Icelandic fashionable warmth

 A few years ago I went to Iceland on a touring holiday. It is a fabulous awash of nature and blues and greens. Amongst the delights of every nature element you can think of from waterfalls to glaciers, there's the iconic fashions.

Iceland isn't warm at all. I went in summer and was still needing a coat and thick hat. The Icelandic people wear handknitted sweaters. All made from pure Icelandic wool. Since winter is so dark there, they entertain and keep warm knitting elaborate patterns.
Much like the one I'm holding in the photo. 

 
You can buy your own from wetseal.com or if you're creative enough have a go at knitting your own.


Patterned sweaters are not everyone's style. Take a look at this designer who uses Icelandic wool more minimalist
.http://www.wmagazine.com/story/iceland-knitwear-designer-magnea-einarsdottir

Everywhere you go in Iceland you'll find people wearing the sweater look. It's typical style that's been passed down from the generations. These sweater are given the name LOPI. 

The original material used for the Icelandic sweater was wool from Icelandic sheep. The fleece has two kinds of hair: an inner layer of soft, short hair and an outer layer of longer, coarser hair that acts as a raincoat on top of the insulating inner layer. Pretty genius invention considering it dates to pre-world war 2.  


From sheep to wool spinning to sweater, the tradition has been kept alive today.
These sweaters are not only practical but chic. You can really add your own stamp to them. What with patterns, colours and individuality. I personally love the organic nature of these. They're at one with nature in a tactile way. The wool is so unique to the country. It's textiles done right. 

-Stephanie x





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to wear white jeans

about gender fluid

Neat trick to save money shopping