Rich vs poor vikings: how did they dress?

[@Monkey-Boy2006]

You reminded me of something a man said years ago "...men don't wear jewellery or beads." But I looked at history books that showed Celtic and Teutonic men wearing jewellery and beads. LOL Your video was very informative and cleverly put together. Love your work, mate!

[@vikingventures3888]

Well, Viking age men most certainly wore jewelry. And I think it looks great on modern men as well. Thank you ❤️

[@Monkey-Boy2006]

@@vikingventures3888 I'm always wearing either Thor's Hammer or a Pentagram on a necklace, a wrist band or bracelet or a ring. Except when I'm at work, I have to tone it down a bit.

[@grahamcharters1638]

Excellent. As a re-enactor who is currently putting together a new viking wardrobe, this could not have landed at a better time. Thank you!

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you! I'm glad I happened to make this video at just the right time then 😊

[@grahamcharters1638]

@@vikingventures3888 Great timing yes, but i enjoy your content anyway - so please keep up the great work!

[@vikingventures3888]

@@grahamcharters1638 That's very kind, thank you! I will do my best to keep making videos :)

[@vickychaotic1602]

Thank you so much for this video! I love the way you filmed it, wearing appropriate clothing when talking about the respective social class. Your clothes are absolutely beautiful! I especially love your mustard coloured coat. Over the past five years or so, I've been constantly updating my husband's and my Viking wardrobe. At the beginning we used really vibrant colours and a lot of decorations and accessories - in defiance of the leather and mud clad Vikings from certain TV series. But by and by, we have come to like the more natural and somewhat muted colours.

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you so much! And I'm happy that you noticed that I was wearing the relevant outfit back and forth :) I love that you wanted to be a contrast to the dark and gloomy "Vikings" outfits. Also, I love that you are also making a simpler kind of wardrobe. I like to have the option of being colourful or more toned down depending on the event :) All the best to you!

[@nagymakaede3286]

Could you show how the brooches were applied to the dress? Does the fabric self heal? thank you for all the wonderful information xoxo

[@vikingventures3888]

There are small loops of linnen at the top of the dress, and loops at the ends of the shoulder straps. So the brooches never goes through the fabric. Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :)

[@myrany8407]

Where would a skilled craftswoman fall on the economic scale? I am guessing somewhere near middle class but that is at best a guess. As a tablet weaver, weaver, spinner and dyer that wants to get involved with SCA I am researching what I need to make in the way of clothing/accessories for myself.

[@vikingventures3888]

That is a very good question! It's a bit difficult to know. It might vary from case to case depending on how well of the womans family is (both the one she was born into, and the one she might have married in to). I suspect it was probably unusual for women crafters to live alone. But I have not direct evidence to support that idea. I think your notion of having your Viking persona be middle class sounds reasonable. A skilled crafter should not be poor, but I doubt that very rich people needed to work in the same way as regular people. 🙂

[@julesidunn7375]

I would like to know your opinion about hair in viking age, there is a lot of disagreement, like was always covered cause christian influences, also depending on the status, was just a linen piece of fabric to be more comfortable to make farming works... I am also reenactor, and i always have the hair covered cause indeed is more comfortable and also keep the hair cleaner

[@vikingventures3888]

Hi :) Well, there are many depictions of women with visible hairstyles from the viking age. There are also at least one mention of it from the sagas. So I think it is safe to say that viking age women did show their hair when they wanted to. However, I think it's probably very likely that working women wore some sort of head covering to keep the hair clean, like you mention. I would also assume that more women would cover their hair if they had Christians close to them, since influences would have been stronger then. And of course more women would probably have covered their hair when Scandinavia was starting to become Christian in the end of the Viking age.

[@wesleysmith320]

As a budding reenactor, I'm wanting to work towards more of a tradesman (smith, specifically). Any insights on what they would have dressed like would be amazing as I can't seem to find any. I'm going for gotland specifically, but south-eastern sweden could also work

[@vikingventures3888]

I think it's great that you have chosen a specifik trade to build your outfit around. I am not aware of specifik garments for a smith, but seeing as it is hard work and lots of soot etc I would personally go for brown sturdy wool. Probably leaning mostly towards the basic cut of the garments. You might have seen this already, but there is a complete tool box that was found at Gotland. Some of the tools might have been the same for a smith. vikingar.historiska.se/objects.php?showcase=G_24&e=no&l=en

[@crystalbilyeu8756]

Thank you! You keep your information short, clear, and easy to follow and I really appreciate that!

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you! That was definitely what I was going for so I'm glad you think I succeeded 😊

[@phillipallen3259]

Wonderful and informative video! Thank you so much!

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you so much! I'm happy that you liked it :)

[@mirnafairy]

Thoughts on the apron dresses, I've read that they might have been used mostly by women in their fertile years, to make it easier when breastfeeding. Is this something you've also come across? I'd like to make clothes more fitting for the poorer class, but it has to be suitable for breastfeeding as I have a young one, but full on dresses with long neck slits in both dress and shift seem more of a (cold) solution. 🥶

[@vikingventures3888]

I have heard of it, but I'm but entirely sure what that theory is based on. Although the apon dress does make it easier to breast feed, I'm still convinced it was only used by the wealthy. I'm not sure how they would have managed breastfeeding in the lower classes. During the middle ages people would make slits in different places in the outer and inner garments so it would not get to drafty. I suppose wearing a shawl that closes over the chest might help.

[@stellanstellan8708]

Great content. From what I understand white wool (a prerequisite for strong and vibrant colours) had to be imported during the Viking era therefore it was more expensive and generally for upper classes only. Any comment on this?

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you! As far as I have been told most of the sheep in Scandinavia during the Viking age were mainly brown with some spots of white. So there were probably some domestic white wool, but I'm sure you are right in that most white wool was imported and therefore expensive. :)

[@jonasmees8143]

Beste, Heb net handgeweven en natuurlijk gekleurd wollen stof gekocht voor vrouw en mij. Wij zitten in de tijd van wanneer de Oseberg is begonnen. ( er is geen echt opschrift gevonden van wie of wat ze waren dus laten we het zo maar noemen) ben ook in bezit van een zelfgemaakte replica Oseberg wagen , maak alles zelf wat maar kan. Maar heb af en toe een duwtje nodig. Daarmee kom ik op mijn vraag naar jou toe, hoe kan ik het best de kledij mee versieren en waar haal ik de juiste qua tijd. Groetjes Jonas

[@vikingventures3888]

Hi! I'm sorry for my very late reply. Usually the rule of thumb with decorations for Viking age garments is that you can use thin strips of silk, or sometimes a thin kind of braid. Embroidery seems to mostly have been used on pillows or such things. However, I'm not really an expert on oseberg, so I'm sure there are other people who are more knowledgeable on that area. All the best to you!

[@jonasmees8143]

@@vikingventures3888 oké, heel fijn dat u reageerde. Vindt ik al tof op zijn eigen. Laat het zeker niet opzij liggen. Probeer zelf te onderzoeken en te naaien, tuurlijk is een naaimachine een snelle hulp voor waar je het toch nooit ziet. En toch doe ik het met de hand ( moest er geen elektriciteit meer zijn kan je niet anders) je ziet toch het verschil, vandaag de dag moet alles al perfect genoeg zijn. Groetjes

[@lusolad]

Are there vendors you would suggest for gear and clothing?

[@vikingventures3888]

That kind of depends on what you are looking for 🙂 What kind of gear, and what kind of clothing? (Menswear, womenswear, rich, average, weapons, jewelry, etc)

[@lusolad]

​@@vikingventures3888lower class menswear...tenth century

[@rosem.4410]

What a great and informative video, for a better understanding of the different classes. Thanks a lot! Do you have recommendations where to find a silk fabric for an upper class reenactment for the decoration of the smokkr which is adequate for early medival time?

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it 😊 TheHistoricalFabricStore might have some. You can find them on instagram. 😊

[@isaiahgimlewicz8298]

Great video, well said.

[@cadileigh9948]

Good to see you back and hope the photography is going well

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you so much! Photography has had to wait a bit since I became a mother but I'll try to get back into it soon. :)

[@lottaskrtic-lindholm5468]

Tack för fin förklaring... ❤

[@vikingventures3888]

Tack så mycket! Jag är glad att du gillade den :)

[@janeodee1677]

Do you have any recommendations for tortoise brooches?

[@kevinroche3334]

yes, don't use live tortoises!

[@janeodee1677]

@@kevinroche3334 why not? I am sure their bite helps keep the apron up better than pins.

[@vikingventures3888]

Hi! Sorry that I took forever to reply. It depends a bit on what you are looking for. Nordens Historiska Fynd has a few different kinds in a medium prize range. Also they specify what finds their jewelry are based on, so that is nice. www.historiskafynd.se/index.php?route=product/category&path=24_74 Volundr makes beautiful replicas with lots of details. www.etsy.com/se-en/shop/Volundr

[@lynneeie5226]

I enjoy your videos! It is nice to see another one coming out. Excellent points re the white wool and the brighter more vibrant colors, I think especially blues, even vibrant greens would have been harder to make. That said, as a spinner/weaver/dyer myself... I think the POT would be more of a limiting factor. A pot large enough to dye a large amount of cloth in would be expensive. Plants with varied dye colors do exist here in Norway. Plants that can dye colors like golden brown, lavender, pinks... in addition to yellows, very soft more muted colors most... except yellow could be brighter.... but the pot would really be a problem. Even if one cut the cloth into 2 meter lengths, that is still a big pot.... so, I think that too would have been a problem. It is for me, and I wanted to just weave vadmel for a raudtrøye from the 1700s, so I did a deep dive in reading on Norwegian dying and there was a woman who wrote a lot in the 1940s... even mentioning the Vikings. I will find her name and add it below. **editting to add, in fact, I just remembered that beer was used with the roots of kvitmaur/bedstraw and another small plant that grows in the woods up in the higher elevations here in Telemark or rhubarb for a mordant (to help the dye stick) and they used those plants to obtain the bright red like that of the raudtrøye, the Telemark Gammel Øst jacket, if you will. So bright crimson red would have been possible without imports.... but, that is a lot of tiny roots to dig and you still need a big pot. Vaid or woad gave blue, but I do not know how common it was. And it is a muted blue. Ok, end of babble. 🫣 Another thought.... because I read in a different husflid source, that had looked into priests written records and found that people in the servant class were paid partly in cloth, in the 1500s, and I know that another example of a servant class who was given cloth were American plantations slaves in the South. They would have woven it most likely, but most likely not had a say in what kind, color etc... :-( And while I know that the Viking society was very different and women had a much stronger status and could own farms and that shieldmaidens were real, and that the later post Viking culture was very different, I am wondering if the truly poor, or even trellene, would have been paid in cloth? Would they have had time or space to do the work to spin and weave their own? I wish I had time to do this research, but it is fun to be inspired to THINK and wonder, so thank you!! 🥰 Lovely video.... and I like your Viking costume and sewing videos. Daily life of a Viking.... cooking like a Viking ... Viking husflid? 😂🥰 I do enjoy them, so thank you and have a lovely day! Best, Lynne

[@lynneeie5226]

The Danish woman's name was Helen Engelstad, published in Billedvev; Plantefarvingens Historie i Norge. In 1950 she was Rektor at Statens Industriskole. Very interesting reading. She is considered Norway's textile historian, the woman at the museum in Skien told me when she told me about Helen. Also as an fyi, indigo was not imported to Norway until around 15-1600, so the blues would have been soft and from woad. According to my notes from reading Helens research. Vaid was known in use from the Oseberg finds. Prior to 1800s Helen says, red was made from kvitmaur (bedstraw) and according to another author was almost made extinct here in Telemark during the time of the raudtrøye (Gammel Øst bunad in 1700s) because you need the same weight of roots as cloth you are to dye and that is a LOT of plants as the roots are rather thin. (** Note to all who read this:: please use environmentally responsible plant collectinghabits, especially with lichens, pick only fallen lichen as it grows so slowly and likes pure unpolluted air, and please do not pick ALL the plants or flowers. Leave some to assure a healthy future crop.) Beer was used to make the red from kvitmaur more of a scarlet. Fun stuff.... her articles are in the norsk bibliotek online, for those who can read Norwegian. Best, Lynne

[@lynneeie5226]

Side note nr three.... it takes three years for the roots of kvitmaur to be mature enough to harvest, so only harvest 1/3 of a patch at a time. :-) Thank you and future dyers thank you too 🥰

[@cadileigh9948]

In Cymru we have records of local Princes giving textile / clothes to their servants earlier than 1500 so it was probably universal in North Europe. Re plantation slaves, it is these days a source of regret that weavers in North Wales wove wool that was exported for plantation slaves.

[@lynneeie5226]

@@cadileigh9948 Interesting...I find history so fascinating! And I am an amateur, so in no way a professional, I should have said that above. 🙂

[@cosplaygoose3246]

This is super helpful imo!

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you :)