People watching

People watching or style spotting is one of my favourite hobbies. I get more reliable and usable tips from watching what real people wear than I get from fashion magazines.

I'm too shy to stop people and ask if I can take their photo, and I would not take any photos of people without their permission, so since I always carry a notebook and pen, I jot down a few keywords about what catches my attention as soon as possible. Because even though I think to myself that I'm going to remember an outfit, I have the attention span of a hamster and I'm not able to recreate it in my mind without taking careful notes.

When I'm home, I open URSTYLE and my journal, and I try to recreate as closely as possible the styles I've spotted.

Here's a few outfits I've spotted:

December 2021

Burgundy hijabi

Burgundy head scarf, dark grey jacket and long narrow burgundy skirt.

A soft antique rose backpack and black sneakers.

So put together in a very casual and relaxed way.

Burgundy and grey

Burgundy and grey seemed to be all the rage on this particular outing, right after I saw the young woman with the burgundy hijab, I spotted another woman with the exact same colour combo, als very stylish. This one had burgundy trousers and scarf, combined with a grey faux fur jacket. Can't remember what bag and shoes she wore.

Chanel cross body bag

I'm always amazed when I see Chanel on a very young person, immediately suspicious thinking it must be fake, how can such a young person afford Chanel?

But anyway not my business. This young woman wore black leather skinny jeans, a cropped fluffy cream sweater and a black knitted hat, and aquilted Chanel cross-body bag.

What did it for me was the slightly irreverent combination of the ultra hip and young casual clothes and the very ladylike bag. 

Black and white outfit

Knitting photo by rocknwool on Unsplash

Black and white was another theme that I kept seeing.

This woman had worn comfy black jeans, a white turtleneck and a black vest, sturdy boots. 

She was sitting in a café, calmly knitting and watching something on her laptop. So nice. I wanted to join her.

Knitted socks

Knitted roll neck beige vest over simple long sleeved T-shirt, faded jeans and knitted socks in a Christmas pattern, classic Dr Marten boots. 

Not sure if she had knitted the vest herself, but the socks were clearly home knitted, if not by her then certainly by a mother or granny who loved her.

The reindeer socks are adorable. Would you like to knit them? Here's link to a pattern I found!

November 2021

Style spotting Nov 2021

White pants, white sweater, white knee length down coat, brown ankle boots and a small, bright yellow cross-body bag. 

The bag is what made my head turn, it really perked up the outfit and made it something unique and special. 

Definitely an Urban feel here.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Running across the airport on her way to a flight, wearing beige pants and a belted beige cardigan, a white T-shirt or camisole just visible in the V-neck of the cardigan. (I couldn't find a belted cardigan that was warm enough beige in URSTYLE so just imagine the belt, ok?

She wore brown boots and ochre yellow bag, and over her arm she was carrying a soft ochre faux sheep shearling jacket. Exquisite.

Quiet bordering on Relaxed.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Striding along with an entourage of two small children, wearing black sweatpants, black oversized black sweatshirt half tucked in the front of the sweatpants. There was some white decor on the sweatshirt, (but it wasn't Givenchy), and pristine white sneakers.

A good example of how to take essentially casual clothing and wear it with style, in this case it grabbed my attention because the items were crisp and sturdy, not worn and slouchy.

Quiet style type.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Cream pants, cream cowl neck sweater, cream knee length coat, striped scarf in muted rust and other Autumn colours, tan bag, sandy blond hair in a messy bun.

This was a beautiful three meter tall Dutch model I chatted with over breakfast at the hotel I was staying at in London, she was missing her children and on her way to a photo shoot. Relaxed style type.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Spotted this young woman running across the street in a short black and white plaid skirt and a white mohair sweater half tucked in the front of the skirt, black tights and white sneakers.

This was a very sporty look, but feminine as well.

I'm getting Quaint vibes with this one, but in a Quiet way because of the minimalistic colour scheme. 

Style spotting Nov 2021

Paprika red tailored pants, paired with a long camel beige coat, and heels!

The bag made the outfit, and I couldn't find one that looked exactly like it so I put three similar bags in the panel, but the defining feature was that the shoulder strap was wide and with stripes lengthwise, looked like navy and red and cream stripes. So Urban.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Long flowy coat in spiced cinnamon, black leggings and Dr. Martens boots, a red and rust chunky bag and a black newsboy cap on her head.

A rather Progressive feel to this outfit, I dare say.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Charcoal cropped jeans, pastel pink T-shirt and a light grey wool coat. 

Naked ankles in Dr. Martens shoes. And she had a tastefully worn faded grey Fjällräven Kanken backpack slung over her shoulder.

The minimalistic simplicity of this outfit puts it in Nordic Quiet.

Style spotting Nov 2021

Beige soft knitwear flared pants with matching camisole and long, belted cardigan, all in the same warm beige.

Large, soft scarf in burnt rust, teal, beige and olive. I tried to fins a scarf in URSTYLE that gave approximately the same feel.

Bonus points for face mask in same colour as one of the colours in her scarf!

Relaxed style type.

Curious about my Nordic style types? Click HERE to read about them.

About the author, Jorunn Hernes

Jorunn is a Certified Personal Colour Analyst, founder of Nordic Simplicity and Scandinavian Style Academy™, the fresh, simple, Scandinavian approach to getting dressed. Jorunn will avoid social settings with more than three people but can be lured out with snacks and the promise to talk about books.

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