The Wardrobe Project for their Royal Majesties - Team Norse / Viking.

The Norse outfits of Their Royal Majesties came together around one garment, a klappenrock for His Majesty. Starting with the coat we then searched for other extant finds of a similar time frame and culture to assemble a wardrobe. The different aspects of the wardrobe were divided up between 10 people, with each participant working on a part of their choosing. The color choice for the Royal Wardrobe is a mix between Their Majesty’s heraldic colors of black & red and the Kingdom heraldry of red & white. Where appropriate, the garments are embellished with silk trim, silk cord or silk tablet woven trim. Part of the fabric came from personal supply; part was bought especially for this project.

The base outfits of Their Majesties are based on extant garment pieces found in 10th century Danish Haithabu and Swedish Birka. Both towns were important trading villages of the time, creating exposure to a more diverse culture. His Majesty’s coat is based on garment pieces found in Haithabu that are interpreted as a wrap-around caftan, or klappenrock. His pants are based on earlier period Thorsberg Trousers (without the feet). Her Majesty’s coat is based on a pattern commonly known as the Birka coat.

Her apron dress is based on fabric fragments finds from Haithabu with its top adorned with a tablet woven brocade inspired by Birka finds. The under and overtunics are extrapolated from fabric fragment finds from both towns. The hoods are based on the well-known 11th century Skjoldehamn find. Unlike the unadorned extant piece, we added 10th century Mammen style embroidery on silk trim to add a bit of Royal flair.

For the Royal accessories we based the Knight’s white belt and belt pouch on Birka hardware finds. We choose a braided belt for Her Majesty in our Kingdom colors, as there is nearly no evidence for leather belts worn by Norse women. This belt is also based on the 11th century Skjoldehamn find and is thought to have belonged to a Norwegian woman. As Her Majesty would not have a belt pouch, a Haithabu style wood handled bag was made, boldly emblazoned with the Æthelmearc escarbuncle. The beads used in Her Majesty’s brooch string and necklace are based on 8th century Ribe exemplars. Their Majesty’s feet were covered with turnsole shoes based on 10th century shoes from Dorestadt, the Netherlands, another Viking trade center.

It was an amazing experience to see first how the wardrobe idea came together, then was taken apart and divvied up between the participants, to at the end come together again in its final assembly. While this type of collaboration is par for the course in medieval life, it is rare to encounter it in a SCAdian context. I feel privileged to have been part of this wonderful experience and hope the future will see more of this kind of multi-disciplinary, multi-artisan projects!

To download the documentation for this project, please visit:
https://www.academia.edu/35987087/The_Wardrobe_Project_-_a_set_of_Norse_Viking_Clothing_for_Their_Majesties