I've missed both of my cake days and Syttende Mai has come and gone but I thought r/Norway might enjoy a picture of my oldest sister in my great-grandmother's 19th century bunad.
Posted Jun 13, 2012, 3:13 AM UTC
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Why do people write "Syttende Mai" in the middle of English sentences? "17th of May" should work just as well, or?
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I can't speak for anyone else, but I am just learning Norwegian and like to pepper my daily speech/writing with Norwegian words... It kinda drives my friends nuts, but it's prompted my sisters to join in the fun and start learning the language as well.
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Where do they have those bunads? Never seen something like that before.
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If it's from the 19th century it will likely not be many similar in terms of patterns, etc. Bunads have traditionally overgone quite a lot of changes throughout the 19th and 20th century.
But if I am to make a totally uneducated guess I would say it's a "Festdrakt" (a bit different from what we normally consider a bunad), because of the texture of the dress and the headgear, from somewhere in the inner parts of Norway.
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Thanks for the insight. Are Festdrakt possibly more of Sami origin?
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This will a bit of a complicated answer, but bear with me.
First I'll say that it hasn't anything to do with Sami origin at all. A festdrakt is translated to English as a "Celebration costume" or something in that order.
The distinction between bunad and a festdrakt is that a bunad is a national costume but also a very new (19th century) concept of romanticism in Norway, it's mostly about reconstructing traditional clothing and making them more "distinguished". While the clothing they're based on can be very, very old - the concept and many of these garments are often relatively new. But the point stands that they're a national costume and have only garnered more strength and affection by the Norwegian people.
A festdrakt is more contemporary to their time and not necessarily based on traditional clothing. Meaning they are susceptible of change and not based on other types of clothing. It looks traditional today since its so old, but the patterns, textile and lack of embroidery and jewelry makes me guess this is an old festdrakt and not a bunad. It actually reminds a lot of the woman in this picture from Telemark whose wearing a festdrakt around the 19th century.
Mind you, many bunads might be based on this festdrakt.
I hope the information helps a bit?
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Yes, that does clear it up quite a bit! Thank you very much for taking the time to explain that to me.
My grandmother tried to explain some things about Norway and traditions and such, but she herself had never been there. Both she and my grandfather spoke fluent Norwegian and were very knowledgeable about it but most of the information they had was passed down from their parents who had emigrated in the 1870's or 1880's. Plus, I was a hyperactive elementary school kid at the time. I'm in my 40's now and find myself wishing I had asked many more questions when they were still around...
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This one belonged to one of my great-grandmothers (I'm assuming my mothers mothers mother), I'm not sure which part of Norway she came from. The picture was made in December 1970 in Ashland, New Hampshire, USA.
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I should add that this pic was taken in 1970...
I was just about to ask why you'd put a weird Instagram filter on a picture like this. Luckily, I didn't do that before I read this.
Maybe that explains the two downvotes....