Where Do You Get All This Stuff?

Timberhaven is a chapter of Vikings North America, all Timberhaven members pay annual dues to be a member of Vikings North America. Our standards of "authenticity" are different than other groups. LARP, SCA, Cosplay are all legitimate and fine activities to be invovled in and are integral to the "costuming" hobby in general. We all have a role and all can learn from each other.


A major question I get is, "Where did you get this outfit?"
Good Question! A question with many answers and opinions backing up many different concepts.

I am not a good seamster. I can sew and I have produced usable articles of clothing but I am not to the point where I can do this a lot. I also hand sew and I am working at improving, it will just take me a long timte to gain confidence in doing something more advanced like a tunic. In light of that I buy most of my clothing from seamsters and vendors. It Is Expensive.

I made this "vest" aka thorax warmer - based off remnants found in Hedeby.

Base requirements of VNA authenticity requires:

Wool (#1) or linen. One may use a wool blend, 80/20 at most, considering cost and regional weather (heat).* You may delve into other textiles but wool (and then linen) are your best bets. 
Feasible colors from the period congruant to the region and status one is portratying.
Visible seams hand sewn - cuffs, neck, hem.
Cut and design of a provenanced piece of found material culture.


* Yes, I have seen purists say that a well weaved piece in wool that is historically correct will shed heat well and I believe that. They are also pushing very expensive wools that are out of a lot of people's budgets.

The majority of my clothing has come from one vendor Historic Enterprises.
https://historicenterprises.com/
US vendor, you pay for the level of "authenticity". Gwen, who is in charge there, will ask for details you may need and help with a base level of requirements you require per your governing club's rules. You will pay for this level of service as well as wait as a majority of what she and her crew does is made to order. Here are a few pictures of myself in clothing by Historic Enterprises / Black Swan (her label).

Basic Kit, wool top over linen shirt, wool pants.

Wool panel cap, linen top over linen shirt, wool pants, wool leg-wraps (winingas).

 
Suffice to say I go to Gwen and Historic Enterprises often and have a few sets of clothing from them. I can faithfully recommend them. 

I've also bought from and recommend: Slav Medieval Shop, LifeinHistory (both Etsy Russian and Polish respectively), and Underwares (US and Etsy). I've gotten many smaller items like jewelry, nalbinding socks, belts, and such from many other vendors.

https://www.etsy.com/market/slav_medieval?

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Lifeinhistory

https://www.etsy.com/shop/UnderWares

Anything you buy you need to research and / or ask your authenticity officer for approval. Primarily you need to read up and research what is proper for you - it's easier if you go low-mid status. Light colors, good weaves, proper construction, and properly sewn and constructed. There will be variations in how exact these need to be - some tolerance to zero - and you should stick to that and always strive for the best you can do within said parameters.

Read and research and ask before you buy, you may be wasting $300.

So, you want to or can sew your own? If you are set up for this and have the skill and knowledge than yes, you will save a lot of money and propel your skill and experience to new levels. If you don't have the tools, skills, gumption, and experience than this will cost you just as much as a $300 tunic on top of wasted textiles, materials, time, space. The choice is yours though.  I'm on that spectrum myself and hope to, someday, be able to put out a basic tunic of my own.

Of note is trading or purchasing used gear. Much of this expensive stuff is very durable and has life even after the original owner has tired of it. I just moved along 2 wool tunics I was not interested in anymore to people that will find good use from them. I even traded a fur cap for some shoes too small for me just last month. If you are in a larger group and/or in contact with other groups than you are fortunate and, sometimes, it pays to just ask.

In Timberhaven I pushed, last year, that some of us members that have accumalated a good horde of soft kit pass some of it along to new members. Gifting, selling, trading... up to them but the thing is we have this stuff and some of it just sits around getting wrinkled and old. 


What ever kit you end up with it will never be perfect. The experts don't know everything and that's who we get our own knowledge from. Material finds of clothing from the "Viking Age" are rare. Everything we wear, even the most "authentic", is a varying degree of conjectural. Only a few things are solid in provenance and even those items can be questioned. That is the basis of science though and this hobby is steeped in that.

It is a must that historical reenactors in a Viking perspective be comfortable with never being perfect and always reading and discovering a better version and improving. What is my favorite item now may well be obsolete upon the discovery of new information next year. 

That said this is not a license to do anything you want, at least from the VNA perspective. There is enough solid evidence (material, literature, art) for a baseline interpretation of authenticity today. We build off what we do know and understand that may change. We do not build off the unknown.

There is some evidence for this (Tom Jerso)

Not a lot, if any, evidence for anything in this picture (Vikings TV). Lack of evidence is not justification.