Norwegian National Costumes

norwegian-flag-waving

Norwegian National Costumes

Norwegian National Costumes are suits/dresses/outfits special and unique for each district or area of Norway

ladies-bunad-from-oppdal-mens-bunad-from-northern-gudbrandsdalen

These garments are worn on holidays and special occasions, such as weddings and 17th of May, Norway's Constitution Day.

To describe how interesting Norway's bunader are, sometimes each village or town have their own unique nationaldrakt/festbunad (suit), especially for ladies, but for men, as well as for girls and boys.

Ladies bunad from Oppdal. Men's bunad from northern Gudbrandsdal. (left)

And guess what? You can even buy a outfit called "every-day drakt" (kvardagsbunad/hverdagsdrakt), as well.

Every-day dresses are made from colorful cotton fabrics, of excellent quality, but are fairly plain in comparison to a bunad/festbunadand (party/celebration bunad). It has very little embroidery, if any, and usually has a small sterling silver brooch placed on the blouse.

Kvardagsbunad is still very pretty, but a lot less expensive than the fest garment, which costs around $3,000.00 or more.

The price does not seem to stop the Norwegians from owning these precious garments.

ladies-in-norwegian-costumes

Anna and Aslaug, in Norske Bunader

Just in case you didn't know, Norwegians wear regular western clothing, only for some special occasions do they wear these traditional garments.

In Hardanger, many families have their own special crowns, which the brides wear for their wedding.
Hardangerbunad (left)

hardanger-bunad-marit

My sister-in-law Marit,
in her Hardangerbunad.
You will notice the unusual embroidery on her apron,
which is called Hardangers�m (Hardanger stitching or embroidery).

romsdalsbunad-norwegian-national-costume

These garments are also called Festbunad, which translates to Celebration Costume.

My cousin, Ann Bodil, in her Romsdal bunad. (left)

Picture taken on May 17th (Syttende Mai), Norway's Constitution Day.

Hardanger bunad Norwegian national costume

My brother's family, dressed in Hardanger bunader,
Norwegian national costumes. Their son is wearing
the Norwegian King's Royal Guards uniform.

Norwegians are patriotic, and on 17th of May, it seems that EVERYBODY brings out their Norwegian flag to show that they are happy to be Norwegian.

If they don't carry a flag in their hand, they display red, white and blue ribbons on their coats.

It's obvious that they love their country and are proud to be Norwegian.

Gutt i Norsk Nasjonaldrakt
Boy in Norwegian National Costume. (left)
Photo by Bjarne Skjerve, Voss, Norway.

great great great grandpa Knut Oppedal, Oppedal Kongen

My great, great, great, great grandfather Knut Oppedal
Oppedal Kongen (The King of Oppedal)

Last, but not least, a picture of my Great,Great,Great,Great Grandfather Knut Oppedal, also called Oppedal Kongen (the King of Oppedal) wearing a Norwegian costume. Notice how it is similar to the outfit the little boy is wearing above. More about the Oppedal King another time.

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