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Conspicuous Consumption and the Viking Age

3/16/2016

2 Comments

 
I am once again exploring new ways of patterning Viking Age garments.  I always have kept in mind the need to make as little waste as possible when patterning, but am looking to explore options that allow for even less fabric usage.  Another part of this experiment is also to look at the different lines and silhouette that I can get in a garment, and to possibly step further away from a modern mindset.

My early Viking aprondresses are pretty full at the hem.  I like full, swishy skirts and that carried over to my patterning.  My first dress had almost no waste at all and made a comfortable dress with a very, very full skirt. The front and back panels have flared bottom edges (based on the Hedeby fragment) and full triangular gores added to the sides.  I actually pretty quickly decided that the skirt looked odd, with such a full hem, and I took the gores out and made them more narrow.  I was more happy with it then, but looking at it now, I still think that the bottom hem is too full in proportion to the rest of the dress.

Picture
Pattern for my first aprondress (I think I might even have had a back gore in this one at one point).
When I look at examples from Hedeby, the gores found there relatively narrow (even if you use two together), compared to some I have made.  The aprondress fragment also has a subtle flare than I tend to use.  Given that many people wear aprondresses that do not reach the floor, I think that a exceedingly full hem becomes unnecessary as movement would not be hindered by the skirt.
Picture
Aprondress fragment from Hedeby
Picture
Gore from Hedeby
I have seen arguments about the width of hems in the period online.  Unfortunately, we, at this time, cannot truly settle that based on the evidence we currently have.  Frequently, someone will cite "conspicuous consumption" as the reasoning behind such full dresses.  I will grant that could well come into play with textiles in later time periods, but during the Viking age we are still looking at the possibility of a great deal of textiles still being woven in-home.  (And it is often at this point that it is mentioned that the families were large and it was more than one person doing the spinning and weaving.  Yes, but, those people then also need clothing.)  Even with the possibility of some local textile production (which has been considered possible for sites such as Birka), the time involved in crafting the cloth is still very high, and would still make it costly to purchase.

Imported fabrics were also available to those that could afford them.  I can only imagine that the cost for these goods was steep.  While I agree that a wealthy woman would likely had a more full hemline that that of a poor farmer's wife, I still do not think that, during this time period, that the skirts showed the excess use of textiles the way they would later in time.

So, based on my thoughts above, I am playing with additional patterns and making garments to see what I think of them after wearing them for a time.  Further, I am looking to play with a more subtle tailoring in the garments, to try to further step away from the cotehardie silhouette or an overall hourglass shape.

The beginning of this process is a dress I recently made with a pleated front based on the finds at Kaupang, Kostrop and Vangsnes.  I wear this now under my handwoven dress (as the pleated dress from Kaupang was found under an aprondress with a plain front).  The cut on it is only very slightly tailored from the bust to the waist at the side panels.  I am quite surprised at how much I like the final look of the garment.  The hem is not as excessive as some I have used in the past and this can be cut with absolutely no waste at all.

Picture
My pleated aprondress cutting diagram. I tailored the tops of the side panels only a tiny bit from the bust to the waist. The overall fit is still quite loose.
 I used a bit of leftover linen from a project 15 years ago last night to cut an exceptionally simple dress with a narrow hem (approx 68 inches, compared to the 34 inch bust while many of my previous dresses had hems in excess of 108 inches).  I will put it together tonight and give it a test this week to see what I think of the garment. 
Picture
Exceptionally simple aprondress cutting diagram.
Picture
In the photo is the aprondress cut from the scrap linen mentioned above. It only has a little tailoring in the back, and none on the front panel. It could be more tailored, but that would make for a less versatile garment. The hem is narrow compared to many of my other dresses, but is just wide enough to allow for a full range of movement.
2 Comments
Ása Guðrunsdóttir link
12/31/2016 01:12:54 am

As always, I like to read your intelligent and critical thoughts on Viking Age garments. I am currently thinking about making a new apron dress for myself (since my old one is one of the first garments I sewed by hand and doesn't look as "posh" as it should) and I am wondering what kind of cut to use.

So, I would like to know what this last version of yours - the one made of the leftover linen - actually looked like on a person.

And: Have you ever considered that a narrower cut of a garment made of fine fabric might be a sign of wealth since you wouldn't have to do all the "dirty work" for which you would need extra movement (like working in the stables, grinding corn, etc)?

Reply
Alfrun
1/2/2017 10:33:32 am

I will add in a photo on this post in just a few minutes!

This cut has a fairly narrow hemline but it is still MORE than enough to allow full range of movement. I can run in it, I could get up and down off the ground, put up a tent, etc. It in no way hinders my movement. In fact, I find that overly full garments do impact my movement as I find that the fabric often bunches up weirdly between my legs if I am bustling around (especially in garments with wide center-front gores).

There is room in this dress to move, and to carry a child or gain weight. I think it is quite functional and reflects something that would have been desirable in a garment of the period. (One could keep this not-overly-full hemline and still tailor the body a bit more, but that would make the garment less versatile. I only added a bit of tailoring in the back at the waist, and no tailoring in the front.)

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