I’m going to dress up as a Viking because… well does one even need a reason to dress like a Viking? Anyway, I’ve decided that the whole mail shirt and spectacle-helm ensemble would be too expensive, complicated, and hot. A bare-chested berserker look* would be good for the summer heat, and allow me to show off my muscles. The weapon(s) will not be a problem. So all I need is a pair of pants and boots that look like something an ancient Norseman would wear. I’ve tried googling it, but the results range from a woman wearing nothing but (sexy) duct tape to a pirate (flint-lock pistol and all). If anyone has any images of what a Viking-era Norseman would wear below his waist and/or where I could buy such things I would appreciate it.
*I know, no one really knows what berserkers wore.
ETA: Amazon is worse than useless for my purposes.
Google adjusts your search results to show you things similar to what you’ve already searched for. When I search for “viking pants”, I only get goofy-looking baggy brown pants. You might want to try clearing your cookies.
The Viking Answer Lady has a lot of good resources -
In the short term, you want leather trousers and mid-calf or knee-high boots, which go over the trousers. Ideally, you’ll want trousers without a zipper fly, if you’re going for accuracy, but if you get pants with a fly everyone will understand. Ditto for soles on your boots.
They should be fairly simple. No fancy embroidery or colorful dyes. The leather and fur should be natural. Basically, the clothing was fairly simple but the metal work was out of this world.
You’ll want a couple belts - a heavy one for holding your weapons secure and lighter one for holding a pouch or two. (No pockets on the pants, either, for accuracy.) The pouches will hold things like a small utility knife for eating, your coin, maybe a whetstone, your comb (every viking had a nice comb. You’re not an animal, after all. The best combs were carved antler.) Maybe some fishing line. Maybe an apple or a bit of cheese.
You might want a Thor’s hammer amulet. Those are always popular. Maybe an armband or two, or a wristband. Vikings didn’t usually pierce their ears but they did wear rings.
You might want a torc. Torcs are more of a Pre-Roman Celtic thing, but silver torcs enjoyed a vogue during the Viking age. The Vikings occupied half of Ireland, after all, and most of Anglo-Saxon England, and were keen metalworkers. Torcs do turn up in Scandenavian and Anglo Saxon hordes some times. But you might want to stick to the amulet.
You’ll want a cloak, which means you’ll want a booch. Viking men usually wore pennanular style booches but shield boss style booches, which were popular with the Anglo Saxons, were worn, too.
Wikipedia, of all places, has some good example of Viking and Anglo Saxon art -
Note: the cloak, if wool, should be a simple check or all one color. Nothing elaborate and bright like a modern tartan. Here’s a scrap of the oldest tarten we have, from the 3rd century AD -
Will you have a spear and magic helmet? And shout “KIll the wabbit!”? Because reenacting Elmer Fudd in “What’s Opera Doc?” is one of the best reasons for dressing as a Viking.
Leather pants with criss-cross ties up the sides. Like these. Buying new would be expensive, but I’m sure you can find a cheaper alternative. That particular link is for Biker pants, so that’s a good place to start.
Jeez, what a load of crap. Leather biker pants? Vikings wore no such thing. We know because we have artwork, literature and even finds.
They wore trousers of wool or similar - either reasonably close-fitting or very baggy. Leg-wraps below the knee. And boots that come up to just over the ankle, or less commonly calf-length, not knee-length.
And Viking clothing was colourful. They were mad for colour, and patterns like plaids and stripes were not uncommon.