12th century Finnish

Regional Variation / Women’s Clothing

As nearly as I can tell, this is our 12th Century. Has anyone done anything with this? Is there any research on this you can point me to?
http://www.mlab.uiah.fi/Mulli/html/media/valokuva/e_puku.html
~ Esther / ED Reese
Message #969, April 2, 2003

Female Dress from the 12th Century
Finds from Grave IV of Kansakoulunm�ki Hill made it possible to research the typical of a wealthy12th Century lady wore on special occasions. One part of the dress was a skirt made of white woollen cloth. On top of that, there was a dark woollen shirt, that was fastened at the shoulders by bronze pennannular brooches. The upper part of the shirt was turned so that it was in two layers. On her shoulders the woman wore a blue woollen shawl, or cloak whose lower rim was decorated with bronze spirals. An aproan and a headwear, both made of wool, were part of the dress too. On the feet of the woman there were moccasin-like footwear made of leather. As jewelry, she wore a head-string made mostly of glass beads and bronze pennannular brooches. This dress is considered by archaeologists to be a typical “better dress” of a 12th Century woman in Western Finland. Sources: Hirviluoto 1987.


Hello! Are you also on the Norsefolk yahoo group? In their Links section, there are some good images of Finnish garb. Check out:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Norsefolk/files/FinnishDress.pdf — broken link
for an early 11-th century female costume based strictly on archaeological finds from Eura (a bit eary for you, but it will give you some Clues about what you’re seeing in that watercolor sketch you posted)

(maybe you have to be a member of the group first, to get it to work)

and, also in Norsefolk, in the Photo section, a whole parade of Baltic costumes from the 5th to 11th centuries. (Again, a bit early for you.) These photos are from a museum’s “best guess” at regional costume in the Dark Ages.

You did say RESEARCH, though — so the book you *really* want to find is: Ancient Finnish Costumes, by Lehtosalo-Hilander. Published in Helsinki by the Finnish Archaeological Society, 1984. Should be available via Interlibrary Loan. There are several versions of twelfth-century female costume in there. They are based on archaeological finds – but as you know, interpretations can differ….

I personally suspect that the “shirt” mentioned on your website is a long tubular garment held together at the shoulders by brooches. The drawings tend to make them look nice & sleek around the armpits, but in fact, they are quite a bit lumpier. In a fine, softly-draping wool, or well broken in linen, the effect is graceful — but stiff linen or thick wool looks kind of inelegant.

~ Marieke / CM Krupp
Message #989, April 7, 2003