Vintage Style in Stockholm

Lola A. Åkerström shares some of Stockholm’s premier vintage shopping spots.

Stockholm Fashion Week - Left: c.dellstrand | Right: Aniv von Borche © Peter Hakansson

Stockholm Fashion Week – Left: c.dellstrand | Right: Aniv von Borche © Peter Hakansson

With Stockholm Fashion Week just wrapped up, Sweden’s prowess for understated style and modernist fashion was once again on full display. While the city’s Nordic chic style – simple, clean, monochromatic, and layered – is internationally renowned, the general lifestyle here is all about reuse, recycling, and sustainability which lends itself nicely to the ever growing popularity of vintage and secondhand shops dotting the city.

While visitors to Stockholm may not instantly associate retro shopping with the city like other European capitals such as Berlin and Paris, Stockholm is known locally for its secondhand shops, flea markets, and vintage rocking flair, and has a slew of boutiques, most of which are clustered within walking distance in the bohemian neighborhood of Södermalm, or more commonly known as “Söder”.

Once a 17th century slum district, this well-revamped Stockholm neighborhood features some of the finest offbeat boutiques, international cuisine, organic nooks, and vintage crannies that the city has to offer. You can follow locals to “SoFo” – an area south of Folkungagatan in Södermalm – which arguably has more vintage stores per block than any other area within Stockholm.

Throwback style

Sweden has always been open to importing fashion trends over various decades especially from the United States. Going back to the 1940s and 1950s, you can find retro clothing and matching accessories at boutique Sivletto spanning different fashion subcultures like Rockabilly, Tiki, and Hot Rod. The store also sells interior décor, vintage furniture, and has a pinball machine and hair salon to provide a more complete lifestyle experience for visitors.

Judits Second Hand also pays homage to the 1950s as well as the 60s and 70s, and carries a few selected vintage items from noted fashion designers like Chanel, Chlôe, Dior, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. It has an adjourning men’s section (Herr Judits) that caters to male vintage style.  Dating back to the late 1960s, Emmaus Second Hand  is a collection of 3 interlinked stores – a children’s store, a designer/vintage store, and the original general shop.

If you’re looking for more classic turn-of-the-century wear, you can find dresses, jewelry and hats inspired by the 1920s at Old Touch with their oldest vintage item on display from the 1890s.

Rocking footwear

You don’t have to be a collector of running shoes, high tops, and sneakers to appreciate Sneakersnstuff’s selection of colorful, funky and limited design sneakers. The vintage shoe store carries brands such as classic Converse Chuck Taylor’s, Adidas Stan Smith’s, Puma Suedes, New Balance 577’s, Nike Air Force 1’s and Air Max 1’s, and its own label called SNS. The store also carries sportswear and clothing to rock along with your vintage soles.

Lisa Larsson has been around for over 15 years and remains one of the most popular secondhand boutiques in the city. In addition to carrying a variety of vintage dresses, leather jackets, and other forms of couture clothing, the store is also known for its vintage shoe selections as well as designer shoe brands.

Home improvement

If rare antiques, exclusive ceramics, unique interior décor, and unusual souvenirs for home shelf-display are your thing, and you have hundreds (possibly thousands) of dollars to spend, Stockholm’s antique scene certainly won’t disappoint.

Pick up expensive porcelain and Art Nouveau ceramics from Bacchus antique where you’ll find traditionally designed wares from the early 1900s. The store carries a lot of high priced art glass including tableware and lamps. Modernity  also serves up pricey handmade jewelry, textiles, art, ceramics, lighting, and glassware.

For more moderately priced rarities that won’t destroy your wallet, check out Wigerdals Värld which also carries a selection of glass and ceramics as well as furniture like antique sofas, easy lounging chairs, and coffee tables.

Hodgepodge of stuff

Located in a basement which was once used by fishmongers, Beyond Retro on Åsögatan is one of the premier spots for retro shopping. If you like digging through rows and rows of stuff, you’ll have fun here with over 35,000 items available across its three (3) stores in the city.  You can pick through Victorian era attire, 1920s beaded flapper dresses, 1930s evening gowns, 1980s prom dresses, 1990s grunge-rock inspired denim wear, hats, wigs, accessories, and many more. A two-storey sister store is located along Stockholm’s famous pedestrian drag – Drottninggatan, as well as another at Brännkyrkagatan 82.

For your classic Salvation-Army type secondhand store, Myrorna has lots of boutiques all over the country, including 11 stores in Stockholm alone. Here, you can wade through piles of clothes, shoes, books, home décor, furnishings, kitchen items, appliances, and electronics all day.

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Author: Lola A. Åkerström

Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning writer, photographer, and travel blogger, and is also the Founder/Editor-in-chief of Slow Travel Stockholm. Her photography is represented by National Geographic Creative. She tweets at @LolaAkinmade.

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