© Text and photo Laila Duran.

In all the books I am working on there are many references to the hairdo that are called “oppombindning” in Swedish and “opbindning” or “vippe” in Norwegian. This way of tying and parting the hair are used in many areas in Sweden and Norway. Here I am going to show you the right way of doing it. It is Britt Eklund from Boda in Swedish Dalecarlia who is dressing this young girl.

The model has the most luxurious hair. Even if you do not have a mane like hers, what you need is a hair length that is long enough to tie in a pony tail at the back of your head and then make extensions with flax yarn.

You need a long white cotton ribbon, 3-3,5 meter long, and start by tying the pony tail.

Then you part the pony tail in two.

Tie half of the hair with the ribbon and make sure it is even and symmetrical.

Then do the same on the other side.

Now you have two strands of tied hair and you place it around the crown of the head.

The ribbon is then tied to the back of the head but not at the very center.

Tie it a bit to the left or right, one more ribbon will be added, and this is so that the knots are not be tied on the same spot.

The second ribbon is called “släpband”. It is a bit wider and is placed in front of the hairdo. This is to keep the hair from falling down in to the forehead (which was not proper at all) and it will also give support to the cap that will be placed over it.

In Boda a small cushion is tied at the crown of the head to make sure the head dress is keeping the right shape all day. If you have the book Scandinavian Folklore Vol II you can see several different ways of dressing the hair. The ribbons have different colors in different parts of Scandinavia, depending on the social status, shape of the head dress and the different occasions when it is worn.

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

© Text and photo Laila Duran.

In Kautokeino in Finnmarken, Norway, the Sami folk costumes are very much influenced by trends. Mixing the traditional colors, fabrics and cut of the garments with personal taste makes a variation that are both trendy and traditional at the same time. This young lady is wearing her new kirtle, made for her confirmation, decorated with hundreds of meters of ribbon on the holbi, hem, using the red, white and blue colors mixed with silver threads.

To the left is the holbi of an old kirtle. Like all folk costumes, the old costumes has a greater variation of colors since the ribbons and fabric was hard to come by. What was available was used without the concern of matching colors. The new ribbons with metallic threads came into fashion about twenty years ago. Today most of the newly made kirtles has several silver (or gold) ribbons stitched to hem, cuff and boot lacing.

Old and new kirtle cuff.

Also in the silver brooches you can see the development. The top brooch is from a time when all kinds of silver was used as decoration. Brooches made by silversmiths where made in the cities. What you see here is a brooch made from gilded coins and it was not as complex to make as the new ones are. The creativity is wonderful and the simple star shape makes is both personal and very decorative.

These ladies has the holbi decorated with ribbons in many colors but without the metallic element.

Today the kirtles of men and children are also decorated with lots and lots of silver and gold metallic ribbons.

A boy dressed in a very fashionable kirtle in untraditional colors.

They are all wearing the same Kautokeino kirtle and still no kirtle is the same. The panels, the ribbons, the design of the belts, the silver clutches and boots, even the tussles on the shoe laces are of personal taste. The variation of the Sami kirtles are limitless.

My greatest thanks to the Pulk family in Kautokeino for sharing and showing me their families traditional clothing.

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.