Friday, February 29, 2008

Vikings had more fashion flare than previously thought: study


Vikings dressed with more finesse than we previously gave them credit for, a new study out of Sweden finds; vivid colours, flowing silk ribbons, and glittering bits of mirrors all contributed to their glamorous wardrobe.


The men were particularly vain, while the women dressed provocatively for the times. "They combined oriental features with Nordic styles. Their clothing was designed to be shown off indoors around the fire," says textile researcher Annika Larsson, whose research at Uppsala University presents a new picture of the Viking Age.


However, the study also found that the advent of Christianity likely changed these styles.


Larsson studied textile finds from the Lake Malaren Valley - an area that was once one of the central regions in Viking Scandinavia and that includes Sweden's capital city Stockholm as well as Uppsala. While the period popularly known as the Viking Age stretched from 750 - 1050 AD, Larsson emphasizes this was by no means a uniform period. By analyzing textiles and articles of clothing, Larsson believes the transition to less oriental features and more modest medieval Christian fashions took place as early as the late 900s.


This shift in clothing style also indicates that new trade routes with the Christian Byzantine and Western Europe came into use then as well.


"Textile research can tell us more about the state of society than research into traditions. Old rituals can live on long after society has changed, but when trade routes are cut off, there's an immediate impact on clothing fashions, says Larsson.


The traditional view saw Viking women wearing long suspender (brace) skirt, with both the front and back pieces consisting of square section, held together by a belt. Clasps, often regarded as typical of the Viking Age, were attached to the suspenders roughly at the collar bone. Under this dress they wore a linen shift, and on top of it a woollen shawl or sweater.


"The grave plans from excavations at Birka outside Stockholm in the 19th century show that this is incorrect. The clasps were probably worn in the middle of each breast. Traditionally this has been explained by the clasps having fallen down as the corpse rotted. That sounds like a prudish interpretation," says Larsson.


"It's easy to imagine that the Christian church had certain reservations about clothing that accentuated the breasts in the way and, what's more, exposed the under shift in front. It's also possible that this clothing was associated with pre-Christian rituals and was therefore forbidden," she concludes.


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