Lyø Island
The old windmill on Ly
Lyø Island is one of the few places in Denmark that is famous for BOTH its women's costume and its men's costume.
Women's Party Costume
In the old days, it was not common nor was it deemed appropriate for a young woman to go out without a knitted sweater (nattrøje) on over her white sleeves. However, on Lyø, during either harvest or when dancing, young women took off their knitted sweaters and let their white sleeves show. This was called "throwing oneself bare-armed." Scandalous indeed! Women in Hedebo were also known to partake in such shocking behavior, but only during harvest time (See the White-Sleeve Hedebo costume). Be sure to cover your young children's eyes before viewing the "indecent" images below.
The lovely Lyø Dance Costume has several elements:
a. sleeves: visible white sleeves.
b. ribbons: expensive silk ribbons displaying a flower motif hung loosely down in front. They were not tied.
c. scarf: the red and yellow flowered silk scarf was tucked into the bodice.
d. apron: white apron with embroidery in the belt area.
e. bodice: see images below for its distinctive fabric pattern not seen elsewhere.
f. skirt: see below for the distinctive dark skirt color. There is one dark silk strip with two additional sections below that are sewn on in a characteristic pattern (see below; it's easier to understand by looking closely at the images).
Lyø Dance Costume
from "Danske Folke Dragter" by Nanna Gandil, 1972
Lyø dance costume (circa 1860-1870)
from "Folkedragter i Danmark" by Ellen Andersen, 1952
Absolutely spot-on! White sleeves. Loose ribbons. White apron. The fabric on the bodice and skirt match the historical images exactly. And bonus points for not just having a red scarf but having it tucked in, as it should be.
Image Credit (right): Sjællandske Nyheder
This costume perfectly nails it! The correct texture and fabric for the bodice (compare it to the first two images above). The correct skirt color. The red scarf. Plus the obvious stuff, like the white sleeves and ribbons. A+.
Image credit: Vipperød og Omegns Folkedanserforening
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Lyø woman, 1840
Image credit: Folkedragt.dk
Image Credit: Mikael Bjerregaard
Men's Costume
On Lyø, the men's costume is just as big a star as the women's costume. Lyø is one of only about 10 places in Denmark where the men wore a unique and distinctive fabric that was not worn anywhere else.
Elements of the men's costume:
a. Vest and Jacket: A unique color palette in the fabric, most notably using olive green and coral (technically, a pantone shade called "living coral").
b. Breeches: Cream or white
c. Nikolør's Hat: This wacky multi-colored hat was worn on Lyø and in Horne, Funen.
Nikon hi-res image with natural lighting
Image Credit: DanishFolkCostumes.com
Image Credit: DanishFolkCostumes.com
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Image Credit: Museum of Danish America
In 1979, the predecessor organization to the Danish Folk Costume Society put on an exhibition, displaying the finest example of the Lyø men's costume.
Image credit: Folkedragt.dk
Image Credit: Mikael Bjerregaard
Man wearing the old-fashioned, multicolored "Nikolør"s Hat," which was characteristic of the islands of Denmark's South Funen Archipelago (Det Sydfynske Øhav).
This colorized black-and-white painting appears to get some of the colors incorrect for the vest, using dark blue where it likely was green. It also gets the color of the breeches wrong, as they should be cream, not yellow.