Basic Viking costume comprised a long-sleeved woollen or linen tunic reaching to mid-thigh or just below the knee (often worn over a fine wool or linen shirt), plus trousers which came in an assortment of styles: close-fitting like ski-trousers (A3); untapered (Ai); or exceedingly baggy and gathered below the knee (Bi). Some were only knee-length, with separate leggings, often cross-gartered from knee to ankle (A2). Stockinged breeches, sometimes of fur or leather, might also be worn. Shoes were of soft leather, sometimes with wooden soles, winter pairs having the fur left on for warmth. Rough cowhide or sealskin boots might also be worn, hairy side out. A short cape or a longer cloak, pinned at the right shoulder, or sometimes at the hip (A4), completed the Vikings’ everyday dress. This cloak might be of rich cloth and fur-lined, while some woollen ones, called roggvarfeldr, were made to look like shaggy fur by the incorporation of tufts of unspun wool in the weaving: this type of cloak was particularly popular in Iceland and Ireland and became fashionable in Norway under King Harald Greycloak (hence his name).
Popular clothing colours included red, scarlet, reddish-brown, brown, blue, green, white, black and grey: of these red, leaf-green and blue were clearly the favourites. Trousers might be striped vertically—one warrior in Jujal’s Saga wears blue- striped trousers—and one anecdote records that woollen leggings should be brown or any other colour except scarlet. Tunics often had hems and panels of tablet-woven cloth, patterned in coloured silk and metal thread. Similarly woven headbands might also be worn (B3).