Sometimes it can be tricky to come up with different ways to style a piece of clothing. Especially when a garment is associated with a specific time period or population group, like the Middle Ages or the Vikings. In this blog, we're going to show you three different looks that all use the same viking dress as a basic, the Lagertha dress in natural-red.
Viking dress Lagertha Look 1 - Viking
Since this dress is originally a viking dress, we didn't want to skip that styling option. Our first look with the Lagertha dress is a viking outfit.
An important part of a viking outfit is working with layers. The Vikings lived in a cold climate, so layers were important to stay warm. It was also common to wear a simple, linen dress directly on the skin, so the woolen or more luxurious "overdress" didn't need to be washed as often. For this look we chose a cream-coloured underdress so it wouldn't distract from the rest of the outfit.
We have more options for underdresses in our category Viking dresses & hangerocs.
Over the underdress, our viking lady wears the Lagertha dress. This dress is also cream-coloured, but has beautiful red accents along the neck, sleeves and hem.
The next layer that was common in a women's viking outfit is the hangeroc. While the underdress protected the overdress from sweat, the hangeroc protected the dress from dirt from the outside. This was also another layer for warmth. The hangeroc is a fun way to add a colour accent to a viking look. We gave our viking a cheerful coloured hangeroc. The Vikings loved colour, after all.
In our category Viking dresses & hangerocs you can find other options.
To complete the basis of this composition, we gave our viking a brown pair of ankle boots. These boots were typical for the period.
The straps of the hangeroc were closed in Viking times by means of shield brooches. These brooches were used both as a practical item and as a decorative item. They not only kept the hangeroc closed, but small, everyday items were also hung from them. So the viking women had those things always at hand. The brooches were often decorated and chains with beads were hung between them. We gave our viking lady an extensive set of items and jewellery.
You can find alternatives in the category Shield brooches, category Combs, surgery & care and category Sewing & textiles.
Belts were also an important part of viking clothing, for both men and women. You can hang various items from your belt, such as bags and weapons. Our viking has a brown, leather belt with beautiful belt fittings in this look. Attached to the belt is a practical pouch that is also nicely decorated.
Check out more belts in our category Viking belts.
Look 2 - Dwarf
The second look we created with the Lagertha dress is not a historical one, but a fantasy look, namely a dwarf costume.
The basis is of course the Lagertha dress again. We used the beautiful embroidery of the dress as inspiration to put together a dwarf costume.
Just like with viking outfits, it's fun and important to work with layers in a dwarf costume. Dwarves live deep in the mountains, so they also live in a fairly cold environment. In this case we had our dwarf wear a skirt over the dress. This immediately gives you a completely different image than the traditional viking styling.
In our category Medieval skirts you can find other options.
For the shoes we kept it fairly simple. Sturdy shoes make sense for a race like the dwarves and they don't need to be very luxurious or elegant.
Dwarves are often tough and rugged characters, even the women. To give the look this tough appearance, our dwarf wears a wide, leather belt. This belt has rough details and gives a bit of the feeling of leather armour.
Check out our category Fantasy belts for other options.
As the next layer, and to further emphasize the rugged and cold feeling, we gave our dwarf a fur collar. Fur works great in a dwarf costume and can be applied in different ways, such as a collar, a fur edge along a garment or in smaller accessories.
On the forearms our dwarf wears leather arm guards. These help make the outfit tougher and match nicely with the wide belt we gave our dwarf.
We have more arm guards in our category Leather arm & leg protection.
To keep our dwarf nice and warm, we added a red hat to the outfit. This way we also bring back the red of the dress one more time.
Dwarves are known as smiths, both for weapons and jewellery. As a small reference to this side of the dwarf race we placed a brooch on the hat.
We had our dwarf hang a couple of accessories from the belt. One of the accessories is a leather pouch. These types of pouches are often used as coin purses. They are a practical item to add to an outfit and at the same time help further dress up a look. These types of accessories often seem simple, but can really bring a character to life.
Another accessory for the belt is a weapon holder. A dwarf woman also carries a weapon and of course it needs to be stored somewhere when she's not using it. The weapon we gave our dwarf is an engraved axe.
As a final accessory our dwarf wears a beautiful torque. This is once again a nice reference to the smith qualities of the dwarf race.
For more torques you can check out our category Torques.
Look 3 - Druid
The last look of this blog is a druid look. Druids can be both historical and fantasy, which makes them really fun to style. You can easily use elements from both categories.
Just like in the first two looks, the Lagertha dress is the basis of this outfit. We used the light basis of the dress to create a light costume with a pagan feel.
In this druid look we used the same shoes as in the viking outfit. These shoes are neutral and work perfectly in many different looks.
In this composition we gave our druid two belts. One is a woven belt in the same colour as the dress. The texture of this belt fits really well with a druid or pagan inspired look. The second belt is a thin, leather belt. With this belt we can give a subtle additional colour accent and leather belts are better suited to hang further accessories on.
In our category Viking belts you can find other options.
Attached to the leather belt are two accessories. A leather belt bag, where our druid can keep small, magical items. And a small druid knife. Druids often perform rituals for which they need herbs and plants. The druid knife can be used to collect small plants or to cut them for use.
Our druid also carries a larger bag with her, in the form of a cotton shoulder bag. She can store her collected herbs and such in it.
This bag is available in different colours.
In addition to her knife, our druid also carries a sickle with her. With the sickle she can harvest larger plants and herbs that she needs for her rituals.
A druid spends a lot of time outdoors. She is always looking for ingredients for her rituals and draws strength and inspiration from nature. To stay warm and be protected from the elements, our druid wears a woolen cloak with a hood. This cloak has ornate embroidery that is perfect for a look like this.
In our category Clothing & accessories you can find other cloaks.
The last part of this druid look is a wooden walking stick. Our druid walks a lot and not always on the easiest paths. A walking stick helps her navigate safely through nature. A staff is also often seen as a status symbol or tool for a spiritual leader like a druid.
If you'd prefer to use a staff instead of a walking stick you can check out our category LARP staffs, spears, halberds.
