Thug Life

Weekday, the perfect mix of progressive, yet basic Swedish fashion has gone 90s badgalriri for this upcoming season and that's really awesome. Being the minimalist Swedes they are, graphics aren't usually this abundant, but I think it's damn refreshing, especially paired with those cornrows. Whether or not you have the sense of humor to wear a "thug life" shirt is up to you, but I'm all about some ghetto raver vibes.












images via

Form/function

A lot of my taste in fashion runs parallel with my taste in interior design. I'll tell you what makes me coo coo for cocoa puffs, and it definitely ain't Martha Stewart collection. Pretty much the country of Sweden has design of all kinds on lock, and I never get tired of that modern, minimal aesthetic. I recently came across the blog of Annaleena Leino, a Swedish interior stylist with mad skills. A few of her awesome creations just went for sale in her shop including these geometric clothing rails and decorative silver pyramids I'm kind of obsessing over right now. Keep an eye on this one!

Slick city streets

Ann-Sofie Back has officially taken Cheap Monday to a new level under her stellar creative direction. Spring 2011 looked amazing, and now Fall is a journey into the beyond with epic layering, the shiny dark side of techno, and a comfort level of 10. It was refreshing to see how far Back pushed it- there were hardly any jeans shown for women, which is impressive for a company founded on denim. But there WAS patent leather and velvet. 90s? Where, what are you talking about?






















Images via Cheap Monday & here

I came across this Swedish blog that made an interesting point: Acne started out as jeans brand, eventually evolving into a globally respected fashion label that is now showing in London each season. It seems Cheap Monday is heading down the same path...hopefully they stay cheap as they grow more chic!

The morning after

A couple weeks ago, Ann-Sofie Back presented her first full collection for Cheap Monday in Stockholm. With Back being one of my favorite modern designers, and Cheap Monday being a line I've eagerly watched grow over the past few years, Spring 2011 hit a mark I'll be happy to indulge in next season. Back looked at Latin and LA denim trends this season for inspiration, and somehow managed to successfully fuse these tacky influences into all the elements you would expect from Cheap Monday and more: looks that are casual, sexy and a bit rough around the edges. The clear pvc boots used in the show were perfect at completing the "GET it girl!" vibe, and I encourage you to watch the show video complete with waterfront runway and late 90s dancehall tunes.

Follow that girl

Each season, Sweden's Weekday gives us both a well-styled lookbook (ADORED this season's), and later more of a lifestyle editorial, showing young people partaking in general mischief in the clothes. For springtime, they worked in a chola lip, side cornrows, and giant wooden crosses on chains. I especially like the long trench over the oversized tee. Overall, the looks are quite rough-and-tumble for the usual clean palette Sweden favors, but I get what they're going for so it's not a hard sell. Maybe the stylists dug up old episodes of My So Called Life and fawned over one of tv's best ever bad girls, Rayanne?

Put this with that

I really appreciate styling that goes beyond the obvious and manages to sell you on such baffling ideas as wearing a top as pants. Head on over to Monki world, and you'll find this season's looks interpreted as dancing, masked, layered works of art. Go be inspired!

Every day of the week

Weekday's Spring 2010 collection is so so so so good. Look at those mesh wedges! I'm about to beg one of you Stockholm bloggers to be my personal shopper and pick up some of the items below for me. I love the idea of working in transparent garments over tees and dresses. Obviously it looks hot over just a showy bra, but that's not always the easiest to pull off. If I can't get my hands on any of this stuff, I'll at least refer to it over and over again this summer, cause this is how I'd like to walk out the door, weather permitting.

Heavy metal galactic warrior princess

I get so pumped every season to see what the Acne guys will do next. Overall, this wasn't my fave collection to date, but I liked it and I find it totally awesome that their inspiration came from Johansson's sons' obsession with The Clone Wars. These galactic warrior women feel authentic, like there's a heart underneath all those clothes, not just mechanical parts. My two favorite looks:

The coat is a tad Princess Leia- not a bad thing! I can't tell what material it is made of but it makes me want to touch it. At some point this year, I may just knock off those insane patch jeans. I actually did this to a pair when I was 13ish, except with different-colored 60s daisy flowers. I'm not going that route again but I might opt for a yin yang or two!



The space shirt isn't the first time I've seen this sort of thing but who cares, it's well done and subtle, versus in your face outerspace. Also, ANKLE bangles?? Woah man, woah. I love the way this looks, even though it wouldn't make sense to weigh down your legs. Maybe they are onto a new trend- fashionably working out your leg(s) while going about your daily routine. The top bangle is my favorite, and it totally joggled my memory and I dug out this similar metal bangle I haven't seen in years. A little polish and it's good to go!


acne photos, style.com

Fresh growth

A lot of the Swedish labels consistently develop some excellent shoes to compliment their collections each season, especially the likes of Acne and Minimarket. A lot of the shoes they produce, like 2009's Acne Atacoma wedge and Minimarket zipper wedge, end up becoming highly sought after on an international scale (until stock runs dry and JC has a go at it), much in part due to the Swedes' ability to dream up innovative, yet classic silhouettes. Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair is another kickass label out of Sweden that in addition to skills behind the sewing machine, make some stellar quality footwear. The sculptural lace boot above was from Fall 09- I'm not even sure if it ever went into full production, but they look mighty fine in their webshop next to all Fifth Ave's impeccably tailored clothing.





I'm sure the crisp product photography and floral decorations boosted my fondness of the new spring shoes, but like I said in my rambling above- classic silhouettes with innovative details. Boom! Forget peep toe, here's peep top of foot. It sure takes the worry out of not being able to wear your shoes because you haven't had a pedicure in forevs! You can see how great these would compliment colored socks too from the way they were styled on the runway.


image via Copenhagen Fashion Week