A Review of What the Vikings Wore in the Past
Normally, when someone thinks about the Vikings, the image that comes to mind is someone who is unwashed and wears ugly cloths. The mode of dressing of the Vikings has been contributed to by various factors. However, you may wonder what the Vikings wear today, learn more. The dressing code of the Vikings has been explained in this article.
The mode of dressing of the Vikings is dictated by their classes. The community was made up of the Thralls, Karls and Jarls. The history of the Vikings show that the Thralls secured the lowest class and was mainly made up of slaves. The karls was made up of the middle class. In this group, we find the farmers and the herders. Even though this group was made up by people who owned land, it was not enough to get them into the next class. The Jarl was made up of people who had large pieces of land and has jewellery.
The weather also controlled the mode of dressing of the Vikings. Today, it is said that Scandinavia can get very cold, and it is also recorded that it was colder before than today. The average temperature that is recorded is one percent higher than what was experienced before. Therefore, it is the cold weather that also facilitated their mode of dressing. This is the reason as to why wearing of layers was essential to them as it prevented them from falling sick.
Viking tunic was part of the clothes that the men wore. The Viking tunic was normally worn over an under-tunic. The material that was used to make them was linen. However, since not all the classes could afford linen, the lower and the middle classes wore clothes that were made from wool. A pair of trousers was used to cover the underwear worn by men. Leggings were also used in place of trousers. Goat leather was the material that was used to make shoes. They used it mainly because it is waterproof, and since the Vikings were fond of sailing, it came in handy.
The women dressed similarly to what we see our women wearing today. The underdresses that were worn by women were also made of linen. The entire body was covered by their dresses. However, this was not done for any other reason than to keep the women away from cold. Wool was used to make the shorter dress that was worn on top of the long one. A belt was also worn by both genders as shown in this website. Their hats were made of wool, see here!.