The socks first, the brooch last. When 24-year-old Matilda Nivert Öström puts on her Medelpad costume, she does it with practiced hands.
"If I ever have to dress up and it's not appropriate to wear traditional costume, I don't know what to wear," she says.
She is a folk dancer and owns several complete costumes, but also parts of them. A shawl here, a bonnet there. She tries to find costumes from areas she has a connection to - she recently got her hands on a complete costume from Ragunda in Jämtland, where her grandmother was from.
"You get a historical understanding of what it was like in the area and a sense of how people lived there."
Started with India
Although the folk costume is steeped in tradition, it looks like it has a bright future. In 2022, Sweden got its first gender-neutral folk costume, the Bäckadräkten. On Tradera, folk costume purchases have become more frequent and more expensive. The most expensive complete costume sold so far this year is a Leksandsdräkt in a men's version, for 67,500 kronor.
Lina Odell, the first in Sweden to earn a journeyman's certificate in costume sewing, is not surprised. For her, it started with a fascination for folklore from countries like China and India, but she soon realized that she didn't have to look that far. Patterns and colorful traditions, the "un-Swedish" as she says, were right in front of her.
"There is a perception that Scandinavia is white, light and beige. But anyone who believes that has never been inside a wedding cabin in Hälsingland."
Status of slow craft
Lina Odell believes that slow craftsmanship has generally gained a higher status in a society where most things are rushed. She holds courses in costume sewing and notices that more people are curious and want to learn, especially young people.
"Norway has a really cool tradition. When young Norwegians post cool TikTok videos where they are dressed in their bunads (Norwegian folk costumes), I understand that it has an impact."
Matilda Nivert Öström also believes that Norway is inspiring. She also believes that the return of the folk costume is about wanting to belong to, and be proud of, the place you come from. She herself prefers to wear the Medelpad costume, the first one she owned as an adult.
"I wore it to my great-grandmother's funeral, and a shirt she made. I knew she liked that outfit, because that's where she came from."
What we call folk costume today is the clothing worn by commoners in early peasant society to show their geographical location and social status. The costumes were inspired by fashion, but largely made from materials one could produce themselves.
The oldest folk costumes in Sweden date back to the 17th century, but new ones are being created all the time. One example is the so-called Sverigedräkten, which was created in 1902 as the "Allmänna svenska nationaldräktsförenings festdräkt". However, it was not established until the 1980s.
During January–April of this year, the number of items sold with the word "folk costume" in the description on Tradera increased by 21 percent compared to the same period the previous year. The average price increased by 40 percent. Sales have increased steadily since 2020, but a sharp increase was seen last year, according to Tradera's figures.
The most popular regions are Dalarna, Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Blekinge and Östergötland. 75 percent of those who buy a folk costume via Tradera are women. Most are between the ages of 51–60.
In 2025, the average price for items sold with the word "folk costume" in the description was 434 SEK, which represents a price increase of 22 percent since 2023.
At the auction house Auctionet, searches for folk costumes have increased by just over 150 percent in the past year. Final prices have risen by over 25 percent since 2021 and the number of folk costumes sold has increased by just over 47 percent.
Source: TT, Tradera, Auctionet
