Hábrækr: Rus’ High Breeches

Hábrækr: Rus’ High Breeches

by Lord Sebastian d’Hinnisdael

[email protected] !Clothier’s Seminar February 1, 2014 !!!!!!!!!

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The Rus’ were a group of Scandinavians who settled in the area of modern-day

Russia, Belarus and Ukraine at the end of the Ninth Century. Principal settlements

were Novgorod and Kiev. They controlled the Volga Trade Route to the Middle East.

Wealthy Rus’ wore knee-length baggy trousers known as hábrækr or “high

breeches” because only high-class rich people could afford them. The trousers were

made from an incredible amount of cloth and were probably intended to show off the

wealth of the wearer. They may also have been influenced by Middle Eastern fashion.

The pants were described in the Hudud al-'Alam, a Tenth Century Persian work, as

follows:

Out of a hundred cubits of fine linen, more-or-less, they sew trousers, which they put on tucking them up above the knee.

Ibn Rusta, a Tenth Century Persian explorer, gave a similar description but said there

were a hundred cubits in each leg. (A cubit is half a yard, so both of these descriptions

are likely to be exaggerated.)

Hábrækr appear to be worn by figures in carvings and other surviving works.

The Uppäkra Man (800-1000 AD) is a silver figure holding a drinking horn and wearing

puffy trousers. The Tängelgårda Stone (700-800 AD) and the Stora Hammars I Stone

(700-900 AD) both show a line of viking figures in billowing pants. Some of the figures

is the Osberg Tapestry (834 AD) are also believed to be wearing hábrækr.

The only known remnant of a pair of hábrækr comes from Haithabu Harbour.

The clothing recovered at Haithabu had been coated in tar and used as ship’s caulking.

Fragments 72 A-B and 91 A are pieces from the crotch and front of a pair of trousers.

Wrinkles on the fragments indicate that the original garnet was pleated. The pleating

lead experts to conclude that the pants are hábrækr.

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The fragments from Haithabu reveal a great deal about the construction of the

hábrækr. The pants are seat-gored breeches which are very similar to the Thorsberg

trousers. These hábrækr were made of fine wool.

The Tailor’s Tent will make pants from light-weight wool, but medium-weight linen

could also be used. All seams are sewn with a running stitch. Linen seams should be

folded over and finished. The seam allowance on wool will usually felt over time, but for

very light-weight wool, it may be advisable to secure the seam allowance to prevent

raveling.

The pattern that will be used by the Tailor’s Tent at Lilies this year is a modified

Thorsberg pattern. The wide puffy leg pieces are knee-length, and each piece is

between one and three yards wide. A cartridge plead is used on the waist and the

bottom of each leg. A long tight-fitting cuff is attached below the knee on each leg. Belt

loops are attached at the waist. The pattern is attached.

Body Measurements:

CL Crotch length. Put the measuring tape between the legs and measure

from the front waist line to the back waist line.

WK Waist to knee. On the side, measure from the waist line to the bottom of

the knee.

KF Knee to foot. Measure from the bottom of the knee to the top of the foot.

SW Seat width. Measure across the butt between the pubic bones.

W Waist. Measure around the waist.

CF Calf. Measure around the thickest part of the calf.

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Pattern Measurements: (seam allowance not included)

a-b ½ CL

b-c 3”

b-b 3”

c-c 3½“

d-f ½ CL - 3”

d-e SW

f-c 3”

f-f 9½”

d-g WK

e-g WK !Instructions:

1. Sew upper crotch to lower crotch along b-b.

2. Sew crotch to left upper leg along a-b and then along b-c. Do the same on

the right upper leg.

3. Sew the legs/crotch to the butt along f-c-c-f.

4. Bring the each leg around and sew along d-g and e-g.

5. Sew the waist piece to itself along the narrow edges.

6. Cut two lengths of thread a few inches longer than W and thread each

through a different needle. Make cartridge pleats with your fingers (about

one inch wide) along the upper edge of the pants and secure with parallel

basting stitches (about an inch apart) with the two prepared needles.

7. Tie off the basting threads so the opening at the top of the pants is equal to

W. Try on the pants and make sure you can pull them up. Adjust the basting

threads if necessary. Distribute the pleats evenly. Pin the waist piece to the

top of the pants. Remove basting threads and sew on the waist.

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8. Sew each lower leg piece to itself along edge KF to make two long tubes.

Pleat and baste each leg opening and attach the lower leg tubes in the same

way as the waist.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ewing, Thor. Viking Clothing. Stroud: Tempus, 2006.!!Glaesel, Nille. Viking: Dress, Clothing, Klaer, Garment. S.I.: Nille Glaesel Forlag, 2010.!!Thunem, Hilde. “Viking Men: Trousers.” http://urd.priv.no/viking/bukser.html. January 25, 2014.

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!! !

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Detail of Stora Hammars I Stone.

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