Viking women strutted their stuff
A recent analysis of remnants from a Viking woman’s grave
dating back to 10th-century Russia suggests a bolder, more revealing mode
of feminine fashion that included colored-silk gowns with eye-catching
metallic breast coverings and long trains prior to the arrival of Christianity.
CHINA VIEW is reporting Feb. 29th.
“Now we can say the pre-Christian dress code was very rich,”
textiles researcher Annika Larsson of Uppsala University in Sweden told LiveScience.
“When Christianity came, the dress was more like that of nuns.
There was a big difference.”
The findings here apply to the Swedish Vikings, who mostly traveled east into
modern-day Russia and further on to Byzantium and beyond from 750. A.D.
to 1050 A.D (the Viking Age), rather than the Danish/Norwegian Vikings
who went westward.
“Textile research can tell us more about the state of society
than research into traditions. Old rituals can live on long after society
has changed, but when trade routes are cut off, there’s an immediate
impact on clothing fashions,” Larsson said.
Larsson discovered a blue silk dress and associated ornaments
in a grave in the Russian region of Pskov, close to Novgorod
and the eastern trade routes then plied by Vikings from Sweden.
She said the dress was positioned in the grave as a gift likely
to be worn in an afterlife.
The new finding reveals instead that a Viking woman’s dress
consisted of a single piece of fabric with an opening in the front.
A pair of brooches, or clasps, was situated on top of the breasts
to accentuate the wearer’s figure.
“It’s easy to imagine that the Christian church had certain reservations
about clothing that accentuated the breasts in this way and,
what’s more, exposed the under shift in front,”
Larsson said.
“It’s also possible that this clothing was associated with
pre-Christian rituals and was therefore forbidden
once Christianity became established.”
“Thee make it work!”
Quote from Tim Gunn’s great great great
great great great great grandfather.
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