Anyone know a website to buy a Dirndle and Lederhosen? Perferrably not something crazy expensive...$100 range maybe per outfit? (Also something more authentic and less Penthouse)
Yes we are thinking of dressing up for Oktoberfest. The cool thing is that my husbands work is creating a museum of sorts for people to donate things from their travels - after our trip I am considering donating these if we go thru with it.
Authentic Dirndels can be quite sexy actually. The nice ones are really expensive. Lederhosen too. Men would usually wear the longer ones, down to the knee, with the requisite socks. Think knee breeches. Made out of suede, you can imagine what the cost is. You can get something in the same style, but made out of corderoy.
There are 2nd hand stores over here where you can purchase "trachten" and it is also available in some of the department stores, like C&A or Karstadt, but only in small sections. Munich will of course have a lot more of that then other cities, where that kind of outfit is not worn usually. Especially the lederhosen.
Why not wait til you get there and buy your outfits? Then you have an authentic souvenir. Or, you could possibly make them yourself if you can sew. Put an ad on Craigs List and see if anyone has one in Wisconsin to sell to you.
Oh I know Dirndels can be sexy - and I am prepared to push them up and pop them out if I must. But I would like to avoid the breeze on my derriere if at all possible which seems to be obligatory in the run-of-the-mill Halloween costumes anymore.
I would love to buy it there - but I am afraid I wouldn't have enough time to find one and with it being Oktoberfest - any cheaper ones are probably going to be raided and gone. But it is a good thought.
Does "trachen" mean 2nd hand?
Amy, you will have plenty of selection during Oktoberfest, go to C&A and you will have no problems.
Trachten (sing, Tracht) is the traditional attire of a town in Germany.
Amy, you can try www.alpenland.us or www.berglandtrachten.com. I get catalogs periodically from alpenland and the dirndls do run several hundred dollars. I bought a 'landhaus' style jumper once at C&A in Germany, denim with embroidery but not as obvious as a true dirndl. I bought a dirndl blouse to wear with it, but that way I have something that I can actually wear here that doesn't look so out of place.
Dirndl and Lederhosen are pretty expensive. There is an online shop who sell Dirndl-look alikes and some lederhosen as well. www.schneider.de. But they're in German only. Search for "Dirndl" and "Lederhose"...
Dirndles and Lederhosen are traditional wear in Bavaria so you can find places to buy them anywhere within Bavaria.
Good Dirndles and Lederhosen are very expensive (just like good kilts are expensive in Scotland). Jo's suggestion to seek out second hand stores is probably a great idea if you can find something. The more attention you pay to the costume, the more you can tell the difference between quality traditional dress and cheap costume.
I think Dirndles are extremely attractive. Especially on Bavarian women. I like the longer Lederhosen but I couldn't see wearing them to Octoberfest to get doused with beer (or worse).
I saw a lot of young German men wearing a modern interpretation of the traditional garb to Octoberfest along the line of a pair of shorts or capris, a beer themed t-shirt (Hofbrauhaus, Lowenbrau), suspenders, hiking boots, knee high wool socks and maybe the traditional hat and sweater.
I've used Folk Wear patterns for our exhibition dance group when we lived in Sacramento. http://www.folkwear.com/oldeurope.html See pattern #123 for the dirndl. The lederhosen were purchased for the group in bulk...very expensive.
Thanks everyone! I am going to check out the websites and if that doesn't work - I will hit the ground in Munich and head to C&A.
Wish me luck. If it is going to cost much more than $250 to put the two ensambles together - we might just skip it. But it sure would be a nice reminder of our trip if we can make it work.
For some people later in life, they want to still fit in their wedding dress...for me, it will be my dirndel. ;)
I will consolidate my answer, Landhaus is a line of clothing available within the mens dept.of C&A. Trachten literally means costume. The Landhaus line is modernized and very stylish clothing one can wear everyday but not look like one is in costume. I have purchased lots of Landhaus and it is long lasting, attractive, well made and extremely reasonably priced. The so called Octoberfest outfit you are looking for may not be at C&A but some Octoberfest similar clothes will be but not in northern Germany. C&A in Muenster, Koln and Troisdorf have dropped the Landhaus line. I tried last fall. Most germans do not wear the "Octoberfest" outfits, like Americans may think.
