Costume (Anthropology)

Celtic Clothing During the Iron Age- A Very Broad and Generic Approach

by heather smith

Draft copy

While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we... more While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we consider historical commentary, Celtic art, oral traditions and archaeological data together we can amass a generic idea what might have been available and worn by them. This broad approach to dress is not with out bias however and it must be noted that regional differences must have existed. The document tries to amass not just the generic view of dress but also emphasizes the issues of lack of evidence and culture and region differences that impact this information.

Stitch & Bitch: The Occupational Folklife of Costume Studies Students

by Carley Williams

Published in Culture & Tradition, Volume 26, 2004, pp.26-37 - Special Issue on Student Life & Campus Customs
Undergraduate paper.

Housed in the basement of Carlton House, Halifax, Nova Scotia's oldest residence, Dalhousie University's Costume... more Housed in the basement of Carlton House, Halifax, Nova Scotia's oldest residence, Dalhousie University's Costume Studies was unlike any other department at the university, combining academic and technical skills to present Canada's most thorough program in all aspects of costuming. The small faculty of fifty students and six instructors was a tightly-knit group dedicated to the study of their trade, which was apparent in the commitment of the students despite the long hours and sometimes monotonous work. This article utilises McCarl's theories and methods on occupational folklore to examine the verbal lore, techniques, customs and range of expressive culture found within this unique educational setting.

‘í litklæðum’ – Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology

by Thor Ewing

published in Pre-print Papers of the Thirteenth International Saga Conference

Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and... more Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and poetry, it would appear that coloured clothing is noteworthy in itself; it is usually blue, but red is more imposing, and most impressive of all is red scarlet. Undyed clothing is also mentioned, often as the dress of slaves, but it can be worn even by kings. White clothing appears to symbolise piety.

To what extent is this picture supported by archaeology? Finds from medieval Greenland suggest that dyed cloth might indeed have been a rarity in the saga age, but interestingly the picture changes slightly when we look back to Viking times. This would appear to point to increasing isolation of the Atlantic settlements in the second millennium. Nonetheless, dyes are best represented on the best cloths of Viking Scandinavia, such as fine tabbies, Birka-type twills and pile woven cloaks.

Chemical analysis of excavated Scandinavian textiles by Penelope Walton Rogers has confirmed a remarkable predilection for blue clothing among Vikings. Red clothing is limited to high status contexts. 'Red scarlet' refers to a type of luxury cloth that was unknown in the Viking Age; however, the dye that was used to produce it (kermes) has been found on Viking silks. White clothing appears to have been popular not only with the pious but with the ungodly too, though its religious significance was important from the Conversion. The archaeology of dyestuffs reflects a similar pattern to that of dyed clothing.

In the light of this, I argue that blue clothes occur in the sagas simply as best clothes, and the colour does not in itself have any special symbolic meaning when it is worn before a killing. I also consider how red clothes are used as a status marker in sagas and poetry.

As well as a general analysis, I look in more detail at some specific instances of coloured clothes in poetry, such as Atlakviða's 'serki valrauða ' (st. 4), Sigurðarkviða inn skamma's 'valaript vel fáð' (st. 66) and Rígsþula's 'serk bláfáan' (st. 29). I also consider literary and archaeological evidence for coloured clothes in other Viking-age societies, and find that the colour of Viking dress was distinctive, and was recognised as characteristically Scandinavian.

"From Mesopotamia to Modern Syria: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on Female Adornment during Rites of Passage" in Ancient Near Eastern Art in Context, Festschrift Irene J. Winter, edited by M. Feldman and J. Cheng, Boston: Brill, 2007, pp. 449-83.

by Amy Rebecca Gansell