In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish shares a series of observations about everyday life in Copenhagen, focusing on how Danish fashion mirrors the muted tones of the local landscape. He opens with a vivid anecdote about a sub‑Saharan African refugee who, after arriving from the bustling, colorful streets of Cairo, is taken to an empty, quiet Copenhagen night and feels misled about what the city looks like. The refugee also comments that Danish clothing seems uniform—mostly gray, brown, green, blue, and beige—making bright colors stand out. Mellish expands on this, noting that while designers like Marlene Birger and D. Birger Mikkelsen create avant‑garde collections, the average Dane’s wardrobe is dominated by functional outerwear: heavy sweaters, boots, coats, and a uniquely Danish “rain gear” that acts like a full‑body galosh. He highlights scarves as the primary way Danes introduce color, describing his own collection of seasonal scarves ranging from light cotton to thick winter wraps. The episode then contrasts Copenhagen’s new tropical aquarium, filled with vivid magenta and orange fish, with a smaller aquarium in Helsingør that showcases local, muted‑colored fish, reinforcing the theme of Danish color restraint. The podcast closes with a sponsor plug for perfectenglish.dk and a reminder to purchase the How to Live in Denmark book on Amazon.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. I can't remember exactly what the social occasion was, But when I was fairly new to Copenhagen, I met a man who was a refugee from a country in sub-Saharan Africa. He had escaped his homeland— and I also can't quite remember which country that was— by way of Cairo, and ended up in Denmark. What I do remember is his account of what it was like to come to Copenhagen after living in a busy, bustling, colorful city like Cairo. He asked another refugee, a guy who'd been here longer, to show him downtown Copenhagen. The guy drove him to, I don't know, Gammel Strand, on a Tuesday night in February, and there was no one there. All the Danes were home enjoying their hygge, and the streets were dark and empty. My friend got very angry at the other refugee. He said he'd tricked him. Where is the city? This is not the city! he said. But it was. I also remember this African refugee's comments about Danish fashion. He said he had trouble shopping here because Danish clothes all look alike. He said, every store you go to, it's got the same gray sweater. Now, that is not entirely true. You could also find a brown sweater. I've even seen navy blue sweaters. But what is true is that Danes dress to match the Danish landscape. That means gray and brown and green and some blue, maybe some beige for the adventurous types. But if you find yourself wearing purple or orange or hot pink, you will stand out in Denmark. Those colors are worn by children, or sometimes by middle-aged ladies trying to make a statement. Now there is such a thing as Danish fashion, and there is a Danish Fashion Week. Designers like Marlene Birger, Bruns Bazaar, D. Birger Mikkelsen have made a name for themselves internationally. But what they design is not what your average Dane wears. What the average Dane wears is outerwear. It's cold in Denmark, so people's wardrobes are heavy on sweaters, Boots, coats and jackets. There's even a category of outerwear I never knew of in the United States called rain gear. Rain gear is like a plastic jogging suit, and it goes over your clothes and allows you to bicycle or walk around in the rain without getting wet. It's like galoshes for your body. It comes in all the Danish fashion colors: gray, green, blue. Beige, and brown for the adventurous. Anyway, if you really do need some color in your life, scarves are very big. When I was growing up in the United States, colorful neck scarves were always something worn by the foreign exchange student with the funny name. I never understood why. Now that I am the foreigner, I do understand. It's cold here, and the rooms are not overheated the way they are sometimes in the U.S. A scarf keeps you from shivering. A scarf saves you from a sore throat. Personally, I now own summer scarves, which are light cotton, fall scarves, which are sort of a thin, flat wool, and winter scarves, which are about the thickness of a boa constrictor around my neck. On a cold, windy, rainy day, you'll want that boa constrictor. Speaking of wildlife, Copenhagen recently opened a beautiful new aquarium. It's full of tropical fish in gorgeous tropical colors— hot magenta and lemon yellow and vibrant orange— brought to Denmark from all over the world. But what many people don't know is that there is another aquarium in Helsingør, one for fish from local waters. It shows brown fish, and beige fish, and slightly gray fish. These are the Danish fish. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. This week's podcast is sponsored by perfectenglish.dk. For native language English copywriting in Denmark, contact us for a price quote. You can just type in, we make you look good in English, Music arranged by George Garvis. See you next week. Remember, the How to Live in Denmark book is available for download on amazon.com. You can read it on any phone or tablet. All you need is the Kindle app, and the Kindle app is free. The book's not free, but it's not very expensive either. If you read the book and enjoy it, please leave a review on your local version of amazon.com. It helps other people find the book and find the podcast.
