In the Nordic countries, there is no one single "national costume" that represents the entire country, so using the term "national costume" is incorrect. It is more accurate to refer to these outfits as "regional" costumes. The Danes use the word folkedragter or something similar. I think Swedes use folkdräkter. Finns probably use a word with multiple p's and i's. :-)
In Norway, bunad is the Norwegian word for a traditional Norwegian regional costume. Bunader is the plural form for bunad, not bunads — although the latter is commonly used in North America and I use it interchangeably with bunader.
The origin of the Norwegian word bunad comes from the simple word for "clothing," but has taken on the specific meaning of a "regional folk costume".
Many people, especially Norwegian-Americans, toss the term bunad about and use it for clothing items that are more correctly identified as folkedrakt (folk-style clothing) or for any national costume. It is really not correct to use the term bunad for anything that is not an "officially approved" (yes, there are such things!) Norwegian regional costume.
Norwegians apply the word bunad to describe folk costumes of other countries as well, but I would argue that English-language speakers should not be using a Norwegian word as an English-language substitute to describe the folk costumes of countries other than Norway.
To give you an idea of how the study and use of these garments has grown, just look at the bunad books that have come out over the last few decades. In the 1980s, there was one book available that had been out for years and had maybe 75-100 pages. Just prior to the 1994 Olympics, a huge new book come out about 2-3 times the size of the early book. The latest version is a comprehensive three volume Bunad Leksikon (Bunad Encyclopedia) with close to 350 pages in each volume!
The Leksikon describes five types of categories of bunader, which I won't get into here, but which get very detailed. The short explanation is that true/real bunads have a clear provenance to older clothing from the area. Newer "compositions" are usually not considered bunads. One exception, for example, would be one of the bunads from Finnmark. The German Army's "slash and burn" policy during WWII destroyed any remnants of old clothing. So the area has created a lovely, simple bunad.
Each area's bunad (and accepted variations) are determined, based on thorough research, by regional and national committees who oversee such things. Some areas change their bunad as new historical evidence appears. As an example, one former bunad used in Romsdal is now considered a folkedrakt because research led to the development of a new and more historically accurate bunad for the are. Before the new bunad was developed, the old bunad (now folkedrakt) itself went through a series of changes of colors through the years.
Folkedrakt can cover anything from a Norwegian-American "interpretation" of a bunad — which is what many older Norwegian-American "bunads" really are! — to modern clothing with a folk style. But folkedrakter are not the same thing as bunader.
The next time you hear someone from North America say that they have a bunad, you might want to ask some questions or see the garment before accepting that statement at face value.
I own bunader and I own folkedrakter and I know the difference. Hope you'll be inspired to find out more, too.
