Close to the Skin is the English title of a documentary film which premiered on Swedish television in 2023.
It is about the lives and careers of three Swedish women, three pioneers in three different fields.
What about the title? What does it mean? What is close to the skin? The answer is a dress.
The inspiration to make this film began with an exhibition at a museum in Stockholm. It was an exhibition of famous dresses made by the Nordic Company, a famous tailor in Stockholm, and which had been worn by important women in Sweden.
When filmmaker Astrid Ohlsen visited this exhibition, she decided that she had to make a film about these dresses and the women who had worn them.
But she could not mention all of them. There were too many. She had to reduce the number. She had to make a choice. She had to exclude most of them and end up with a small number which could be covered.
In the end, she chose three dresses and the three women who had worn them.
This is how the idea for this film began.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Swedish title: Tätt inpå huden
** Writer and producer: Astrid Ohlsen
** Director: Lasse Summanen
** Language: Swedish
** Subtitles: Swedish
** Available online until August 2025
** Run time: 49 minutes
This film covers the lives and the careers of the three women. Who are they? How and why did they become pioneers in their field? When did they order the famous dress? When did they wear it?
Here are the names of the three women:
Else Kleen
(1882-1968)
A journalist
Nanna Charlotta Svartz
(1890-1986)
A doctor
Kerstin Margareta Meyer
(1928-2020)
An opera singer
The first case
Else Kleen was a journalist. In the beginning she wrote about fashion - using the name Gwen - but after a while she began to cover other topics as well. She became a radical writer, a social activist, who campaigned for better conditions for ordinary people.
She was married and divorced several times, which was highly unusual for the times in which she lived.
Eventually, she married a man who was the minister of social affairs in the social democratic government.
In 1939, she investigated the conditions under which prisoners had to live. She found the conditions were horrible. She decided to publish an account which was written by a prisoner.
When the book was published, she was accused of breaking the law. She was sentenced to serve two months in prison for violating the laws about the press.
While she was in prison, her husband visited her every day. He brought her a small bottle of red wine which was disguised as medicine!
When she was released from prison, she was greeted by many people who found that she was right and the law was wrong.
Else Kleen said that a woman should dress well in order to be well received. She hoped conservative politicians would listen to a radical woman who was well dressed.
This is why she ordered a dress from the famous tailor in Stockholm. She wore the dress when she wanted to make a good impression.
The second case
Nanna Svartz had a good education. She became a doctor which was an unusual job for women at that time. She took good care of her patients.
She also did some research and she wrote about her investigations. During her long life she published numerous scientific articles.
In 1937, she became the first female professor of medicine at a public university in Sweden. Some of her colleagues were not happy about this.
They felt a woman should be an assistant, but not a professor. They feared a woman would not be able to lead a department. She proved them wrong.
What was she going to wear for the historical moment when she was promoted to be a professor of medicine? The first women in Sweden to have this position?
She went to the famous tailor in Stockholm and told them to make a suit for her. They made the suit. She wore it when she was promoted to professor. She also wore it during other official ceremonies.
The third case
Kerstin Meyer was a singer. She sang opera. In the beginning, she sang at the opera in Stockholm. But after a while, she became an international star. She was invited to sing at operas in other countries.
She travelled all over the world. She had to make a good impression whenever she arrived at a new location. She went to the famous tailor in Stockholm where she ordered four sets. And she did this every year during her career.
Most customers ordered only one dress from this tailor. But Kerstin Meyer ordered four sets every year. She was a good customer. And a pioneer in her field.
What do reviewers say about this film?
This question is not easy to answer
The film is not listed on IMDb
There are no user reviews
The film is not available on Amazon
There are no customer reviews
The story of the three Swedish women - three pioneers in three different fields - is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
Miss Friman’s War is a historical drama which premiered on Swedish television. There are four seasons:
Season 1 = 2013
Season 2 = 2015
Season 3 = 2016
Season 4 = 2017
Each season has three episodes.
The total number of episodes is 12.
This historical drama is about the life of Swedish women around the year 1900. While the story is fictional, it is inspired by real events.
An English version of Swedish Women (Svenskt Kvinnobiografiskt lexikon) is available online.
Here is a link to this resource:
*****
The Swedish journalist
Else Kleen
(1882-1968)
*****
The Swedish doctor
Nanna Svartz
(1890-1986)
*****
The Swedish opera singer
Kerstin Meyer
(1928-2020)
*****
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