At the Center Party's municipal days in Västerås at the end of January, party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist gave a speech in a flannel shirt "from the early 90s."
"This is how entrepreneur Elisabeth has looked for many years - not in a dress and heels on stage, but ready for hard work," she said, and promised that she would wear the shirt extensively during the election campaign.
Doing well
But Thand Ringqvist was beaten to it. Even before the C leader's speech, the Moderates had presented a blue-checkered shirt as part of the party's profile clothing for the election. Campaign director Martin Borgs explains it partly by saying that it is stylish:
"And secondly, it's a shirt that looks just as good in nature as it does when you're working. I think many Moderates will enjoy wearing it," he says.
Another person who likes to pose in a flannel shirt, at least on her social media, is Christian Democrats leader Ebba Busch.
Frida Zetterström, a style expert who lectures on fashion and power, is not surprised that checkered shirts have emerged early in the election campaign.
"In general, we tend to see a more relaxed fashion image the further away the election is," she says.
According to her, plaid or flannel shirts, with their rougher texture, signal a people-oriented approach and a more relaxed attitude.
"One could also guess that it is a way of flirting with the countryside, since many of us associate flannel shirts more with nature than with the big city."
More ties
The fact that Swedish politicians want to signal different things through their clothing choices is not a new phenomenon. According to Frida Zetterström, the desire to dress down is somewhat typical in Sweden.
"It's a bit like politicians choosing to travel by bus and train instead of private jet. In Sweden, we have a penchant for equality, and clothes are an excellent way to convey that," she says.
However, in her experience, politicians' clothing tends to become neater as election day approaches. So she would be surprised if any plaid shirts made their way into the final debates.
"The more serious the debates become, the more ties and suits are worn," she says.
