Welcome to Norske Bunader!

"Folkedrakter og Bunader i Gudbrandsdalen"
Oppland Bondekvinnelag

In 1984 the Norwegian Society of Rural Women, Oppland county (Oppland Bondekvinnelag), decided to start classifying folk costumes and bunads in Oppland. With regards to the Lillehammer area, the registration project was finished in 1989.  The material includes approx. 2000 registration forms for costumes, part of costumes and accessories, as well as approx. 300 forms for silver accessories. For quite some time, the Norwegian Society of Rural Women, Oppland county, has wished to release a publication which - based on the registration - shows the variety and tradition of the costume fashion in this part of the county i.e. the Gudbrandsdalen. Most of the finds have been made in this geographical area, which is a separate folk costume region.

Gudbrandsdalen is one of the districts that had a vital and distinct folk costume tradition. There was an abundance of various materials, ornaments and sewing - and a alot of delicate handicraft. It seems that the old dress costum survived for the longest time in northern parts of the Gudbrandsdalen; as late as the 1940s some elderly women regularly wore the traditional costume of their region, the randastakk. Striped skirt, red-chequered bodice, without sleves, white or chequered blouse.

The vital source material dates back to the late 18th century; it includes old parts of costumes, written and verbal information as well as drawings and photos.

The folk costume

Both everyday and festive clothes has identical cut and sewing. Dividing garments into clothes for everyday use, vs. clothes for weekends and festivals, was a question of wear and tear and the supply of materials. Also the folk costume was influenced by European fashion, and it changed over time.

New trends and ideas first arrived in the towns and commercial centres, from where they were brought out to the rural communities by people such as civil servants and their families. The costume was adapted to local conditions depending on how people could take advantage of new ideas, with their supply of materials at a time when most clothes were produced in the homes.  Delicate, imported cloth such as silk, velvet and damasque became ordinary commodities, and were soon included in the costumes. This also applied to fine woollen shawls, kerchiefs and cotton cloth. To a great extent, it was a matter of economy; the "bought" cloth was the status symbol of that age.

As a result, the folk costumes were widely different in cloth and colours; the cut however, followed contemporary fashion. Until the 1830s women usually wore a skirt with waistband and a loose laced bodice, a loose-fitting jacket and a cap. From now on, however, the skirt and the bodice were stitched together so as to make one garment. The loose-fitting jacket was replaced by a waist-jacket. At this time, the starched kerchief came into fashion as a headgear.

As opposed to the folk costume, the Bunad is a formal costume which is a supplement to contemporary everyday clothes. Also, the bunad is totally different from the everyday clothes and is only worn on special occasions. As opposed to the folk costume, the bunad leaves little room for variation; however, it originates from local costume traditions. The seam and the cut of the separate parts of the costume are in accordance with traditions, and identical for all bunads and costumes as from the 1930s. The lenght of the skirts has varied somewhat. The waistline of today is further down than it was 60-70 years ago.

According to the local book from Fjell near Bergen, the male costume changed its appearance four times, whereas the female costume remained unchanged during the same period. The situation was probably the same all over the country. The menfolk were often travelling, when serving in the armed forces, they were influenced by whet they saw there. Thus the male clothes often had a military characther. The women spent most of their time at home, and were not subject to this kind of influence. A male costume from the 18th and early 19th century usually included a so-called grey coat with big pockets, a red-chequered waistcoat, knee-breeches, a red knitted cap, top boots and a silk kerchief around the neck. The grey coat was made of grey-white frieze (home woven woollen cloth); ith had big pocket flaps and large, engraved brass or bronze buttons. The red-chequered waistcoat was made of wool: it was lined and had engraved buttons. The grey coat had stitching in various patterns. The breeches were made of leather, frieze lined with leather, or lined velvet also; there were large buttons in front, and smaller buttons at the knees.

Soon, simple waistcoats came into fashion. There were many different kinds of fine, bought cloth in these waistcoats. Also, the design of the buttoning and the collar varied somewhat.Trousers gradually replaced the knee breeches. In the last half of the 19th century, a kind of tail coat was introduced; it was in common use until the 1920s. These new parts of costume replaced the grey coat and its accessories. Those who could afford it, used expensive cloth in these garments. White shirt fronts and silk kerchief came into fashion roughly at the same time.

The shirt was white with a high collar and narrow neck band with embroidery. The knitted red cap was used in most parts of the country. It was double-knitted and had a turn-up with white, black, blue and green stripes. The turn-up was knitted with the nap technique. The knitted red cap has a long history. It was used as a symbol during the French revolution; Norwegians used it for the same purpose during World War II. Some people used knitted cap regularly even in the early 20th century. The caps were both knitted at home and produced in factories.

At the time of the National Romanticism, about 1850-1900 the National costume came into fashion all over the country. The costume was a simplification of the Hardanger costume, which at that time was the most typical Norwegian national symbol. In this period, Hulda Garborg designed a costume named after her; it was a simplification of the costume from Hallingdal.

A number of costumes with embroidery were made in the 1920s Fashion dictated that there should be embroidery on the costumes to make them look fashionable.