THE LUNDEBYBUNAD
A bunad designed as a birthday gift. The story of one painter, one woman turning fifty, and a garment that became its own tradition.
The quick answer
The Lundebybunad is a designed Norwegian bunad — created in 1932 by the Norwegian painter Alf Lundeby as a 50th birthday gift for a friend. Unlike many bunads that evolved gradually from older folk costume traditions, the Lundeby was a single artist's composition, drawing inspiration from the much older Rondastakken silhouette and from regional textile motifs without copying any specific historical garment.
It is most often associated with the eastern Norwegian regions of Gudbrandsdalen (Oppland) and Solør (Hedmark) — Alf Lundeby was born in Tøråsen in Våler in Solør, and lived in Lillehammer in Oppland, which is why the bunad belongs to those regions today.
The Lundebybunad comes in three color variants: black, blue, or natural white wool. The embroidery features flowing floral borders along the bottom of the skirt with smaller floral motifs ascending up the garment, in artistic wool embroidery that covers much of the bunad. The silver is typically oxidized — darker, with a softer luster — though gilded or lighter silver is used with the white variant.
For its first decades, the Lundeby was worn only by relatives of Alf Lundeby. It gradually opened up beyond his family and has since become a beloved bunad among Norwegians from Gudbrandsdal and Solør, and among others drawn to its design and
At a glance
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Where it's from
Designed in 1932 by Norwegian painter Alf Lundeby. Associated with Gudbrandsdalen (Oppland) and Solør (Hedmark) — the regions of his birth and home.
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What sets it apart
Three color variants: black, blue, or natural white wool. Flowing floral wool embroidery covers the skirt, vest, and accessories. Silhouette inspired by the older Rondastakken.
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The silver
Typically oxidized — silver-colored with a darker patina — though gilded or lighter silver is traditional with the white variant. Multiple søljer worn together; bag clasp and cufflinks complete the set.
The story
Alf Lundeby (1870–1961) was a Norwegian painter. He was born in Tøråsen, a place in Våler in the Solør region of eastern Norway, and he lived in Lillehammer, in Oppland, for much of his life. He worked in the broad Norwegian National Romantic tradition that flourished in his time — the same cultural movement that gave Norway its bunad tradition in the first place.
In 1932, Lundeby designed a bunad. It was not a commission, and it was not a commercial project. It was a gift — a 50th birthday gift for a friend.
He drew the silhouette from the Rondastakken, an older Gudbrandsdal bunad that had remained in continuous use for generations, and gave his composition its own embroidery and its own character. He chose flowing floral motifs — wool embroidery on wool — to cover the garment from the bottom of the skirt upward, with the densest work along the hem and lighter motifs ascending the bodice. He worked it in three color variants — black, blue, and natural white — so that future wearers could choose. And he gave it to her.
For the next several decades, the Lundeby was worn only by relatives of Alf Lundeby. It was a family bunad in the most literal sense — passed within his line, made by hand, kept close. Over time, as the Lundeby became known and admired in his home regions, it opened up. By the latter part of the twentieth century, it was being sewn and worn across Gudbrandsdalen and Solør by people with no direct family connection to the artist.
The Lundeby is, in the Norwegian bunad system, what is called a designed bunad — a free composition rather than a reconstruction of a historical folk costume. The Norwegian Institute of Bunad and Folk Costume uses a five-category system to classify bunads by how closely they follow folk costume traditions. The Lundeby is several categories down from the most archaic costumes (which are direct continuations of pre-industrial dress); it sits comfortably in the company of designed-from-the-imagination bunads that nonetheless carry deep regional and cultural meaning. Its authenticity is the authenticity of intention — an artist's vision, given as love, embraced by a region.
It is one of the more uncommon stories in the bunad tradition. Most bunads belong to a place. The Lundeby belongs to a moment — and to the people who have chosen to carry it forward.
What it looks like
The Lundebybunad is distinctive even at a distance. Three things define it visually: the color, the embroidery, and the silver.
The wool comes in three variants — black, blue, or natural white — and the wearer chooses among them freely. Each carries a different mood. The black is the most formal and the most commonly worn; it reads as serious and ceremonial. The blue is deeper and more contemplative — a saturated, true blue that catches the light differently than the black. The white (sometimes described as natural ecru or undyed wool) is the most distinctive and the least common; it is luminous in daylight and stands out in a syttende mai crowd. There is no rule about which is right for which occasion — the choice is the wearer's.
The cape, when worn, is in the same wool as the bunad — matching black, blue, or white. Some wearers add it for formal or colder occasions.
The embroidery is what gives the Lundeby its visual signature. Flowing floral motifs in wool embroidery cover much of the garment — densest along the hem of the skirt where the embroidered band is widest, lighter and more scattered ascending up the skirt and onto the bodice. The embroidery continues onto the cap and the bag, tying the full ensemble together as a coordinated set. The motifs themselves draw from old textile traditions of the region rather than from any single historical garment.
The blouse is white cotton, traditionally with nuppereller — a delicate Norwegian tatting technique — along the collar and cuffs. There is no purpose-designed Lundeby blouse; a simple cotton blouse with tatting trim is the standard pairing. For the blue and white bunads, a white blouse is standard; some wearers pair the black bunad with a black blouse as well.
The silver is bunadsølv, made in Norway in traditional patterns. For the Lundeby, the silver is most often oxidized — a slightly darkened, more matte silver finish that complements the saturated wool colors and the warmth of the wool embroidery. For wearers who choose the white variant, lighter or gilded silver is the traditional pairing, with the lighter metal echoing the lightness of the wool. A complete Lundeby silver set typically includes multiple søljer (worn together, with the wearer choosing two of three available sizes), a bag clasp, and cufflinks.
The headcovering is a small embroidered bonnet without chin straps, made in the same embroidered style as the bunad.
The shoes are simple black bunad shoes — the standard low-heeled black leather shoes worn with most Norwegian bunads.
Taken together, the Lundebybunad reads as warm, floral, and quietly distinctive — not the dark severity of Hardanger or the archaic gravity of Setesdal, but a designed garment from the early twentieth century in full conversation with the long Norwegian tradition behind it.
A Lundeby in the family
Of all the bunads in Norway, Gina Nylund chose to make a Lundeby for herself.
She completed her own Lundebybunad in 2016, after years of training and study, on her path to becoming a certified Bunadtilvirker. It was the bunad she chose to begin her own bunadmaking work — not by accident, and not because it was the easiest. She chose the Lundeby because it spoke to her: a garment designed as a gift, embraced by a region, beautiful in three colors, carrying the warmth of a personal story.
That bunad has, in many ways, become the founding garment of Bunad Creations. Every class taught, every student helped, every component sourced for another woman's bunad — all of it grew from the work of making her own Lundeby first.
If you are drawn to the Lundebybunad — whether because your family is from Gudbrandsdal or Solør, because the story moves you, or simply because the bunad calls to you — we would be honored to help you make yours. We source the wool in all three colors, source the silver from Norwegian silversmiths, and teach the embroidery and construction in our classes. The Lundeby is one of the most beautiful bunads to make. And as the bunad that started this work, it holds a particular place in our hearts.