Style--I simply must

Today we are going on a biking day trip to the sea and possibly a little Van Gogh Museum, but we can't leave until Kat's sister comes back in a bit with the house key.  Kat's still asleep, the classical music is playing, and I shall take this time to indulge in some reflections on style.  

So far we have been to Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Holland and each country seems to have a different idea about personal style.  I have never seen such a stylish capital before Copenhagen.  Everyone is gorgeous and well dressed.  Everyone.  Beautiful.  Even the more grungy kids are stylish.  There is a specific look among the ladies who bike that Kat and I noticed and to which they have dedicated an entire blog, Cycle Chic From Copenhagen.  Right now they have posted a lesson on how to bike in skirts and dresses.  The specific Copenhagen look that we noticed is short dresses/skirts, long leggings, cute shoes, hair pulled back on the crown of their head in a messy teacher bun, and no makeup (mascara at the most, but otherwise a bare face).  

The whole city seems to be comprised of designers and architects and so it must be in order to be aesthetically pleasing down to one's person. The H&M (since we first began H&Ming our way around Europe) in Copenhagen is chalk full of leggings of every color. I curse the fact that I didn't buy any when I had the chance because I can't find any decent leggings in mainland Europe.

Germany is a different story all together.  Germans are much like their shoes: 

Sensible. Germans are sensible.

There really is no distinct style here, not even in Berlin.  While there are fashionable, Karl Lagerfeld, and beautiful, Claudia Schiffer, people from this country, Germans seem to be of a more hearty stock with broad working hands and broad Wurst bellies.  Fashion does not play an important role in daily society here.  Granted, we haven't gone to Munich yet, where the Bauhaus and "form follows function" have never gained a foothold over gilded interiors.  Maybe in that city can one find a pleasant sense of German fashion...maybe.

Heiliggeist Kirche

The Dutch in Amsterdam are more on par with Copenhagen in terms of style.  Although here, people seem to wear more colorful outfits.  Here too is a large cycling population and that means outfits that you can easily move in.  I've seen a lot of leggings with a long t-shirt on top, like in the picture below--slightly more tomboy than the feminine look in Copenhagen.

From DamStyle

Now, as for Sweden.  I really don't know when I have ever seen such an array mullets.  Seriously.  Men, women, kids--it doesn't matter who's head it's on.  I can't say that I even noticed anything below the neck in order to comment on Swedish style because they captivated me with their hair.  Sweds are exceptionally tall, I did notice that trait since my eyes had to revolve up a bit more in order to see the hair.