Slippery sloops in snowy Leksand.

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

This week I have been to Leksand, Dalecarlia, doing photo shoots in the beautiful surroundings of Siljan. Leksand has a rich and old folk costume tradition with a great variety of costumes. A costume almanac was used in the region and we have been able to take photos of several old garments. The hilly landscape in combination with the snow made the photo shoot into an adventure for the models. The folk costumes shoes are made of thick leather and are warm, but they are also slippery. Doing their very best to do as I instructed the models often ended up lying in the snow. Luckily, the fur and wool garments are made for the climate.

These two ladies are doing the only sensible thing: holding on to each other and wait for the rest of the family to arrive. Both are wearing wool caps over the traditional headdresses made of cotton.

The costumes are practical and warm. Leather, fur and broadcloth, with plenty off knitted accessories.

Underneath the short jackets the ladies are wearing a leather bodice. Beautifully decorated with embroidery.

Under the fur skirt she is wearing a linen shift and thick knitted stockings. The wool apron is decorated with floral printed cotton at the hem.

The photo shoots was made in cooperation with private collector Gunilla Landmark and Leksands Kulturhus. In the next two books, in the series Scandinavian Folklore, there will be several pages of photos of the Leksand costumes used on both weekdays, during sundays and at festive occasions. Kulturhuset in Leksand has interesting exhibitions going on. Please visit  http://www.leksand.se/sv/Startsida/Kultur-och-fritid/Kulturhuset/

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

1 Comment, Make a Comment by Laila on February 16, 2012
filed in Details in Fashion, Folk costumes

The woman´s Bunad from Sogn, the fjord region of Norway.

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

The reconstructed bunad from Sogn illustrates how women dressed in the inner and central parts of Sogn in the first part of the 19th century. The original was painted by the artist Johannes Flintoe in 1822 and there are also written testaments on how women would dress in the area.

The married woman´s headdress is called kvitlue, which is usually wrapped with a multicolor kerchief  in the winter. With this bunad, the jacket is worn under the bodice-skirt.

The bib, with appliqué, metallic ribbon and silver lace, is held in place with silver lacing rings and a silver chain.

The blue jacket is made of broadcloth and edged with black velvet ribbon. The blue apron, blåtrykksforklær, is made of dyed and printed cotton. There are also silk aprons that are used on festive occasions.

The collar of the jacket shows the influence from the Empire epoch at the beginning of the 19th century. The large gilded buttons with hanging leaves shows that the jacket will be worn on festive occasions.

This photo shoot was made in cooperation with Norsk Institutt for Bunad og Folkedrakt in Valdres, Norway.

This week I am off to Dalecarlia in Sweden spending three days with folk costume collectors from Leksand. We still have plenty of snow and I look forward to show you the practical and colorful winter costumes from that area.

I would also like to thank all you people who help spreading the link to my blog to friends and family. Last week I was informed that the statistic of visits to the blog has passed ten thousand pages pr month. I am so grateful, thank you!

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

Make a Comment by Laila on February 9, 2012
filed in Folk costumes

Jokkmokk Winter Market and the Sami national Day!

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

Today the celebration of the Jokkmokk winter market starts. It is minus 15°C and the sun is shining. Thousands of people gather and the market not only shows the goods of the trade of the reindeer keepers but for a whole week there are lectures, courses in sami crafts, theater, music and dance. This year’s market theme is “Music on the Arctic Circle”. If you want to know more you should visit the websites and see what is going on. Here are some: http://www.jokkmokksmarknad.se/home/ Take a look at this as well, it can hardly get more exotic:  http://www.jokkmokksmarknad.se/news/with-instruments-made-of-ice/

The young woman is wearing her Jokkmokk kolt. The coming week there will be thousands of beautiful folk costume from all over Sapmi to be seen in the streets of Jokkmokk.

The young man with his reindeer is wearing a Sami costume from Karesuando.

North and south Sami costumes. The woman to the right is wearing a costume from Jämtland and the woman to the left a costume from Jokkasjärvi.

To keep her warm she is wearing a fur hat and a storm cape, njálfáhtta.

All the Sami costumes has storm capes. The young man is wearing a green cape of broadcloth trimmed with red and yellow ribbons.

To celebrate the Sami national day on the 6th of February the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo has made a large exhibition with old photos from the Sami culture from a hundred years ago. If you want to read more you can also visit:

http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/en/Collections/The-Sami-Collections/

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

2 Comments, Make a Comment by Laila on February 2, 2012
filed in Uncategorized
« Older Posts
All rights to pictures and content are reserved to Durán Textiles© 2010