We talked about Sweden yesterday and how serious the Swedes are about their outdoor gear (loving all the fantastic comments, by the way!). Today, let’s talk more about the gear itself. How they layer, what pieces they invest in, and how they get their money’s worth.
From what I understand, it’s a layering process. A specific one. You start with a first layer of 100% wool, or a synthetic material that will wick away moisture from the skin.
Next up, you add a warming layer, like fleece. And finally, you add weatherproof outerwear.
That’s it in a nutshell, but there’s a really helpful layering guide if you have a million questions and want more details (I did!).
Once they are properly layered, you send your kids off to school. When they get to school, if they’re going to be indoors, they take off the outer layers and spend their indoor time in that first wool/synthetic layer. They basically walk around school in their long underwear! I love that!! (Apparently, when they get older, they bring jeans to change into. : )
During my visit, I had a shift in thinking. I had been classifying Polarn O. Pyret’s outerwear as ski wear — pieces that will be worn for a couple of ski weekends and a snow day here and there. But the Swedes are thinking of them as everyday play wear. Sure they’re great for skiing and ice skating. But they’re also good for running, crawling in snow forts and playing tag. They’re warm and sturdy, but they’re made to move in.
Two examples. 1) We were examining a coat and they pointed out that the hood snaps off. And I was wondering why. They said, “You know, in case your child’s hood gets caught on a tree branch.” And I’m thinking whaaa? And then I remembered, that Swedish kids really do PLAY outside all winter long — including climbing trees. 2) Their outerwear comes with reflective sections. Again, I wondered why. They explained that it gets dark so early during Swedish winters, that kids end up playing outside when the sun is down. The reflective sections help ensure parents can spot their kids who are playing in the dark!
So, yes, the clothes are made to move in, and they’re also made to last.
When we were out to dinner, I spoke with some local moms and found out that Polarn O. Pyret is THE kids brand in Sweden. In fact, it’s such a big deal in Sweden, that there’s a huge second hand market for PO.P clothes.
Apparently, Swedish parents don’t think of it as a high price brand for two reasons: 1) They can resell the clothes easily — even after using them extensively. 2) The clothes are made well and many are intentionally designed in unisex colors. So big sister can hand her red parka down to little brother. Or vice versa.
So interesting to me!
But enough about the clothes, I want to tell you about our visit:
-The tour was of the headquarters was just what I love — visiting the design department, getting to peek at fabric samples and seeing how they handle color matching.
-We heard from their eco department. They take their social and environmental responsibilities very seriously. For example, they refuse to use feather down because it’s harvested cruelly.
– We saw a cute fashion show of adorable kids modeling the fall line.
– We were joined by Laura, one of Finland’s top bloggers, and met a famous Swedish blogger named Hannah. Both are models in real life. Of course they are.
– We got to visit a Polarn O. Pyret store. (Right now, there is only one brick and mortar store in the US. It’s in Greenwich CT. But you can shop online.) The store was so cute! They set it up by age. And within each age range they make 30% of the items for girls, 30% for boys and the rest is unisex. Pieces like their stripey tees can be worn by either girls or boys — they don’t add scalloped edges for the girls or truck motifs for the boys.
And they make the fixtures fun for kids to play in!
– After our tour, we went to dinner. Pictured below: Me on the left doing something weird with my eyes. Gina, a Design Mom reader who met us for dinner. She’s an American who has raised her family in Sweden for the last eight years. She’s fabulous! Linda, the amazing PO.P rep from the US who organized this whole trip. Kaisa, the PO.P rep from Finland who was super-friendly and has me thinking I need to visit Finland. And Laura — the top Finnish blogger who’s also game enough to crawl through store fixtures. : ) Jordan is taking the photo.
That was a long report. If you managed to make it to the end, I’d love your thoughts on investing in outerwear. Does $150+ seem reasonable for a parka your child will wear everyday (and that you might resell at some point)? What are your thoughts on hanging out in long-underwear at school?
I could never afford it nor would buy it, but I found this really interesting about how to layer clothes cause believe it or not many people are COLD in winter here in australia (when the weather is bright and sunny and would be considered a summers day in other countries)
that said I have met american’s or others who agree that it is cold because our houses are often not insulated (mine is FREEZING in winter and BOILING in summer) and obviously after reading this our clothes are not done right! We dont dress appropriately. On missionary here (who was from a place that snowed and had negative degree weather said ‘he had never been so cold in his life’ till one night spent in Australia in poor housing with poor blanketing situation!!
We lament here that the sun sets at 5pm in winter and I have all my kids inside because its COLD. I laugh at myself now reading about these parents in Sweden and other scandinavian countries – they would think me a big baby!!
Bought my first piece, a tunic dress for my daughter, on eBay tonight. I’m also going to check out the shell jacket mentioned above as we’re Texans as well. A jacket over a fleece sounds like a much better option than a traditional winter coat.
I was introduced to the POP line from a Swedish friend while we were both living in Sudan. With the terribly hot and dusty climate the POP clothes held up long after other cotton clothes I had brought from the States (from quality clothing lines) had literally fallen apart. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the styles and simplicity. This is a brand I always love having my kids dressed in! I was thrilled to see you visited and wrote about them – thanks so much!
I love this brand so, so much and was introduced to it after we moved here to Denmark. It’s a staple here and it really withstands the elements, which is especially handy if, like us, you bike your kids to school every day- rain, snow, or the occasional sunshine!
How neat that you bike your kids to school each day. In Denmark, do they use the bucket bikes that I saw in Amsterdam?
The large price tag is a bit hard to swallow, but I completely agree. Buy quality and use it over and over again. We almost always buy used, anyway, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for some POP at the consignment shops or craigslist here in NYC. And, if you were wondering, my name came from one of my Swedish ancestors and was originally spelt “Kaisa”, but my mom thought she’d change it to work for English grammar (first vowel is long, second is silent). But that didn’t work.
Okay, my goal for next winter is to be a better layer-er myself included so that we don’t get too much cabin fever. It’s worth it.
Growing up in Canada, we had boots, jackets (with removable hoods), and all the other gear every year. I’ve skimped even though Denver can get cold and snowy because I just don’t want to put the effort into it. But I can and I will!
I wish more US based companies would take note of their unisex styling. I work hard not to dress my kids in overly motif-ed clothes. It’s nearly impossible! All the girls stuff has flowers, bows, hearts, what have you. Not to mention the gagging amount of pink… And the boys with trucks/dinosaurs/etc. I’ll pay more for a good brand that keeps it simple. But yeah, unfortunately I find it hard to justify spending too much when my kids out grow things in 3-6 months. I do splurge on a few things I know can be worn by both or will last longer. I may have to keep my eye out for POP!
Yup, those sales are pretty fabulous. I’ve waited until things look like a price I won’t swallow so hard at, and then buy (little whale-printed rainboots, plaid zipper mittens, hats for 6$!) And now I’m just sad that my big clever off-season coat purchase was from landsend, not PoP, since I didn’t find out about them on time. BUT. Next year’s coat, for sure, will be PoP, from a sale: you can get them for about what you pay for LandsEnd overstocks anyway.
When my daughter was born 5 years ago some Swedish relatives sent a p o p onesie that we adored. At the time i couldn’t find a place to buy it in the U.S. this week we are visiting CT to see my mom and were so excited to see there was a store in Greenwich. We checked it out and bought some great shirts and jackets. Love love love the store and the product and wish we had one near us.
They are one of my favorite companies for kids clothing! I love the quality and fit and they have some really great sales. :)
We live in Canada and it gets cold here in winter. I have no problems spending loads of money on a snowsuit. We spent $300 on my daughter’s suit, but we are certain she will get three winters out of it because it so well constructed and it has an i-grow system inside which allows parents to snip some threads and add a few inches. Well worth the big bucks because we know she will be warm, fashionable and she won’t look like the other kids! I have seen cheap outwear and it’s not worth it.
I made my first PoP purchase this winter and have been very, very pleased – although the sizing seemed to run a bit large to me. I live in northern Michigan with two outdoor loving little boys and know the importance of quality gear. I would also like to give a shout out to a favorite American brand – Patagonia. I have had some of their fleece items for my boys. They are warm, tough, and can be resold on ebay, although I’m saving mine for future nieces & nephews. . .or babies of my own, if I can talk my husband into it :)
i’m so jealous! i adore polarn o. pyret! and Sweden just sounds dreamy :)
I too spend top dollar on ‘outside’ clothes. One of my biggest bugbears is the sale of ‘fashion’ coats (to girls and boys), which do absolutely nothing to protect children from the elements. NOT waterproof, NOT warm, but at an attractive price in this economic climate. [how can you seriously think that you can buy a $5 coat in a supermarket and expect it to behave like a proper coat, or last more than 1 torrential downpour?!]
My husband took a long time to come round of my way of thinking, purely from the economics of fast-growing children. ‘Surely they’ll grow out of it too fast?’.
But fit-for-purpose outerwear is my ‘thing’. I don’t care that my daughter has to wear navy and red instead of pink and purple, just because it is handed down from her big brother. Harsh, maybe. Economically and ecologically so much more responsible. P.O.P. gets it so right, with their unisex colours and branding.
My sneaky trick for outerwear here in the UK is TKMaxx (our equivalent of TJMaxx). Every spring (March/April), as the snow/ski season comes to a close (it was 30C in April this year, so it is weather dependent!), I head down to the nearest store and stock up on next winter’s coat. High quality snowboarding jackets down from £60+ to £15, less if they are on the discount rail. Proper windproof, waterproof and snowproof fit-for-purpose jackets (and snow-trousers) for a fraction of the price. I’ll aim for red or navy, as they work for both my kids. If they are on clearance, I may even splash out and buy my daughter a ‘cuter’ coat – this year I picked up a £60 jacket for £5 on clearance, in a beautiful pale turquoise!
And again, the resale value. We have NCT sales all over the UK (National Childbirth Trust), where we get to sell new or nearly new stuff with a 25% sellers fee. Last year, I sold my son’s summer and winter jackets for as much as I bought them, and felt so fine, that I bought my daughter an almost-new pink snowjacket for last winter.
My kids have been through a -14C winter this year (it didn’t get above -9 for a week, that’s pretty extreme for our part of the country), without once whinging they were cold.
I will be putting P.O.P. in my diary for our US visit next year. My husband is afraid. VERY afraid ;)
(re. underwear as outerwear – my daughter is so skinny, she gets away with wearing that kind of clothing as a matter of course, even leggings can be too baggy for her! The downside of the skinnyness is she is perpetually cold, so she has to wear warm layers even in summer. Oh to have that sort of figure ;) )
I live in Norway and daycare is pretty much as you describe. My daughter has taken all her naps outside ever since she was born……down to 10 degrees celsius below zero bundles in wool and lambskin or down sleeping bags (!) and spends most of the day, every day outside at daycare. I think also Scandinavia is a bit different in the way that at ages 1-5 our daycare/preschool is less about ‘school’….more play, more nature. My daughters daycare has a small forest and tons of rocks and they climb tress (and fall down…) and play in the mud daily. Bruises and scraped knees are part of every day but they love it :)
I love Polarn O.P, but one tip to ‘mastering’ the layering is to use mostly natural fibers underneath the waterproof layer (wool, silk etc) as it breathes and is excellent at keeping the kids (and grownups) dry. Fleece, which you find as mid-layer in most P.O.P wear is tricky if it’s not mid-winter as the kids can get really sweaty and feel wet. In mid-winter it is great though but so is several layers of wool.
Acho tudo made in china
Hi – I am so envious of your trip to POP HQ! I wanted to point out to you that in their POPup store at the moment (Aug 10 11) they have the adult nightgown for 50% off ($28!) They are awesome.
I am enjoying your blog
Hi,
Do you ship to Australia or have stockists?
Thanks
Hi,
I am French mother of 4. We lived in Latvia for few years and I can confirm that POP gears are top quality and really worth the price. We had temperature down to -25 celsius and our kids were still warm with their overall. Layers + top quality outfit are the best way to face such extreme weather. I love the way in Northern/Scandinavian countries school’s life is organized. Things are just made to make life easier and confortable for kids ! I still do not understand why, either in France or here in DC, kids can not wear a pair of sleepers or sandals inside their classroom … instead they have to wear their snow boots or very warm shoes all day long in the heated classroom …. Does not make sense to me …. I sent my kids with a pair of Crocs in their school bag so they could be more confortable … teachers were surprised but eventually agreed that it was better …
It is not only a matter of confort, it is also a matter of hygiene for the classroom … you don’t get the dust, the mud, the wet from the shoes !
We’ve just moved to the US and find that the price that you pay for the winter gear is too high compare to the quality offered … Glad that POP gears from last winter still fit … For next winter, I decided to order from friends in Latvia, lucky they come to visit us soon ! I visited the POP US website, more expensive than in Europe but when the Sales are on, grab a piece !
Overalls, as they are unisex color, can be passed on to siblings or easily be sold on Ebay or Craigslist for a good price.
Bravo to POP !
Sandra