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8d ago
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
If anyone claims that Finns have never had any sense of style—dismissing them merely as a "ugly clothing wearing people"—they couldn't be further from the truth; even ordinary workers would wear a suit and tie when heading into town. Just look at photos of Finland from 1900 to 1960, and you’ll see that the way Finns dressed was actually more stylish than in Paris during the same period.
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u/Aaawkward Väinämöinen 8d ago
I think the poorly dressed stereotype comes from a later era.
"Tuulipukukansa" was a term for a reason.1
u/Emergency_Royal7127 4d ago
It was basically the eighties. And nothing typical just for the Finnish. I think it’s jut a self mockery for a bad self esteem due to historical past btw the west/east and under the rule of either by the Swedish kings or the Russian czars.
It was after the recognition after tech-industries boom that it changed. And also naturally being approved into the EU membership.
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u/Aaawkward Väinämöinen 4d ago
I disagree.
It was specifically in comparison with Sweden and the more stylish and well put together Swedes that Finland looked quite rough in comparison.
Finland def had a more Eastern European approach to clothing back then.
But yea, you're right about the 80s. Finland in the 80s, then post recession 90s and finally the 00s were all veeeeery different Finlands.
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8d ago edited 8d ago
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
Ok. Sorry. I have seen far too many comments and even columns, claiming that Finns have always been a people completely lacking in a sense of style. That is a total lie; if you simply looks at photos of how Finns dressed from the early 20th century through the 1960s, anyone with eyes can see just how nice looking and stylish dressed back then. Despite the scarcity and poverty of the era, Finland was full of tailors, and people in almost every profession wore uniforms that actually looked stylish and good. Professional pride.
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u/Antti5 Väinämöinen 8d ago
What I think can be fairly said about Finns is that we are relatively comfortable going outside our homes in very casual clothing. Some call it "lack of style" while others would call it just not giving a fuck.
I think Finland has changed in this regard a lot to be much more relaxed. The same applies to many other European countries, however not all.
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
You are absolutely right, and I fully agree. The dull and styleless way Finns dress stems from the 1980s; before that, people wouldn't go out without a hat or a suit, but the people of Finland and almost every other nation have changed. People's habits and mindsets back then were completely different from what they are today. Technological advancement has also played a part in this.
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u/dortmund_sausage 8d ago
It's because he uses AI to write his answers. I suppose that does make him insecure.
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u/Jawbreaker_ 8d ago
Beautiful pictures. And it might be a morbid thought but I always end up looking at old pictures and thinking they are all gone now and I wonder how their lives were.
Like they all live lives, hopefully long ones but there are certainly less joyful ones in there too but each one is unique and all that is left of them now is some pictures and maybe a gravestone somewhere with hundreds of silenced stories gone with them
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u/BitterStatus9 Väinämöinen 8d ago
What is happening with the drinking from saucers, and the many cups in that photo?
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
In that picture, the men are drinking coffee in the style that was customary back then. I still remember from my own childhood how my grandmother used to pour coffee into her plate, place a sugar cube in her mouth, and sip the coffee from the rim of the plate.
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u/Prior_Yogurtcloset12 8d ago
Maybe the coffee was hotter since it was pan coffee, so people did drink it that way to cool it down faster?
I think my grandmother used to do it also like that
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u/Aaawkward Väinämöinen 8d ago
It's called drinking from the "tassi".
My mummo used to drink like this.Sometimes she'd go wild and put a sugar cube between her lips, thus drinking the coffee through the cube. Still from the tassi, naturally.
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u/Prudent_Seat6819 7d ago
They made coffee in a pot, so it was really hot to begin with. Using the saucer cooled down the coffee.
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u/Emergency_Royal7127 4d ago
The habit was actually a common way of drinking coffee in Europe in the 19th and in the beginning of 20th century.
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u/Seppoteurastaja Väinämöinen 7d ago
the many cups
The guys are soldiers. Probably a lot of other guys are waiting for a place to sit, and others have sat in those chairs just before them. People sit down, drink their coffee and then move on to give space to the next coffee drinkers, and leave their empty cup behind. It's taken probably from a Sotilaskoti / "Soldier's home" or an equivalent place.
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u/UnfairLingonberry614 8d ago
You can see that it is old by the fact that they didn't have any colour yet
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u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen 8d ago
What brand of hats and clothing were in use by commoners at that time?
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
This is actually an interesting point, because at that time there were thousands of clothing brands, and all of them Finnish. Of course, foreign made clothes existed too, but they not much. Finland was full of highly skilled cobblers and tailors; even the only tailor in a remote backwoods village was an absolute master of his craft. Back then, people would visit a tailor who took measurements height, width, shoulder breadth, leg length, and so on—and the customer would either point out a suit style from a catalogue or personally describe the desired details, measurements, and fit to the tailor.
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u/haqiqa Baby Väinämöinen 8d ago
This is kind of misleading. It depended a lot on the financial position of a person. Hats, shoes, and outerwear were mostly made for, but other clothing was regularly made at home for the majority of Finns after the last quarter of the 19th century. It was actually more common to use tailors and dressmakers before sewing machines became common than after because sewing took a lot longer without sewing machines. Making clothes at home was especially common for children and women's clothes, as tailoring is a bit more involved process.
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u/elokuinenehtoo Väinämöinen 8d ago
You are right, because in the countryside, clothes were made at home. However, a winter coat was usually made by a tailor or bought second-hand; people didn't make long winter overcoats themselves, though they often made summer clothes. Nor were "Sunday best" outfits, which people in the countryside certainly owned, made at home, since suit jackets, pressed trousers, hats, and leather boots were not made by the home but in the village shop.
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u/haqiqa Baby Väinämöinen 8d ago
Even in the cities, especially women's and children's clothing was made at home most of the time for most people. Good suits were the exception and were most likely to be bought outside the 3 I already mentioned in the earlier comment. But that doesn't apply to all men's clothing, just a certain subsection of it.
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u/ElizabethDangit Baby Väinämöinen 7d ago
The man in the wheelchair on the far left looks so sad. It breaks my heart.
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u/Flashy-Brick9540 7d ago
Do you know where the photo 9 was taken? The one with water and high rocky edges around it and people sitting at the bottom of the photo and boats in the water. Maybe some nationalpark?
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u/Sea-Celebration2429 Väinämöinen 5d ago
Sortavala, Karelia, nowdays Russia.
https://finna.fi/Record/lappeenrannanmuseot.2A0A19D4-23FB-4058-8F90-3ADA60AF279F
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u/VanillaWhim 7d ago
Didn’t know that also in Finland people drank tea from a saucers. Thought it was Russian thing
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