Festive Dress and Workwear
The independent farmer had an important position in pre-industrial society in Norway. This led to a strong focus on rural culture in the construction of a Norwegian identity toward the end of the 19th century.
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Festive Dress. Bride Morten Brun / Norsk Folkemuseum
Folk Dress
“Folk dress” describes clothing worn by rural people for everyday work, for churchgoing and for other special occasions.clothes could be distinctive for the region or more generally influenced by urban and European fashion. Regional folk dress could also change over time, partly inspired by international fashion as well as a result of local innovation. Local variations in dress increased noticeably during the 19th century. In some areas, traditional folk dress was in use far into the second half of the 20th century.
While fashion is usually categorized chronologically, folk dress has often been sorted according to region. The earliest portrait of a Norwegian farmer and his family (1699) shows a Renaissance influence on rural clothing. Although the portrait comes from the Hallingdal region, the clothing strongly resembles dress used at same time in other areas in southern Norway.