# I need Viking pants! (and boots!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498 "2015-06-03T02:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/1 "2015-06-03T02:55:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/2 "2015-06-03T03:14:45Z")
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. [Here’s one result that looks pretty good.](https://www.etsy.com/listing/90093312/medieval-celtic-viking-pants) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/3 "2015-06-03T04:41:07Z")
Is this [the look](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/vikingstv/images/c/cc/Berserker.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141217154455) you’re going for? Here’s some more pictures: [pre-battle](http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/screencrush.com/442/files/2014/02/vik2.jpg), [mid-battle](https://mystoryofhistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/006.jpg), and [post-battle](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zGaD5uwsEKg/VOYvx3VR-qI/AAAAAAAALGQ/IMWf3dyvvEA/s1600/Rollo2.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/4 "2015-06-03T11:17:05Z")
Here you go: [Viking men: Clothing: trousers and breeches](http://urd.priv.no/viking/bukser.html) Check out the facebook group “Reenactment clothing and textiles” for more help and brilliant people. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/5 "2015-06-03T12:01:00Z")
The Viking Answer Lady has a lot of good resources - > **[Viking Answer Lady Webpage - Clothing in the Viking Age](http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/clothing.shtml)** > > description goes here 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 - > **[Anglo-Saxon art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_art)** > > Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of England, whose sophisticated art was influential in much of northern Europe. The two periods of outstanding achievement were the 7th and 8th centuries, with the metalwork and jewellery from Sutton Hoo and a series of magnificent illuminated man... > **[Viking art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_art)** > > Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centuries. Viking art has many design elements in common with Celtic, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions. > Generally speaking, the current knowledge of Viking art relies heavily upon more durabl... ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/6 "2015-06-03T12:14:01Z")
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 - [http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/tartan-history.html](http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/tartan-history.html) It’s a black and white check made of undyed natural sheep’s wool. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/7 "2015-06-03T22:15:43Z")
Give Adrian Peterson a call. He might not be needing his Viking pants much longer. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/8 "2015-06-03T23:23:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/9 "2015-06-04T04:47:06Z")
Wow, _Merneith_, thanks for all that! I’m not going to need a cloak (summer heat and all), but you’ve definitely shown me where to start. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Is this [the look](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/vikingstv/images/c/cc/Berserker.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141217154455) you’re going for? That was the inspiration, yes 😃 > [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Give Adrian Peterson a call. He might not be needing his Viking pants much longer. HA! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/10 "2015-06-05T06:50:47Z")
Aw, c’mon … are we just going to have to guess why you might want to dress up like a Viking? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/11 "2015-06-05T07:38:06Z")
Leather pants with criss-cross ties up the sides. [Like these](http://www.bikersparadise.co.uk/Mens-Elite-2-Tie-Side-Leather-Jeans-Antique-Brown.html). 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. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/12 "2015-06-05T17:05:43Z")
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.](http://www.europa.org.au/index.php/articles/26-norse-baggy-trousers) 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. This page has a [rather good overview with pictures](http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/13 "2015-06-06T00:37:16Z")
I didn’t realise he was going for historical accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/14 "2015-06-06T06:07:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I didn’t realise he was going for historical accuracy. > [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > a pair of pants and boots **that look like something an ancient Norseman would wear**. […] If anyone has any images of\*\* what a Viking-era Norseman would wear\*\* below his waist That was my impression… ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-viking-pants-and-boots/721498/15 "2015-06-08T15:44:14Z")
(Sorry to take so long to return to my own thread, I’ve been working too many hours lately.) While [Rollo from Vikings](https://www.google.com/search?q=Rollo&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=955&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Ebd1Vf6rHcrZtQXJl4O4Aw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgrc=_) was the original inspiration, I have decided for a more historically accurate look.