Members of the “Ivar Aasen” Youth Group, Ålesund 1908
Hulda Garborg stands in the middle, the sitting woman on the left is wearing “the national"
“Bunad“ from the Norse búnaðr means “equipment / clothing”, but today it means historic costumes constructed in the first half of the 20th century inspired by the regional costume traditions of the norwegian peasantry.
The bunad was initially controversial. During the late 1800s- early 1900s using peasant clothes were markers of a radical counter culture especially among youth. (This was of course not the case among the poor peasants that still wore their traditional clothing as they had always done). The danish educated upper class had a negative view of rural culture and peasant clothing was popular with those who wanted to move away from Danish and base the written language on dialects. The bunad was also a dress that really should be used without a corset which most considered unseemly.
Eventually, the hardanger bunad became a symbol of Norwegian identity.
The Hardanger costume was the first bunad, called “the national”. It became a fashionable national romantic symbol among Norwegian women in the early 1900s, the clothing of the true independent Norway. Women across the country dressed in “the national” to show their support for secession from Sweden in the leadup to the 1905 referendum. The suffragettes campaigned hard for women to be able to vote in the referendum but in the end only men were allowed to vote. But women activists arranged for a nationwide petition where women “voted” for independence. The petition where handed over to parliament and the commitment among women for independence showed men that women could be “trusted” with the vote. The petition is seen as one of the turning points that lead to women gaining full voting rights in norway in 1913. Even though its easy to forget today, the bunad was a political expression when women where not supposed to have political opinions.
After the independence campaign there wasnt the same need for a common national dress and the local variants became important. Hulda Garborg lead the work in documenting and reconstructing local folk costumes and is seen as the “inventor” of the bunad. Today we have several bunad categories: the outfits that were used up until modern times and can be used today as authentic folk clothing. Only a few bunads like Setesdal and Telemark fit in this category. Clothing that is partially preserved but needed some reconstruction, and the completely reconstructed clothes that are based on things like a scrap of found fabric, tapestry patterns, etc. The bunads reflect local tradition and history in their style and material.
In modern Norway a bunad is very expensive and a typical confirmation gift. Norwegians who own an bunad use them for special occasions typically the national day, as well as baptisms and confirmations. The bunad is also officially recognised as gala attire and is used by politicians for state visits, ceremonies and on royal occations. The bunad is supposed to reflect your personal heritage and in modern times its not unusual to also see people wearing folk costumes from other countries and cultures like the sari and kilt on the national day. This makes May 17 a fun day to see traditional clothing from the entire world as well as the whole country.
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