Viking Age Capsule

Drab grey – green wool Norse underdress

Blue wool apron dress over a green wool underdress

My most recent Viking-age coat in black and white wool with blue silk trim

In my last blog post I started talking about building “Capsule Costume Collections” – and the most obvious place to start is my Viking Age costume collection.

Viking Age Capsule Wardrobe

So I’ll start off with a library of what pieces I have in my collection so far. (I’ve discussed this a bit in 2015 when I did a wardrobe inventory to that date.)

Neckline embroidery stitches on black linen underdress

Underdresses (serks)

• Black linen
• Navy blue linen
• Off-white linen (in a pinch)
• Silver silk (in a pinch)
• Birch green linen
• Dark green wool
• Medium green wool

Apron dresses (hängerock)

• Dark green wool
• Medium green wool
• Rust open-front wool
• Grey and black open-front wool (new, added after publishing)
• Steel grey wool
• Grey plaid wool
• Red linen
• Black linen
• Blue hand-dyed linen
• Purple hand-dyed linen (never wear)

Embroidered apron panel

Apron panels

• Green wool -with Rose applique
• Purple/burgundy wool with Valkyrie embroidery
• Black and red with argent flame (new, added after publishing)

Over-garments

• Blue/black linen coat (too big)
• Black/white wool coat
• Grey/blue wool coat
• Brown linen short sleeve serk/underdress
• Black wool coat with burgundy trim

Garment accessories

• Charcoal grey and brown naalbound hats
• Blue, striped, another brown naalbound hat (new, added after publishing)
• White nalbound mittens (2pair)
• Striped naalbound mittens (new, added after publishing)
• White Greenland hood (post-period)
• Green/grey plaid hood (post-period)
• Green/grey plaid “London hood” (post period) (new, added after publishing)
• Blue/green/yellow plaid curved-shoulder hood (new, added after publishing)
• Steel blue curved-shoulder hood with red embroidery (new, added after publishing)
• Grey curved-shoulder hood with green embroidery (new, added after publishing)
• Black and grey curved-shoulder hood (new, added after publishing)
• White silk cap
• Blue linen caps (2)

Existing colourways:

Greens

Green Viking Palette

For when I was Montengarde’s Emerald Rose for two terms. As I don’t intend to compete for this championship again anytime in the near future, I don’t feel the need to continue to develop this colourway.

• 3 green underdresses (one linen, two wool)
• 2 green apron dresses (both wool)
• 1 apron panel

Blue/black/Red/Grey

Current Viking Age Palette

This is my overall colour scheme for my Viking Age wardrobe. Although it may not be totally period to have a lot of dark colours, I also really see this as being a wardrobe with a vague gothic feel, to reflect in a way my mundane tastes as well.

• 2 underdresses (both linen)
• 3 apron dresses (all linen)
• 1 apron dress (wool)
• 4 coats (one linen, three wool)
• Multiple accessories (naalbound hats, hoods, etc)

Then there are of course outliers to the colourways… the purples, browns, rusts, etc. I feel like I’ll keep some of these just to mix things up once in a while…

I developed the little palette swatches on a website called ColourMunki. Obviously different colours are displayed differently, and I intended them as a rough guideline, rather than a rule…

What I need to complete this capsule wardrobe OR what I still want to make:

With this analysis, I can see where some of the vacancies are. I need more wool garments in my desired colour scheme, just for instance. In some order of priority:

1. Grey open front wool apron dress – DONE! 
2. Red linen underdress (this has actually been on my wish list for a while, and I bought fabric in Finland for it!)
3. Black, dark blue, or grey wool apron dress (if I have/can acquire the fabric. Red suit or tropical-weight wool is super hard to find!)
4. Apron dress with posament trim (certainly wool with silk trim) (likely combine with above)
5. Wool underdress in one of the four key colours (black, grey, red, or blue – whatever I have/can acquire the fabric for).
6. Grey linen underdress (I bought fabric for this in Finland too!)
7. Apron panel, in one of my colourways with contrasting embroidery (ok to introduce white/off white for the embroidery) – DONE!

Next steps

I’ll continue over the next few blog posts to look at other costume ‘wardrobes’. Stay tuned, or follow the “Capsule Costume Collection” tag to read more if you’re coming to my blog well after the original publication date.

You can also follow my page on Facebook, where I’ll share updates from this project, as well as interesting stories I find online around costuming, sewing, and crafting… along with lots of Viking Age stories too!