Swedish folk dress 5 - shoes

Subject: University
Project: Ordinary lives
Design: Traditional folk dress
2013

This is a Swedish folk dress from the socken of Toarp in the south western part of Sweden. The costume does have the traditional hat and shoes but leaving the head wear out was a conscious decision while the shoes doesn't fit me but the model the costume was originally made for. The socks for the outfit were red with white, embroidered clocks (that's an ornamental design on the ankle or side of a stocking or sock) and there was a sölja (a piece of ornate metal or jewellery doubling as a woggle, brooch or buckle) made out of metal.

This outfit consists of shift, petticoat, shirt, top skirt, decorative apron, bodice and shawl. There's an authentic Victorian brooch to take the sölja's place. Everything but the apron is made of cotton or wool for authenticity's sake. The apron is the only man-made material because  my initial choice didn't look close enough to the existing museum pieces according to the tutors. The bodice has been lined throughout with the same green that was visible edging the extant bodice.

Shoes
These are the shoes, photographed during an earlier occasion. They're made with a normal base that has been covered with a creamy cotton satin. On top of that was dyed, hand-cut leather glued on. The pattern was taken from the original shoes that appeared on the technical illustration for the Toarp costume.

Big thanks go out to Skansen, an open air museum and animal park, in Stockholm for their aid in the historical research and the look at their clothing archive that holds similar, authentic, pieces. The choice of Toarp's traditional dress was based upon the fact that I've got ancestor's on my father's side in that region and because this was one of the places that had a completely extant (preserved) outfit to go on.

I have larger versions of all photos and can give them out for use in personal work. Use in professional or commercial work is accepted if credit is given as this is part of my portfolio.

Location: Wimbledon College of Art
Photographer: Wimbledon students
Costume maker: Jenny Sjoberg (me)