Costumes
Skandia’s Midsommarfest has a long tradition of showcasing costumes from the Nordic countries. Viewing costumes can be a visual feast from head to toe, as many Nordic skills are displayed, such as lace making, fabric weaving, embroidery, band-weaving, metalsmithing, and leather work. Impressive skills and creativity are shown on head coverings, shirts, vests, jewelry, skirts, aprons, belts, bands, socks and shoes.
For more about costumes in Norway
Enjoy a video of Norwegian folk costumes and bunader as worn by people in the Pacific Northwest and by the visiting dancers and musicians from Norway.
Created by Christine Anderson, Sons of Norway, Leif Erikson Lodge 2-001
Learn more about the history of bunad in this TED talk.
For more about costumes in Sweden
Here are examples from Swedish costumes worn by members of Nordiska Folkdancers with additional information provided by Nordiska shown in the dropdown link under each one. Some also have links with additional pictures and information.
The collar, blouse and shawl portions of this Blekinge costume are held together by a pewter brooch (brosch) with three small discs suspended from the bottom arc. The letters IHS (i Hans servis/In His Service) are inscribed in relief on its face.
This costume is from the province of Dalsland. It has a wool skirt and vest and a linen blouse, apron and shawl.
The hat is made from silk fabric. It is all hand sewn and embroidered. It is an old design which has been worn by people from Dalsland for many years.
Hälsingland
Some very fine folk costumes (folkdräkt) come from the Hälsingland area in Sweden, from Bollnäs in the south to Järvsö in the north. The vest pictured above comes from Forsa.
The costume from Delsbo is often seen at Skandia’s Midsommarfest. This Swedish website shows examples of the Delsbodräkt, with additional images of the woman’s costume available if you click on the Kvinnodräkt and more images of the man’s costume if you click on Mansdräkt.
Some of the exquisite detail work on a Delsbo sweater, belt and purse are shown here.
Note: These sites are in Swedish but can be translated with Google Translate.
The “mansdräkt” originated in the 17th century, and has always consisted of a black hat and vest, yellow pants and white socks. It has two coats, one plain black and one midnight blue with embroideries that always is worn at weddings and big holidays like Midsommar in Dalarna, Sweden, and also here today.
Elna is wearing kvinnasdräkt from the southwestern-most province of Sweden, Skåne. The costume is from Harjager Härrad in Västra Sallerup (now Harrie) parish, where Elna’s grandfather came from.
Småland
This from the Handbörd area of Kalmarslän, about 40 kilometer west of Kalmar, and about 50 kilometers inland from the Baltic coast in central Småland. It seems to be one color combination of several worn at the time it was obtained by Nordiska (probably early 1950's), apparently a dräkt in living tradition that could differ somewhat from wearer to wearer.
Authentic pieces (made in Sweden) are: brick red skirt of lightweight wool; vertically striped cotton apron; vertically striped wool bodice with red cord-trimmed edges and peplum, laced in front; and linen shawl-scarf embroidered with wool thread.
For more about costumes in Finland
For more about costumes in Denmark
In a few parts of Denmark, national folk dress is still worn on special occasions. In addition, Denmark has many active folk dancers that wear regional costumes for their performances and events.
The National Association of Danish Folk Dancers created a high-level introduction to Danish folk costumes in a short English-language pamphlet.
Danish folk dancers in a variety of costumes perform at Nordlek 2018.
Examples of Danish costumes by region:
Eksempler på Mandstøj (men’s examples) and Kvindetøj (Women’s clothing).
For more about costumes and culture of the Sámi people
The Sami people (also written as Saami or Sámi) of northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Kola peninsula of Russia have a rich history of traditional clothing.
This website provides an overview of Sami traditional clothing and a range of pictures.
This short documentary highlights Sami culture and provides some information about Sami traditional clothing.
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