TRENDS
Victoria Hussey
A self-confessed country-girl, Victoria swapped English village life for city-living in Stockholm in April 2013. She has spent the last five months swotting up on Swedish fashion and grappling with an increasingly Stockholm-influenced (namely black) wardrobe. Victoria enjoys travelling to far-off lands, alternative music and wishes someone would invent some kind of socially-acceptable breakfast ice-cream.
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