På Bunadbutikken

A neck pin, or halsknapp.

The girlfriend needed to get silver accessories for her children's bunader. I simply had tons of fun looking at the colorful bunader and reading up the information about the different sewing styles and designs to differentiate the different regions when worn.

Didn't realize that it's still a popular tradition and custom to wear a bunad on special occasions and especially for Syttende Mai- May 17th, Constitution Day. The country is very proud of how it has held up its traditional customs this way.

Bunader are crazy expensive when purchased new from a totally Made-in-Norway shop. i.e Needlework and fabrics (mainly wool, linen and silk) are put together and sewn in Norway. Many bunader are passed down generations from father to son, mother to daughter, with the amount of fabric used to allow alterations. An excellent set of bunad for women costs anything between S$2500 - S$15000 tailored brand new, excluding the silver accessories made for each chosen region. The word 'handmade' more or less equates 'expensive'. Bunader for men are slightly cheaper because less fabric is used. New bunader are designed every year, and must have a stamp of approval from the National Bunad Council. Otherwise, those are just drakt or folk costumes. The irony, because of cost issues and general international economic manufacturing woes, many of the bunad shops nowadays farm out the embroidery and fabric work to outside of Norway or have new immigrants sew the bunader instead of Norwegian seamstresses who've done it for years. Norwegians seem rather particular about the workmanship and origin when it comes to buying bunader.

Some of those silver pieces are quite beautiful, especially the brosje, brooches. Silver holds a lot of meaning in Norwegian folklore. The craftsmen's skills are reflected through each region's unique and often intricate designs. A tad tempted to get something, but they wouldn't hold any significance for me. Plus many of the earrings are the dangling sort which my sensitive skin can't take. While the girlfriend made her choices, I stuck to admiring them (the silver) in the brochures and on the shelves. Very cheerful colors.