Hardangerbunad is a collective term for

bunad ''Bunad'' (, plural: ''bunader''/''bunadar'') is a Norwegian umbrella term encompassing, in its broadest sense, a range of both traditional rural clothes (mostly dating to the 18th and 19th centuries) as well as modern 20th-century folk costumes ...

s from the villages in the traditional district of

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, with various local varieties. The bunad includes the areas

Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...

Granvin Granvin is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it merged with Voss Municipality. The municipality was located in the traditional district of Hardanger. ...

Ulvik Ulvik is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality stretches from the Hardangerfjord to the mountains that reach above sea level. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ulvik. The villages of Osa and ...

Eidfjord Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal populatio ...

Jondal Jondal is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1863 until its dissolution in 2020 when it became part of Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located on the Folgefonna peninsula ...

Ullensvang Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd ...

and

Odda Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...

. Hardanger is one of the areas in Norway that has had a strong

folk costume A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

tradition, and with the

national romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

in the late 1800s, the church clothes from this area were lifted to be a Norwegian national symbol, and the Hardangerbunad therefore has the nickname "Nasjonalen", in English "The National". The Hardangerbunad was used by women from all over the Norway to show support for

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden The dissolution of the union ( nb, unionsoppløsningen; nn, unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; sv, unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolu ...

in 1905.''Hol Haugen, Bjørn Sverre'' (2006). Norsk bunadleksikon. N.W. Damm & Søn.

Female bunads

The bunads for women have black skirt, and are found in party variants with red or green

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

and white

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

, or black bodice and black apron. Over large parts of the bunad, including the belt and apron, there are embroidery in local style. The embroidery technique is known in Norway as ''Hardangersøm''. The bunads are made of different fabrics. The colored aprons are, for example, in cotton, wool, linen or silk, with patterns depending on local tradition. The headgears have traditionally varied according to marital status. Ugland, Thorbjørg Hjelmen (1996). Eit knippe av Noregs bunader. Oslo: Heimen husflid. s. 36. Hardangerbunad
Heimen Husfliden For the wedding party, the bride traditionally has a

bridal crown Traditionally a bridal crown (german: Brautkrone or, in the Black Forest, ''Schäppel'') is a headdress that, in Central and Northern Europe, single women wear on certain holidays, at festivals and, finally, at their wedding. Bridal crowns today ...

in addition to the bunad. However, this is something not everyone can afford, so the bridal crown also showed economic status and prosperity.

Male bunads

The male bunads are, to a lesser extent than the women's bunads, part of an unbroken costume tradition, and are thus based on the clothing style in the mid-1800s. The bunaden has either black breeches or long pants, black jacket, and red, green, blue or black vest. As for the female bunad, there are embroideries in traditional local style.

Gallery

File:KinsarvikBunad.jpg, Woman in bunad from

Kinsarvik Kinsarvik is a village in the municipality of Ullensvang in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located at the end of a small bay at the confluence of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord, where they join to form the main branch of the Hardang ...

File:Kvinne i Hardangerbunad - no-nb digifoto 20140804 00010 bldsa PK17593.jpg, Woman in Hardangerbunad File:Udvalgte norske Nationaldragter - no-nb digibok 2012022813001-43.jpg, Wedding couple from Hardanger

References

{{Reflist Hordaland Bunad