Our logo wears a horned helmet, and we will admit straight away that a real Viking almost certainly never did. The Viking age, which ran roughly from the late eighth century to the middle of the eleventh, has left us a surprising amount of evidence about clothing, from fragments of cloth in graves to brooches, belt fittings and descriptions written by the people they met.
Everyday clothing for men
A typical Viking man wore a linen undershirt next to the skin, with a woollen tunic over the top that reached roughly to the knee. Trousers ranged from fitted styles to loose, baggy ones gathered below the knee, and were often worn with wrapped wool leg bindings. Over everything went a rectangular wool cloak, pinned at the right shoulder so that the sword arm stayed free. Leather shoes and a belt carrying a knife and a small pouch completed the outfit.
Everyday clothing for women
Women also wore a long linen shift, often with a woollen dress over it. Many wore an apron dress, a pinafore style garment held up by straps fastened with a pair of large oval brooches at the collarbones. These brooches are among the most common finds in Viking women's graves, and strings of glass beads were often hung between them. A shawl or cloak was added for warmth.
Fabrics and colours
Almost everything was made from wool or linen, spun and woven by hand, which made cloth extremely valuable. Wool from Scandinavian sheep could be woven into warm, dense fabrics that shed rain well. Colour came from natural dyes, with woad giving blues, madder root giving reds and plants such as weld giving yellows. The richest Vikings added silk, often trimmed in narrow strips onto tunics, which arrived through trade routes reaching as far as Constantinople and Baghdad.
The truth about horned helmets
The only near complete Viking age helmet ever found, the Gjermundbu helmet discovered in Norway in 1943, is a rounded iron cap with a spectacle shaped guard around the eyes and no horns at all. Horns would have been a liability in a fight, giving an opponent something to grab or strike. The horned image took hold in the nineteenth century, when romantic artists and theatre designers looked for something dramatic to set Norse characters apart, most famously in the costumes for Wagner's Ring cycle in 1876.
So the horns on our helmet are pure theatre, which suits us fine. If you want to wear them with pride, you will find them on everything in our clothing range.
Common questions
Did Vikings wear horned helmets?
There is no evidence that Vikings wore horned helmets in battle. The image became popular in the nineteenth century, helped along by costume designs for Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung in 1876.
What colours did Vikings wear?
Vikings dyed their clothes with plants and minerals. Blues came from woad, reds from madder root, and yellows from plants such as weld. Brighter colours took more dye and more work, so they were a sign of wealth.
What fabrics did Vikings use?
Wool and linen were the main fabrics. Wealthier people also wore silk, which reached Scandinavia through trade routes that stretched as far as Byzantium and the Middle East.
Last reviewed 2 November 2026