I GOT A BUNAD! (13 Days)

Today was on of the most emotional days I have had on my entire trip! The beginning of the day was pretty boring for the most part, I just worked on my film paper (only 5 and a half more pages to go!) before I got ready to go to Samspillband. After Samspill was done, Lita, her daughter Mie, Bjørn (Samspill's director), and I went to Bjørn's mother-in-law's apartment. She is letting me borrow her daughter's bunad for Syttende Mai!!! She had two for me to choose from and I picked the one that most closely resembles the Rogaland bunad, but the Rogaland is much more beautiful than this one. I think I should probably explain bunads a little bit before I start talking about it anymore. A bunad is the traditional costume in Norway and each district has its own distinct bunad, so there are over 200 because you can get different variations of the same one too. There is also specific pieces of silver that go with each bunad. I should mention that you do not mix and match silver with different bunads or any part of a bunad with one from a different district. Now because there is one for every district, a person typically gets the one that they either live in or that their family is from. In my case, I have a chose with what one I could get (the Rogaland is the one I want though, which is the one from Stavanger). The bunad I am borrowing is not from any of the districts my family is from, but heck it's still a bunad to wear for Syttende Mai! The lady hand made this bunad, so it's very special and I'm very surprised she was so willing to let me borrow it without even knowing me. She also let me borrow the blouse that goes underneath the bunad (which is the wool dress part) and the wool cape incase it is cold. Besides the basics, she lent me her shoes, which are one size too big, but Lita said we would figure something out. On top of all of this, she actually gave me some of her silver to wear with it! I have the silver cufflinks and two brooches for it! Altogether this bunad most likely costs $3,000 (Lita said she thinks the few silver pieces I have cost around $1,500-$2,000). Bunads typically range from $1,000 (which is just the bunad, blouse, and shoes) up to $5,000 depending on which one you get and if it is handmade, special order or not. The silver jewelry and accessories cost more, especially the silver. There are even certain meanings behind the certain silver pieces, such as if the neck brooch was bigger and had more silver hanging from it, it meant your family was wealthier and of a higher status. Oh and there is even bunads for special occasions, such as wedding bunads, working bunads, and of course the normal "celebration" bunad that I have that is typically worn to baptisms, confirmations, weddings, etc. Honestly, I cannot believe I have a bunad in my possession right now and when I first tried it on I almost started crying, I didn't but I was on the verge. I'm actually really nervous about wearing it because it's worth so much money and I don't even own it or really know the family I'm borrowing it from. Anyway, enough rambling on about it, here are some pictures of it!

This is a full length picture of the bunad and blouse. Once again, all handmade and embroidered.

An up-close shot of the silver brooches and cufflinks.

Here I am wearing it! I put it back on when I got back to the apartment. I think the neck brooch is supposed to be higher, but I'm not 100% positive.

These are the shoes (and obviously not the correct socks).