Abba Dressed Like That For a Tax Deduction

To celebrate the fact that I am editing my to-do list from “finish taxes by Tuesday morning” to “finish taxes by end of week,” here is a fun fact courtesy of the Guardian:

Reflecting on the group’s sartorial record in a new book, Björn Ulvaeus said: “In my honest opinion we looked like nuts in those years. Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were.”

And the reason for their bold fashion choices lay not just in the pop glamour of the late 70s and early 80s, but also in the Swedish tax code.

Apparently, to deduct costumes in Sweden, the clothes had to be “so outrageous they could not possibly be worn on the street,” which is AMAZING and explains a lot.

Photo: small jude


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