I’m not sure exactly why I’m so obsessed with the Bronze-Age Egtved Girl. I think it might be her string skirt. Possibly something to do with my prehistoric-textile-expert-idol, Elizabeth Wayland Barber. In any case, I got to visit her at the National Museum in Copenhagen, and I jumped up and down and took a million photos like a tweenager at a Bieber concert.
The Original String Skirt!
A contemporary recreation of Egtved’s smashing outfit, minus a few important appendages.
I know this isn’t men’s clothing, but I swear I’m actually interested in more than suits in my real life. I wanted to mention it because my fascination with Egtved – which started when I began teaching at FIT and realized that I didn’t know anything about pre-historic textiles – was what first started me looking into Scandinavia as a place that I would like to visit. So much of fashion research is dominated by scholars in America and Britain, and so few of us ‘out west’ are aware of what this region has to offer the study of historical dress, from bog people to all the amazing petticoat breeches at Livruskammaren.
Plus, its pretty cool to look back on that vague interest, 5 or 6 years ago, and see how that informed other research that lead me to Sweden and the Fulbright, and all of the amazing travel that I’m able to do as a part of this project. It’s exciting to think what might be happening in another 5 years!
So, dream big, y’all! Don’t let the haters make fun of your nerdy obsessions. Plus, if you have any interest in fashion, textiles, or history at all, you gotta read that Barber book.
