Stockholm Neutrals, Copenhagen Color, and a Forgotten Trench
Part 1 of our trip
I wrote this newsletter about packing and outfits because it gave me a brief but meaningful escape. Not to avoid reality, but to carve out a small space for lightness.
It’s incredibly hard to absorb the news right now. The weight of it all can feel overwhelming, even paralyzing.
If today’s newsletter offers you a moment of reprieve (as it did for me while writing), I hope you’ll read on. And if it’s not what you need right now, I completely understand.
Once upon a time, I used to plan vacations months in advance. Everything was prepped and perfected—daily schedules, must-do lists, nice-to-do lists, all of it. Then came COVID and the era of constant cancellations, shifting travel restrictions, and too many lost flights and hotel bookings. After enough of those, I slowly became someone who books trips pretty last-minute (we’re talking three weeks instead of three months ahead) and packs the night before instead of a week in advance.
Honestly? This new version of me is working out better.
Not too long ago, we decided to take a trip to Stockholm and Copenhagen. These cities had been on our minds for a while, and every time we mentioned them, people who’d been would light up, raving about how beautiful the architecture is, how incredible the food scene is (lots of vegan options included), and the shopping? Chef’s kiss. So off we went to Stockholm and Copenhagen for 10 days, with our toddler in tow.
Let’s talk packing.
I went into this trip determined to pack light. Mainly because I assumed I’d be doing a lot of shopping over there (spoiler: I didn’t). But I’m glad I had the lightweight mindset. I wore new look while repeating some core pieces without overpacking, and traveling with just a carry-on worked out really well. I even had three extra tops to spare!
Here’s what I brought:
Two pairs of pants: one black pair from La Ligne1, and denim from Another Tomorrow.
I wore the La Ligne pants on the flight there and back. They were perfect. Perfectly comfortable but also perfect to clean up after my toddler threw up on me right as we landed. I was able to get everything off me, clean up and not have any lingering stains or smells (thank god, because I ran into Christiane Amanpour at our hotel wearing my airplane outfit).
Around eight or nine different tops—blouses, t-shirts, statement top, button ups. I wore most of them. Only three went untouched. (All items also linked in the outfit photos below)
Two of the same jumpsuit in different prints (RIP Mara Hoffman the brand). They look like maxi dresses but are actually pants, which is wonderful…until you need to use the bathroom. Thankfully, no jumpsuit-related bathroom disasters on this trip.
One dress from Sea NY that’s a few years old.
One black blazer (same style, different color)
Left on Friday playsuit - I never travel without this (more on this next week)
Left on Friday Top and Bottom - not one to share a swimsuit look but this is my favorite and I wore once on the last day at the rooftop pool
Loewe Puzzle Tote - which I barely used, instead I carried around my toddler school backpack as if it were mine most days
I wore Onitsuka Tigers on the plane
Packed my Frēda Salvador Roma flats (same style, different color)
We walked about 15,000 steps a day (except on the travel day between cities), so comfort was key.
I had intended to wear my Burberry trench on the flight, knowing Stockholm would be rainy—but I forgot it on my couch. Realized it in the car on the way to the airport. Great. But the weather ended up being so pretty decent in Stockholm with mild rain and so beautiful and sunny in Copenhagen that I barely needed a jacket. If I got cold, I’d layer a long-sleeve black tee or threw on the blazer.
Scandinavia Style Notes
Let’s start with Stockholm.
Everyone dressed extremely minimal chic. Think black, tan, olive, brown. No bright colors, no dramatic silhouettes. Everything was pared back. Jeans were mostly flared or bellbottom-adjacent on Gen Z and Gen Alpha, while most millennials wore straight-leg or slightly wide-leg cuts. No barrel jeans in sight. Some Stutterheim raincoats and lot of barn jackets… LOTS and a fair few Burberry trench coats as well. Shoes were mostly flats or sneakers.
Then there was Copenhagen.
Totally different vibe, clothing wise. More color, more volume, more play. Lots of white skirts. Some women wore white skirts in Stockholm too, but in Copenhagen it was a full-on trend. More dresses with sneakers, more visible hair accessories: scrunchies and claw clips/barrettes especially. Again, Burberry trench sightings and quite a few of these as well (the lining is a giveaway) and barn jackets were big in both cities, but Copenhagen’s were more vivid and styled.
Across both cities:
Not a single person was in athleisure (unless they were actually running on the streets).
Everyone had incredible skin. Like... poreless. No contouring, no heavy makeup—just fresh skin, a swipe of mascara, and a healthy dose of blush.
The Stockholm women in particular had the most beautiful, shiny hair I’ve ever seen, mostly worn down.
Bags were understated. I saw a ton of Mulberry—especially the Bayswater. So many, in fact, that I lost count after 15. I was shocked. It’s a bag I bought back in 2010/2011 and never see in the wild anymore. But apparently, women in Stockholm and Copenhagen love the style (as do I, which is why I can never part with it).
The only other bag I saw on repeat was this Bottega bag, and mainly worn by tourists.
Stockholm’s neutral, minimalist vibe nudged me to lean into all my muted pieces. In Copenhagen, I pulled out the more playful, colorful outfits. Before the trip, I spent way too much time on Pinterest and YouTube, studying both cities’ styles. I wanted to dress like I could be a local, to feel in sync with the place.
Brand Watch
Once you know what to look for, it’s easy to clock the local favorites. Ganni and Toteme pieces were everywhere. Which makes sense given both are Scandi brands (Toteme is Stockholm based and Ganni is Copenhagen based). Some that stood out: These Ganni shoes, this Toteme jacket (ON SALE!!!) I saw a mom wearing to dinner with her daughter (so chic), a girl on the metro wearing this sweater (also on sale), scrunchies like this (which I also picked up for myself).
Outfits I wore
I packed all the outfits you see below and a few spare ones in two compression packs that fit into either side of my Away suitcase (over a decade old and still going strong). I stuffed other items like socks, and shoes in the spaces between the compression pack and the suitcase, not wasting any space. Prior to discovering compression packs in 2023, I would tightly roll all my clothes - which still works pretty well to maximize packing space.
Anyways, here are all the outfits I wore. I didn't get a picture of myself on the day we flew from Stockholm to Copenhagen but it was a grey t-shirt from
(the best on the market) and the La Ligne pants with Onitsuka Tigers shoes. On my flight back home, it was a grey sweatshirt layered over basic white tee, the La Ligne pants and Onitsuka Tigers shoes.
My daughter threw up on me (while I was wearing the outfit above) just as we landed. After getting her cleaned up and into fresh clothes, I washed the ends of my hair (yes, really), then washed off the sweater top and pants.
Because the pants were synthetic and dark, the watermarks didn’t show, and they dried quickly—basically in the time we waited for the train from the airport to the hotel. The top is 100% cotton and a deep navy, so even though the sleeves were wet, it didn’t show and dried relatively fast.
Honestly, this might become my go-to travel outfit for flights with a toddler during the occasional puking-when-we-land phase.
I don’t think this outfit (above) photographs all that well, but I actually felt great wearing it. I am obsessed with this Mara Hoffman jumpsuit. And I’m so glad I felt good in it (despite the not great pictures), because it ended up being the one I had on when I ran into all these famous people at our hotel, saying “sorry, excuse me” a thousand times trying to weave through the courtyard back to our room.
Loved this outfit. Perfect for our day of strolling around. When it got colder in the evening, threw on a long sleeve blackshirt for the ferry ride.
This shirt has been a staple in my wardrobe for years. It’s perfectly worn in and when it gets stains that I can’t wash seem to off, I usually just add a patchwork to it.
I added this shirt to my cart just to hit the free shipping minimum while shopping for my toddler. I didn’t expect much, but the material is incredibly soft and feels so good on.
Same Mara Hoffman jumpsuit as above, just in a different print. Such a great piece. Since it’s a jumpsuit, it feels easier to wear (at least for me) than a dress. I had a sweatshirt on earlier, but took it off later in the day when it warmed up.
This dress was a Poshmark find from a few years ago, and I still love it. It's pretty oversized on me, and the puff sleeves make it tricky to layer anything over it, so the weather has to be just right for it to make an appearance. Thankfully, the weather was glorious during our day trip to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
For our last full day of strolling around the city, I wore this outfit that felt cute enough for Copenhagen but also practical enough for running after my toddler.
This is already way too long for one email, so I’m going to hit pause here and come back next week with: new toddler packing saviors, beauty and skincare that came in clutch, highlights from the trip (especially the toddler-friendly gems), and the handful of things I ended up buying.
I know it can feel strange to read (or write) about outfits and packing lists when the world feels heavy and heartbreaking. I don’t share this to distract from the reality we’re all sitting with, but sometimes small things like suitcase packing or an unexpected outfit win, can offer a bit of lightness when we need it most.
If you’re here, thank you for letting me be part of your reprieve.
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