Samsø Island
Samsø Festdragt (Party Costume)
from "Danske Folke Dragter" by Nanna Gandil, 1972
The lovely Samsø festdragt is most easily distinguished at a glance by the prevalence of the color green, and the use of silk everywhere except the skirt. It is a very special costume indeed!
It contains the following elements:
a. Skirt: green wadmal (a coarse, dense wool) skirt with red-purple silk ribbon along the bottom edge.
b. Jacket: green jacket made of a linen-silk blend called "half-silk" with so-called "ham sleeves" (see Hedebo for more ham sleeve examples). It lacked hooks and was instead pinned in front.
c. Apron: often made of red-violet patterned half-silk, with checkered apron bands.
d. Scarves: Notably, this costume has two scarves. On top is a "Barcelona scarf" embroidered with silk. Underneath the Barcelona scarf sits a hardly visible embroidered white scarf.
f. Headgear: with embroidery on its top matching the black Barcelona scarf. Around the face could be either lace from the town of Tønder, or embroidered white cloth.
Samsø Island
Image credit: Folkedragt.dk
Samsø Island
Image credit: Folkedragt.dk
Samsø Festdragt 1840-1850
from "Folkedragter i Danmark" by Ellen Andersen, 1952
In the above image, there is a dark silk bonnet called a "rumpol." Underneath the bonnet is lace from the town of Tønder. The woman wears a "Barcelona scarf," with a white scarf underneath it. The bodice is green half-silk and the skirt is green wadmal. The apron is reddish half-silk with red-black checkered apron bands. This was likely the imaged that inspired the Karen K. drawing, below, as it is the only time we see a photo of an individual wearing every element of the Samsø Festdragt exactly as it should be. What a pity that this 1952 image was not taken using color film.
An absolutely stunning Samsø costume captured at the 2024 Scandinavian Festival in Junction City, Oregon, on Danish Day. The telltale shawl, green skirt, and headgear identify it as authentic Samsø.
The costume was acquired on Samsø, suggesting that the blue color of the jacket is an authentic alternate color to the usual green.
Image Credit: Mikael Bjerregaard
The above artwork from Karen K. nails every key component:
green skirt
green jacket
barcelona scarf atop white scarf
red-violet apron
checkered apron strings
embroidered headgear with lace
Samsø Brudedragt (Wedding Costume) 1840-1850
from "Folkedragter i Danmark" by Ellen Andersen, 1952
The Samsø bride's headdress was called a "hairband." It consisted of black velvet studded with colored pearls. It was so expensive that only a few wealthy farm families owned one. Thus, they were lent out for weddings.
Wedding dresses were always black. The one above is made of silk damask. Two scarves were worn, with the lower being made of swiss dot fabric, while the upper was a Barcelona scarf rolled into a sausage. The apron bands are made of gold-embroidered silk. In a sense, these gold apron bands are akin to the gold and silver belts worn on Læsø.