Dye/color discussion on Norsefolk:
Peter wrote:
> Uh, since I'm kinda new to the Viking re-enactment, what colors and fabrics
> would you guys recommend getting for a Viking men's tunic?
Wool for the over-tunic, linen or fine wool for the undertunic, wool, or more rarely linen for trousers (I think linen was quite rare for trousers, but I'm not sure about it).
Colours, heh. :) A lot more than most people think, and brighter too.
Blue: any shade seen on blue jeans (the ones that are actually blue-think blue Levis, anything from the lightest blue to the really dark stuff) Blue jeans used to be dyed with indigo, which is chemically identical to woad, which was very popular in Scandinavia in the Viking Age. Bear in mind, the darker the blue the more dye was needed to make it. Very dark blues would either be the result of repeated dyeing in woad (and therefore expensive) or by over-dyeing brown with woad (giving a brownish undertone), so it would depend on the social status and wealth of your persona.
Red: Rusts, orangey-reds and reds with a yellow undertone (rather than a blue one) are all good, were usually from madder. Blue-reds are possible, but usually were the result of unusual mordants (for the time and place) or by overdyeing a light woad blue with red. Rose-Pinks are also possible.
Yellow: Most shades of yellow are do-able (since the majority of plants can be used to dye stuff yellow), even some very bright shades, but you're better off going for the bright golden yellows and duller yellows.
Green: Expensive in period: usually the result of blue and yellow overdyes, but can be used. Most of the green fibres dyed in period fashion I've seen tend toward the yellow-toned greens though.
Orange: Using a hot vat instead of a warm or cool one for madder results in a bright flaming pumpkin orange, so that colour is ok; lighter versions are also possible with less dye, but I'm not sure about other orange colours.
Purple: Expensive; Plums (from woad/madder over-dyes in period), mauves and purpley-pinks (from lichens-may be able to make lichen purples darker, but lichens are tricky-those are the colours I KNOW are possible from them in terms of period colours), blue-purples (from murex shells--EXTREMELY expensive dye in period)
Also, remember, wool takes dye easily, linen not as much so, indigo/woad being the largest exception (it takes just as well on linen as on wool). So any of the above colours are good on wool, any shade of blue is good on linen, but most of the other dyes take much paler on linen, or seem to require more dye, so pale versions of the above colours on linen is good, or even undyed.
I can't tell you how white is too white on linen in period though, as I've little knowledge of period linen bleaching, other than that they did it. I think a creamy white linen might be better than blinding white. But that's just opinion, not a result of experience.
Hope that helps
Brigida Vadesbana (Brighid Anraith)
> Uh, since I'm kinda new to the Viking re-enactment, what colors and fabrics
> would you guys recommend getting for a Viking men's tunic?
Wool for the over-tunic, linen or fine wool for the undertunic, wool, or more rarely linen for trousers (I think linen was quite rare for trousers, but I'm not sure about it).
Colours, heh. :) A lot more than most people think, and brighter too.
Blue: any shade seen on blue jeans (the ones that are actually blue-think blue Levis, anything from the lightest blue to the really dark stuff) Blue jeans used to be dyed with indigo, which is chemically identical to woad, which was very popular in Scandinavia in the Viking Age. Bear in mind, the darker the blue the more dye was needed to make it. Very dark blues would either be the result of repeated dyeing in woad (and therefore expensive) or by over-dyeing brown with woad (giving a brownish undertone), so it would depend on the social status and wealth of your persona.
Red: Rusts, orangey-reds and reds with a yellow undertone (rather than a blue one) are all good, were usually from madder. Blue-reds are possible, but usually were the result of unusual mordants (for the time and place) or by overdyeing a light woad blue with red. Rose-Pinks are also possible.
Yellow: Most shades of yellow are do-able (since the majority of plants can be used to dye stuff yellow), even some very bright shades, but you're better off going for the bright golden yellows and duller yellows.
Green: Expensive in period: usually the result of blue and yellow overdyes, but can be used. Most of the green fibres dyed in period fashion I've seen tend toward the yellow-toned greens though.
Orange: Using a hot vat instead of a warm or cool one for madder results in a bright flaming pumpkin orange, so that colour is ok; lighter versions are also possible with less dye, but I'm not sure about other orange colours.
Purple: Expensive; Plums (from woad/madder over-dyes in period), mauves and purpley-pinks (from lichens-may be able to make lichen purples darker, but lichens are tricky-those are the colours I KNOW are possible from them in terms of period colours), blue-purples (from murex shells--EXTREMELY expensive dye in period)
Also, remember, wool takes dye easily, linen not as much so, indigo/woad being the largest exception (it takes just as well on linen as on wool). So any of the above colours are good on wool, any shade of blue is good on linen, but most of the other dyes take much paler on linen, or seem to require more dye, so pale versions of the above colours on linen is good, or even undyed.
I can't tell you how white is too white on linen in period though, as I've little knowledge of period linen bleaching, other than that they did it. I think a creamy white linen might be better than blinding white. But that's just opinion, not a result of experience.
Hope that helps
Brigida Vadesbana (Brighid Anraith)