I was reminded by a friend that there are only 9 weeks till Christmas, one should start buying gifts and preparing so the Advent could be more enjoyable.
Now I am not suggesting that everyone should go mad and shop gifts, obviously I would like you to stop and ponder whether we need all these things we are tempted to buy. Asteraki is after all a sustainable brand that encourages people to buy less, choose well, reuse, repair and recycle.
This is a good guide for the Christmas preparation, do we really need a new set of Christmas lights, are we buying stuff that we know the recipient will only throw away after unwrapping the present. Choose well is never as appropriate as during the Christmas frenzy.
Introducing the Yule Cat
In Iceland, we have a strong element in our culture to buy new outfits for Christmas, everyone needs to have something new. This probably origins from the fact that Iceland was an extremely poor country until mid 20th Century and one only got new garments at Christmas and for the summer. This was at the times where people liked to dress up for Sundays and Church.
During the Middle Ages, this evolved into a Folklore that is still vivid in Iceland today, about the Yule Cat (or Jólaköttur) who would take anyone who wouldn’t get new clothes for Christmas. Actually the clothes were a reward for the chores done before Christmas, so the Yule Cat would monitor who got new items for Christmas and eat the ones who didn’t, because they had been too lazy.
Icelanders have long stopped believing this folklore, but we still work hard to clean our houses and decorate - and we put a big emphasis on getting new clothes before Christmas.
Asteraki Festive Wear
In my hunt for nice Christmas outfits for Asteraki, I had in mind that the clothes were comfortable enough for the child to want to wear them, pretty enough for the parents to instagram them, sturdy enough to be worn after Christmas and timeless to be worn for Christmas to come for siblings or friends.
Here below you can see an example of our selection - and stay tuned, more to come!
Let us choose your festive gear in your PICK or if you prefer, visit our online boutique https://www.asteraki.ch/festive-season.