I didn't know what a bunad was.
Posted on 03/01/2005 5:09:15 PM PST by franksolich
More men want national costumes
Women traditionally have made up the biggest market for the unique Norwegian national costumes known as bunad. Men have been getting into the act in recent years, and some tailors are now reporting a big jump in sales.
It's high season for makers of the costumes that represent different geographical districts in Norway. With the 17th of May approaching, when nearly everyone who has a bunad wears it, needles and thread are flying around the nation to get the bunad ready.
It takes months to make a bunad and they sell for anywhere from NOK 12,000 to NOK 50,000 (USD 2,000-9,000). It all depends on how elaborate the bunad is, and how much gold or silver jewelry goes with it.
They're used for all formal occasions, from weddings to Christmas Eve, and are designed to last a lifetime. Most are passed on to the next generation as well.
Ethnic style
A strong Norwegian economy is likely fuelling much of the bunad rush, but makers claim more and more men are now keen on dressing up in ethnic Norwegian style.
Inger Siri Strand, for example, told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv this week that sales at her bunad production company in Molde were up 35 percent last year. "We sold for NOK 11.2 million, and the goal this year is NOK 14 million," Strand said of the company she leads, called Solhjell AS.
Solhjell sold 1,500 men's bunader last year. Strand says it's become highly fashionable for men, and that her customers are coming from all over the country.
Home sewn
Strand formerly worked for Helly Hansen in Moss and traveled the world looking for distributors. She moved home to Molde and has been dealing in bunader ever since.
Solhjell also produces uniforms for marching bands, but that work has been flagged out to seamstresses in Estonia to lower costs. The bunad production remains in Molde.
The biggest demand is from the Oslo area and the southeast county of Østfold. "But we're also seeing that sales are increasing markedly in the southern portion of the West Coast also," she told Dagens Næringsliv. "Yes, this is looking very good."
I'm fond of costuming history. Pictures, please.
No pictures?
I have a picture (1880s) of my maternal great-grandfather dressed in a rather magnificent uniform; he was either an Admiral in the Norwegian Navy or a fairly senior postal clerk, I'm not sure which.
What about what the dude third from the left is wearing? He looks like an usher at the circus.
"Ping" for the Norway ping list.
Since there are no DUmmie FUnnies tonight, I thought perhaps some might wish something to read.
I checked e-Bay last night, under "Norway;" apparently there is quite a market for Norwegian things, but because the world has so few Norwegians, there are few Norwegian products.
I was surprised at the going rates for Norwegian postage stamps and coins, which at first glance seemed rather high--but then one has to remember the scarcity of the items.
I was never into military items, but it seems those (from the Norwegian armed forces, current and historical) were getting high bids, again perhaps because of their sheer scarcity.
Apparently "Dale" and "Swix" are the leading brands for knitted wear from Norway; they also have a lot of silver, porcelain, and china made there.
A small packet of Lofoten fish soup (dry; one adds water) was fetching--and getting--$5 per.
Norwegian skis however are cheap; cheaper than here.
Or a waiter at Chuck E. Cheese.
I never learned how (yet) to post photographs, but they are at
www.aftenposten.no/english/
Thanks for the ping, franksolich. I'll be back a little later....
If you don't feel it's a violation of personal privacy (which you might, or might not), sir, if you could post the photograph of the ancestor, I'm sure one of the authentic Norwegians actually in Norway, who habituate Free Republic and the Norway ping list, can identify the uniform for you.
The problem is, it's 7:30 p.m. Nebraska time, meaning it's 1:30 a.m. Norway time (next day), and so it might be several hours before any of them respond.
LOL...Bingo. That's right on target.
Is that a house of some sort behind them?
Author Ari Behn, married to Princess Martha Louise and known as a bit of a fashion hound, is just one of those keen to put on his national costume at important events.
Singer Morten Harket of the rock group "a-ha" also has been known to make public appearances in his Kongsberg bunard
V personality Arne Hjeltnes also likes his bunad, seen here when he was toastmaster at the wedding of skiing star Bjørn Daehlie in 2002.
"Strand formerly worked for Helly Hansen in Moss and traveled the world looking for distributors."
I think Helly Hansen makes quite expensive thermal underwear and other skiwear.
Thank you, sir; the photographs add much.
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