Viking Clothes - What did the Vikings wear?

How do we know which clothes the Vikings wore? And from where do we have this knowledge from? That is the question that I intend to answer today. Fashion is not a new thing. People have for thousands of years dressed themselves in the best clothes they could afford. This was of course also true in the Viking society, where they wore the most beautiful clothes with the highest quality they could scrape enough silver coins together for. In the Viking Age, clothes did not just have a practical purpose, but many of them also dressed with the intent to show their social status and to appeal to the other sex. Just like the German phrase Kleider machen Leute, which means clothes make people. Unfortunately, Viking clothes are rarely being found, and when the archaeologists do find some clothes from the Viking Age, they are often just small pieces of different kind of materials, like wool and linen, which easily decays. So it can be difficult to see the patterns and figures on some of the clothes after so many years in the ground. That is why we do not just look at the pieces of the clothes, but we also look at the written materials. But small figures can also help us understand the Viking fashion. For instance, the Valkyrie that was found in 2012 at Hårby in Denmark, or the figure of fire found in 2014. Tapestries such as the Bayeux tapestry in France also gives us an insight into how the Vikings dressed. So as you can see, we use as many relevant sources as possible to help us create a broader image of what kind of clothes they wore. There has for a long time been an image of the Viking clothes as being gray and boring, but that is not the case. They had lots of colors to choose from when they made the clothes. One of the most expensive colors in the Viking Age was red, and it came from the madder root. But because the plant did not grow in Scandinavia, it was necessary to trade for it in places like Frankia and Saxony. Some of the other colors the Vikings had available were black, yellow, blue, purple, white, and many, many others. So it was indeed a colorful time to be alive. The Vikings loved to have patterns on their clothes. And we do have some bits of pieces with patterns from the Viking Age, but many of the patterns that are on the reconstructed Viking clothes today are inspired by the Viking art, such as on weapons, jewelry, and rune stones, and other sources, which are not necessarily clothes. The people in the Viking Age wore the clothes in layers to keep themselves warm, and most of them wore similar clothes with some variations depending on where they lived and what they could afford. Most men wore a tunic as an outer garment on his upper body, most likely with long sleeves in the winter and short sleeves in the summer. The tunics were very long and went down to their knees. It had no buttons, so they had to pull it over their head. The tunics were colored in one of the many colors they had available, and some of them were even decorated with patterns and symbols. The men wore trousers made from either linen or wool. The trousers had no pockets or elastic, but they might have had a simple drawstring in the waistband. We do know they used a leather belt, because there has been found many Viking belt buckles from excavations. The poor people or the slaves just used a string fastened around their waist. There was of course variations on how the trousers looked. Some were tight and some were baggy, and some of the trousers had many details and others did not. The Viking men also wore a tunic and a pair of trousers as underwear that had no colors or patterns, since no one would see them anyway. Both the tunic and trousers were most commonly made from linen. It was however not the cheapest option, but it was the more comfortable option to use linen as underwear. Underwear made from wool would have been a cheaper option for the lower classes in the Viking society. Are you starting to get warm and comfortable? Well, we are not done yet, because the men also wore leg wrappings around their legs on top of their trousers. These leg wrappings were two long narrow strips of clothes, which were typically made from wool. They were wrapped around the leg from the knee and down to under the foot. The leg wrappings were not commonly used everywhere in other Europe. For instance, in Iceland it was not a common practice. Sometimes the Vikings also wore a simple cloak. It was not something that was very hard to make. It was simply just a large rectangular piece of linen or wool. Some of them chose to color their cloak, maybe to show their status, or just to have a pretty cloak in their favorite color. A Viking cloak was very practical in many ways, and they could use it to hide their weapons beneath it. However, the main purpose of the cloak was probably to help them stay warm. There might have been variations in how the cloak was made. Some could have been better insulated, which made them warm and gave them more shelter from the cold wind. Other cloaks might have been a light version, so they could have been used during the spring and summer, where the cloaks were still practical not just for staying warm in the evenings, but also to give them a little cover from the rain. The cloak was attached to the clothes with a brooch, which there has been found many of with various designs made from different materials. If we take a look at the women's clothing in the Viking age, we can see that the materials to make the clothes was the same as were used to make the men's clothing. The most common outfit for a woman was an ankle-length linen underdress with a strapped dress over it. And just like the men, there were no pockets in the women's clothing. The strapped dress was shorter in length and made from wool. The shoulder straps were fastened to the underdress with two brooches, which were either made from iron or bronze, and in very rare instances, they were made from gold. Between the two brooches, women had either beads, amber, or other jewelry as decorations. But women would also sometimes hang useful items there, such as keys, needles, scissors, or even a redstone. It was not the same style of fashion in every Viking community. For example, the Danish Viking women preferred plain undergarments, whilst the Swedish Viking women wore pleated ones. Some women would also wear a knotted kerchief as head covering, but it is uncertain if it was an everyday thing or just something for special occasions. It could have been used for practical purposes, such as in preventing their hair from getting into the food, because we have to remember it was mostly women who prepared the meals. When the weather was a bit chilly, the women had an ankle-length undergarment, which she wore over her dress. But the women also used cloaks, which was probably more common and a cheaper option. The front of the outer garment did not have any buttons, but they used a trilobe brooch to close it. This trilobe brooch was not originally a women's accessory, but it was used by the men, or more accurate, it was used by the fighters. The fighters used the trilobe brooch as a leather strap divider, with the leather strap wrapped around one of their shoulders and then attached to a belt, so the fighters could hang a weapon in their belt, for instance an axe. But what started as an accessory for men, and a fighter symbol, changed with time into women's fashion during the Viking Age. Silk was also available for the Vikings, but it was very expensive, and most likely only something the rich could afford to buy. Clothes made from silk was seen as a status symbol, because it was imported from as far away as Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire. You might think the Vikings sat around the fire at night and knitted a pair of socks for their loved ones, so they could keep their feet warm. But while they might have made socks for their loved ones, the Vikings did not knit their socks, they used an ancient technique called needle binding, where you use a large needle to tie the yarn, or in other words, knot the yarn together. This might sound like a slow way to do it, but it actually made the socks nearly indestructible, and they would last for many, many years. When it was snowing outside, the people would keep themselves warm by putting on a hood that covered their head and shoulders, or a cap, scarf, and mittens. The hoods were typically made from pieces of fabric, and the caps and scarves and mittens were typically made from wool by using the needle binding method. However, the mittens were also made from animal skin, such as sheepskin, and they could even have been made from fur, at least if they had the silver coins for it. Some people did, however, struggle to keep warm in the winter, and not everyone could afford a cap or mittens, or even a good pair of socks. The poor people and the slaves in the Viking society would put hay or moss into their shoes to keep their feet warm. In Scandinavia, it does get very cold, and these things are of course not enough, as anyone that has lived here in these parts of the world will tell you. The Vikings also had coats and jackets made from wool. They have, however, mostly been found in the eastern part of the Norse land, so we cannot say for certain that it was widespread throughout all the Nordic countries. The Vikings loved to walk around in a good pair of shoes, and some of their shoes were quite unique compared to how we make them today. There has been found many shoes from the Viking age, and the reason for this is because the shoes did not last that long and got thrown into the trash. Some of the Vikings might even have been purchasing shoes a couple of times a year. But not all of the Viking shoes are made in the same way, and they were definitely not all made in the same style and fashion. However, all of them were made from leather. If we take a look at the shoes made by the Viking settlers in York, England, you will see how different the styles could be. Many people from the Viking age were hard workers, so it was important to have shoes that were practical instead of shoes that was just made to look pretty. Most of the shoes that has been found from the excavations in York are shoes which were closed with stitches from inside of the shoe, which sounds a bit strange to us today, but it must have been more practical and comfortable to work in shoes like that. I wonder if you could tell the social status of a person just by looking at the shoes in the Viking age. I don't own a pair of Viking shoes myself, but it could be fun to try and walk around in shoes like that and test its pros and cons. The shoes the Vikings had, had either buttons or laces, and when the shoes had laces they went around the foot and below the ankle on the foot, to avoid putting on too much pressure on the sensitive parts of the foot. The laces were typically attached to the shoe with strips of leather, and for those of you who wonder, yes, the people also had the joy of the laces snapping from time to time. The people also wore boots in the Viking age, and some of them had heels. However, it is unlikely that boots with heels were work boots, and was probably mostly worn by either the merchants or the upper class. The boots were usually ankle high, and it was very rare to see them any higher, and just like the shoes, the boots had either buttons or laces. Both men and women wore handbags in the Viking age. A handbag would hang in their belt, and some people might even have had two handbags in their belt, so they could divide their belongings into what their uses were. Some handbags might have had small tools in them, and others might have had silver coins. However, it was probably most likely that they only had one handbag in their belt, and might have used a pouch for coins or other bits and pieces. Not only did handbags hang in their belt, but also the axe and knife and other useful items that were very handy to have within reach. The belts in the Viking age were not as wide as the ones we use today. They were considerably narrower, and was typically only around 2 cm wide, which is about 3 to 4 inches. There has been found many belt buckles, which has given us an insight into how the design on their buckles was. The number of details on them can only mean that they really cared a great deal about their appearance. There are patterns and decorations on both the leather belt and the two buckle pieces. The belt was in fact one of the most important parts of their outfit. Not only did it keep their trousers from falling down, they also had all the bits and pieces attached to the belt. The belt was also one of the most vulnerable parts in a fight, because if the opponent would strike the belt with their axe or sword, the belt would snap, and I can imagine they would have had a hard time fighting while trying to pull up their trousers from the ground. The clothes that the children in the Viking Age wore was pretty much the same as their adults. Both the clothes from the boys and the girls would reflect their parents' style in both quality and fashion. Today most of us are familiar with clothes that is waterproof, and it might come as a surprise to you, but that is not a modern thing. The Vikings did also know how to make their clothes waterproof. Of course it was not on the same level as nanotechnology, but it still worked fine. The Vikings used skins from animals treated with beeswax, which made them soft, and then applied fish oil on them, so they became waterproof. There is no doubt that the Vikings knew how to make beautiful jewelry. Just look at some of the jewelry that has been found from the excavations. The details on many of them are absolutely stunning. Men and women across all classes in the society wore jewelry, and they were not necessarily religious objects. Some were just ornamentals, for instance rings, arm rings, necklaces, and brooches, and depending on what kind of materials they were made from, that could even indicate the wealth of the person. The people in the Viking society did not wear earrings. It was something they were familiar with, and they probably encountered it on their many expeditions, when they traveled around in Eastern Europe and came in contact with the Slavic people. Some of the jewelry also had a practical function, for example the brooches that I mentioned earlier were used to fasten the cloaks on the clothes. Some of the pieces of the jewelry had of course also a symbolic value, such as Thor's hammer, which was made as a pendant for a necklace. I hope you enjoyed the video, and if you did, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new here on the channel, remember to hit that subscribe button and ring that bell, so you get notifications every time a new video is uploaded. See you next Sunday for another video. Thank you for watching.