After living in Denmark, I’ve realised Australians are fashion slobs

Glossy hair, perfectly pressed trench coats and unassuming – yet oh-so-elegant – leather bags and shoes. Tailored pants, pristine white sneakers, manicured nails and eyebrows. Not a tracksuit, hoodie or athleisure outfit in sight.

Welcome to Denmark on a Sunday morning. Or any morning, really. Having recently returned from living there for seven months, I can confirm that our far-flung Nordic friends do, in fact, dress a million times better than us Aussies – no matter the weather, event or circumstance.

Australians leave a lot to be desired when it comes to fashion.Credit: Luis Ascui

As someone who has always been obsessed with clothes – something I share with my very stylish Polish mother – moving to a country where people treat clothing as more than just something to cover a naked body was a surreal experience.

But it wasn’t just Denmark. In Milan, locals donned fabulous bling, Chanel gumboots, polished loafers and leopard print. Bordeaux was a sea of floaty, floral dresses, dainty gold sandals and artfully crushed linens. Barcelona, home to Zara, Massimo Dutti and some of the most beautiful espadrilles I have ever encountered, was the motherland of off-duty street style.

For seven months, I lived in sartorial heaven. Then, when I came back down to Earth – otherwise known as returning to Australia – the clean, beautifully put together outfits were replaced with sloppy track pants and stretched out logo T-shirts; the well-groomed beards gave way to scrappy facial hair; and shoes became heavily scuffed slides.

According to Nicole Jenkins, a Melbourne-based fashion historian, “Our way of dressing has got to do with our national identity – we like to see ourselves as being super relaxed, not taking ourselves seriously.

“Australians are also not as attached to our history or culture as Europe, and this bears out in our clothing choices.”

Our weather has also got a lot to do with it because, as Jenkins points out, living in a warm (and sometimes oppressively hot) country fosters an outdoor lifestyle, which comes with an increased focus on comfort over style. It’s hard to look sartorial chic or saunter down the street with the perfect blow wave when, for the fourth day in a row it’s already 34 degrees before 9am and the train has broken down again.

In Denmark, their autumn to spring time is characterised by near total darkness and freezing temperatures – not exactly conducive to the kind of outdoor living we enjoy here. But even still, they have a saying we should probably consider adopting: There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Australians are now the highest consumer of ultra-cheap fashion in the world. On average, each of us buys 56 items of new clothing a year, at an average cost of just $13.

According to recent Roy Morgan data, 3.8 million Australians are shopping from ultra-cheap e-retailer Temu at least once a year, while 2 million are buying from rival brand Shein.

What this means is that Australians are wearing poorer quality, trend-based clothing that does little to enhance the wearer’s comfort (or appearance).

Jenkins says this high turnover in part comes down to laziness.

“We don’t want to care for our clothes, iron them, mend them, style them in interesting ways,” she says, adding that there’s also an element of tall poppy syndrome at play, with Australians seeing those who make an effort as “having tickets on themselves”.

While Denmark can certainly do better when it comes to consumption (a 2023 report found that the average person in the Nordic region buys between 26 and 48 garments a year), they are unquestionably better at making investment purchases that will stand the test of time. They also have a much stronger culture of repairing and mending clothing, as well as focusing on local brands over fast fashion.

This has become even more apparent as we see the mid-fashion market all but disappear in Australia. This year, local sustainable brands Arnsdorf and Nique have closed, while Dion Lee went into voluntary administration. Cost of living pressures have been blamed for the closures as people redirect their money towards mortgages, food – and cheaper clothing. But it’s also worth considering that a lot of Australians simply don’t see the value in well-made clothing and are, as a result, unwilling to pay for it.

And while there are many stylish people in Australia (yes, Melburnians are up there), we’re still a long way from European style. Until we get there, I’ll continue to live by the adage that it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed. Because life is too short to not look amazing.

Caroline Zielinski is a freelance writer.

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