Normally, we associate Vikings with dirt and a group of people who do not want to see bathing water anywhere close to them. There are various reasons that explain why the Vikings wear the clothes they do and look the way they do. It has been said that the clothing that was initially worn by the Vikings is worn and is back in fashion. This document gives a history of the dressing code of the Vikings, this site.
The mode of dressing of the Vikings is dictated by their classes. Thralls, Karls and Jarls are the three classes that existed in their community. The Thralls made up the lower class and it was mainly made up of slaves. The middle class consisted of the Karls, view here. This group also contains the people who used to farm and take care of cattle. Its true, the Karls owned pieces of land, but this did not make them rich. They hand large pieces of land and had enough money to live luxuriously.
The weather also played a very huge role when it comes to what the Vikings wear. Even though Scandinavia is still cold today, it was colder in the past. The average temperature that is recorded is one percent higher than what was experienced before. Therefore, it is the cold weather that also facilitated their mode of dressing. They had to include layers which would prevent them from falling sick.
Viking tunic was part of the clothes that the men wore. The Viking tunic was mainly used to cover the under tunic. Men clothes were mainly made from linen. However, since not all the classes could afford linen, the lower and the middle classes wore clothes that were made from wool. Men also used linen underwear, and the trousers were later covered with a pair of trousers, learn. For those who did not want to wear the trousers, their covered the underwear with leggings. Goat leather was the material that was used to make shoes. The importance of goat leather is that it was very useful when it came to sailing, check it out!.
The women wore similarly to what we see our women wearing today, now. Linen was the material that the tailors used to make underdresses for women. The entire body was covered by their dresses. This was done to ensure that the women are fully protected from the cold weather. On top of the dress was a shorter dress that was made from wool. Both the men and the women also wore a belt. Their hats were made of wool, see here!.