Timothy_D_Finkas wrote:James,
I am not accepting this "new stuff" at face value, but I find it stimulating and thought-provoking. I experience a similar process where I sporadically re-examine my beliefs and methods and either validate them or discover there's a need to change what I previously did or previously understood.
Skoal,
Tim
Tim,
I just went through a re-examination of primary source material for viking women and became pretty convinced that the tubular, but slightly flaired at the waist shorter "apron-dress" now worn commonly by re-enactors was just as much conjecture as the old two flap apron. For women from this period, there are just very small bits of fabric left, and many iconographic examples show a clearly a decorated apron.
My final analysis for women's clothing:
There was probably more than one style of Viking women's clothing.
Women from different regions/countries probably wore different styles.
Women most likely wore different clothing in summer vs winter.
Women of different social classes probably wore different styles.
Sound familiar?
So my theory:
Sometimes women wore decorated aprons. These may have been a front and back flap, or just a front flap. You can't really tell from the iconography, but a front flap is most definitely visible.
They sometimes wore pleated fabrics. However one doesn't need to pleat the fabric to achieve a correct profile if one wears an apron over properly cut heavily gored tunic dress with a train, because the gores on the sides will fall in pleats and flow just like the iconography.
Sometimes women (especially very early) may have wore a tube wrapped around them as an apron dress.
Sometimes women may have worn two flaps with the openings in the front and back, not on the sides, sometimes with another apron over that.
Sometimes women may have worn a more fitted overgarment that could have been like the tube garment women wear, or two fitted flaps, with seams or darts down the back (and probably the front.) It could have been short or long, because we don't have a lot of info, however none of the iconography I found showed any indication of a shorter overgarment. For all we know it was open in the front.
I was able to make a dress with a pretty darn correct profile using the two flap apron laced at the sides with darts in front and back and a sash over a properly cut tunic dress, and it still met the parameters of the extant archaeological finds, and would be suitable for a woman's main pastime in the medieval times - nursing. Even though fitted, undoing the straps allow the front to roll down.
So why was the two flap apron design dismissed? Because there was no evidence of belt fittings in gravefinds which would hold the apron in at the waist. Without a belt, the garment seemed too impractical, it would blow around in the wind, would fall forward when trying to cook over a fire, etc.
However one extant piece shows wear/fulling at the waist from a belt - so perhaps a tablet woven sash? (This is still used in Scandinavian women's folk wear.) Once we have something to hold two flaps down at the waist, rectangular shaped aprons become very practical - no cutting when manufacturing, a two flap apron would have 4 sides to get dirty before washing, and they were prevalently used in cultures cooking using open fires for centuries.
Were they short or long? Iconography shows long gowns. But these were representative of rich women, nobles, goddesses, not thralls. Evaluating other cultures near that period, shorter garments are worn by the poor. Shorter garments are also worn by snow cultures in winter. Long dresses just don't work well in deep snow, however indoors a long dress will seal the body heat to the floor and keep out drafts.
What my final conclusion was - we don't have enough information to know for sure, but there are several reasonable conjectural recreations.
It was very interesting to go through all the current documentation again after almost 20 years away from looking at Viking costume.
One of these days I'll get some pictures....
My Viking interest was rekindled not from the SCA, but from a Sons of Norway group nearby that holds Viking Mythology themed dinners.
Julie