Folklore Fashion - blogg

Slippery sloops in snowy Leksand.

Laila — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:00:25 +0000

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/

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

Laila — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:31:23 +0000

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!

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Jokkmokk Winter Market and the Sami national Day!

Laila — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:43:29 +0000

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/

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A hundred shades of white!

Laila — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:56:12 +0000

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

Since I am on the road, taking the winter photos for my second book, I am just going to show some of the photos from last week and hope you will enjoy them. Heavy snow made the landscape in to a wonderland and I decided to take all the photos outdoors. January often has amazing light and I wanted to do a series of photos using the hundreds of shades of white presented to us by our Father Winter of the North.

The bunad is from Fana in Norway. A silk bodies and a pearl embroidered bib sparkles in the snow.

The bunad of Fana has a living tradition. The very old fashioned headdress is worn by the married woman.

The bunad has a short wool jacket with fine silk ribbon edging. The white festive apron is decorated with crochet lace.

THANK YOU to all the patient models who stayed out in the snow and ice for hours patiently waiting for me to get things right. And, thank you, to the ladies helping with all the different costumes and props this week.

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Bright winter days and sledge rides kicks off the production of the books!

Laila — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:44:12 +0000

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

Winter is my favorite time for taking photos. The light and the contrast makes the colors sparkle and even though it easily gets too bright, the charm of the garments and the detailing makes me want to stay out doors all day. Two years ago I made my first photo shoot for Scandinavian Folklore volume 1. The site was Skansen Open Air Museum in Stockholm, and with family, friends and colleagues, we had a great day including a sledge ride and a visit to the Seglora Church. Here are some of the photos that I did not use in the book.

The lady to the left is wearing a winter costume from Delsbo in Hälsingland and her lady friend, sitting at the front, is dressed in a costume from Dala Floda in Dalecarlia. To the right, the man is wearing a costume from Rättvik and, like the coachman, he is dressed to travel.

Anne Kristin Moe, who is a curator at Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo, is a co-writer in the series of books: Scandinavian Folklore vol 1, 2, 3. Here she is wearing an old costume from Dala Floda, from the collection of Klädkammaren at Skansen.

The skirt of the Dala Floda costume is made of goat fur and trimmed with red and green broadcloth.

This is a newly made winter costume from Delsbo. The characteristic red headdress, a frame cap, is made of printed cotton.

It was a beautiful day, cold crisp air and blue sky. The sledge ride ended at the picturesque Seglora Church. For more information please visit: www.skansen.se

This week I am travelling through central Norway where there are plenty of my favorite prop; snow. A steady snowfall and a strong wind, makes the photos both dramatic and cheerful. Next week I will show you!

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“Hardanger and Voss Museum” in the picturesque Hardangerfjord.

Laila — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:22:13 +0000

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

One of the most popular tourist attractions in the western part of Norway is Hardanger, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. The scenery, with farms cultivating fruit, snowy mountain tops and good fishing, has been the motif of many famous paintings from the Romantic era. Hardanger Folkemuseum is the oldest museum in the region, founded in 1911. The open air museum with more than 20 buildings, from the 15th to the 19th century, is situated at the foreland of Utne.

The woman, seated in the living room in one of the 19th century houses, is wearing a Hardanger bunad and the traditional “hardangerskaut”, a head-rail, used by married women.

The mens bunad jacket and waistcoat are made from red woolen cloth with green edging, decorated with plenty of forged silver buttons. Used on special occasions are the silver ring, watch chain, and the colorful silk scarf. The wooden goblet, like the one he is holding, was used all over all over Scandinavia.

Lars Kinsarvik was a very influential wood-carwer and artist in the late 20st century. His work, who came to be known as “the Norwegian style”, was shown in exhibitions all over Norway and Europe. In 1899 he represented Norway at the World Exhibition in Paris.

This is a drinking-vessel carved and painted by Kinsarvik. The museums has several pieces.

The bunad from Hardanger is a living tradition and has evolved from a folk costume. The different regions are indicated in the detailing on the costumes. This bunad has a green silk bodies and a black woolen skirt. The white apron has inlaid embroidery, which is known as Hardanger embroidery.

A dark green waistcoat can also be worn with the red jacket. At the wrists he is wearing embroidered wristlets of coarse woolen cloth with napped edgings. The hat is trimmed with silk ribbon and a silver lace. The collar on his shirt is closed with a silver button with hanging leaves.

The girl´s jacket, in dark blue wool and silk edging, is an original from the museum collection. Her plaited hair and the embroidered belt indicates that she is not married.

For more information please visit:

http://www.hardangerogvossmuseum.no/hardanger-folkemuseum/norsk/aktuelt.aspx

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Norwegian Biedermeier, a wintercoat in wool and velvet.

Laila — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:39:34 +0000

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

Many of the garments in the bunads and folk costumes in Scandinavia have been greatly influenced by the fashion of earlier epochs. This lovely long black winter coat from Norway called kjol, frakk or kavaj, came in to fashion during the Biedermeier period, between 1815 and 1850. It was used in Valdres, Hallingdal and Numedal. The latter, way in to the 20st century. It is made of black or dark blue home spun or broadcloth with padding in the body. The lady is wearing a fine printed wool shawl over her cap and silk scarves.

The lapels, belt and edging is made of black velvet with embroidery in black. A silver buckle is fastened to the belt at the front, the buttons are just a decoration. She is wearing embroidered knitted gloves with napped edging to keep her hands warm.

Her attentive admirer is wearing a bunad from Sogn, in the County of Sogn and Fjordane. This is how men dressed in the first half of the 19th century. His wide jacket with flared skirts has its roots in the 16th century, but the high collar and some of the detailing is influenced by the empire fasihon.

The jacket, waistcoat and breeches are made of homespun. The suspenders buttoned to the trousers, has a string of twisted wool yarn at the front. This way the suspenders can move with the body and will be much more comfortable.

There are two jackets to be worn with this bunad from Sogn. The red one on the photo and a white one with black edging. There are also three different waist coats to choose from.

In the middle of january I am going to Norway for another photo shoot, and I will do my best to keep you posted. We hope for cool dry snow, beautiful bunads and eager models, and will present these textile treasures in the best fashion possible in Scandinavian Folklore volume II.

The work with our second book, to be published in 2012, “Norwegian Embroidered Bunads” are coming along well and we will start showing how the work progress this spring. Anne Kristin Moe, curator at The Norsk Folkemuseum i Oslo, is rewriting her MA thesis on the subject of the embroidered bunads in to a popular version. A total of 500 new and old photographs, the old ones from The Norsk Folkemuseum´s extensive archives, will give anyone with a fondness of the subject a thrill.

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Best wishes to you all and A Happy New Year!

Laila — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:58:16 +0000

We wanted to show some of the traditional ways of celebrating Christmas in the next volume of Scandinavian Folklore, and Britt Eklund who has been very much involved in the making of the first book, suggested she ask her friends in Boda to cook a meal both pleasing to the palate and the eye. The dining room at Gammelgården in Boda has beautiful wall paintings and we chose to do the photo shoot there. Britt gathered nine friends and on the morning of the shoot ten ladies dressed in the traditional costumes of Boda were standing on the doorstep, all of them with a delicacy in their hands. The scent of all the food made my stomach rumble and I was told we would eat it all as soon as the pictures were taken.

There will be a careful account of all the food on the table in the book. A memorandum from the area, written in the 19th century was used to make sure all the details where right. The author of the memo has noted the exact numbers of breads to serve and also made an account of how many times the thin flat unleavened bread should be folded. Apart from bread there are cheese, biscuits of peaflour, pudding made of beestings, potatoes, Swedish turnips and two kinds of meat.

All the food was beautifully prepared, even the butter looked like a piece of art.

Britt Eklund, to the left, with Sara Jons who had been preparing food for days.

Cheese……… in different shapes and flavors!

Finally the pictures were taken and we were all seated at the table for a feast I will not easily forget.

I would like to thank the ladies who took the time to prepare all the food and dress for the occasion. It was a memorable weekend and the photos will be one of the highlights of the book.

Happy New Year to you all!

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The pleasures of snow and ice !!!

Laila — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:40:23 +0000

This woman from Boda in Dalecarlia is wearing a costume from the early 19th century. Often when people see the beautiful folk costumes in my photos, rich in detail and colors, I get the question on what the everyday costumes look like. The beauty of the costumes are preceived as festive and exclusive. Have I styled this woman for the photo shoot by using the skis as prop? Would women ski, work or walk in the forest in these beautiful folk costumes shown in my books? And the answer is: yes, they did. These are the clothes people were wearing, every day. There were no other type of clothes similar to the ones we use today that were used for weekdays. Still, today the local expression when wearing these traditional costumes are “ta på sig kläder” directly translated “to put on the clothes“. These are the clothes of the area.

Practical and fabulous in color and detail is the hanging pockets that are a part of the Boda costume.

There is a watercolour painting by one of the most famous Swedish painters, Carl Larsson, that looks just like this. There was a woman working in the house of the Larsson family, Sundborne, and she would wear her costume on a daily basis. The artist was so inspired by her he painted several pictures of her.

The skis that were lent to us by a collector are old and had not been used for ages. Luckily our model Sara, had spent winters on skis since childhood. For a moment we were not sure if this would work, but the snow was cold and dry, and the skis plough through as if used only yesterday.

These are the clothes used in Boda during winter. The baby is kept warm in a fur coat, a”kolt”, with knitted stockings and mittens. His tiny, tiny shoes are the same model as adult shoes.

Kick-sledge, the most loved way of transport for both children and adult. It is great fun!

To all our readers I would like to wish you A Merry Christmas. And thank you for all the e-mails I have received with cheers and support during the year that passed. I will do my very best to show you lots of new photos from the sites I will be visiting in 2012. If everything goes on as planned there will be two books to look forward to. The first one, Scandinavian Folklore Volume II will be released in Oslo at Norsk Folkemuseum on May 13 and at the same time my very first big photo exhibition will open in the museum gallery. The second book will be released in autumn and I will keep you posted.

All the best !!! //Laila Durán

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Winter magic in Norway!!!

Laila — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:58:06 +0000

As we are getting close to Christmas, I keep looking out the window every morning hoping for a light cover of snow in the fields. In many parts of Scandinavia we still haven´t had any snow and I, like many children I know, am waiting impatiently. Last year in December I was in Norway taking photos and the winter was perfect. Cold, crisp, dry snow, just a few inches, enough to cover the dark fields and put a thick layer of ice on the lake. I do enjoy taking pictures in these white settings. The folk costumes, in their often practical choice of fabric, makes it possible for the models to play in the snow without worrying about ruining the beautiful garments. With all the layers of clothes they are also kept warm and comfortable.

The two young ladies are wearing bunads from Røros. The local costume tradition has been heavily influenced by the Biedermeier and the New Roccoco fashions. The jacket are made from black and dark blue broadcloth and have wide leg of mutton sleeves.

The skirts are made of hand woven checkered wool, pleated at the waist. The colorful silk scarves are worn at festive occasions. The caps are rather distinctive with its shaped sidepieces that cover the ears. Married women wear black headdresses while unmarried wear colored ones.

It was much easier to travel during wintertime than in the summer. The frozen lakes were open and a horse and sleigh was used for transport.

The young couple are wearing bunads from Ytre Nordhordaland. The young lady is dressed in a bunad reconstructed from a folk costume worn in the area between 1870 and 1900. Her headdress is called “kvitlue med vøling”. A “vøling” is a piece of cardboard that is fastened to the head before the cap is put on.

To keep her warm during the cold sledge ride she has brought with her a blanket of sheepskin. It is beautifully decorated with a block printed pattern.

At the end of the 19th century, when long trading trips during the winter was common, the men were dressed in coats of wolf or dog fur. The coats are fastened with wide pattern woven fur band placed around the neck, crossed over the chest, wrapped around the back and tied over the stomach.

During the photo shoots at Beitostølen in Norway we were invited to the farm of Torgeir Svalesen. With the help of the experienced coachmen and riders in his small family business, we where able to take photos of both sleigh rides, riding brides and wedding processions. For more information please visit. www.fjellrittet.no

The photo shoot was made in cooperation with Norsk Institutt for Bunad og Folkedrakt.