Existing comment:
Dirndl & Lederhosen:
The Costumes of German-Americans:
When Americans trace their roots, they usually reach for the colorful clothes of their immigrant ancestors as a quick and visible symbol of ethnic affiliation. Although the costumes worn by German groups in America are as diverse as the places from which their ancestors immigrated, the universal Dirndl fashion, together with the Lederhose, have become the most widely recognized form of German costume to German-Americans.
The Dirndl fashion dress was born at the end of the 19th century when young Germans adapted the traditional dress of the Alpine areas. It was comfortable, becoming, easy to care for and epitomized to its wearer the simple, wholesome country life. Men followed by giving up their stiff collars and tight vests, reaching for the short leather pants -- the Lederhose -- which was originally the traditional garment of the Alpine lumber worker.
Although any German-American festival is an opportunity to see Dirndl fashions in all varieties, it is the dance groups that illustrate the multitude of traditional costumes. While native dress prescribes who wears what, when and how, the Dirndl dress is not native dress (or Tracht) but folklore fashion; it is subject to fashion changes and has spawned a whole industry.
Tracht is generally limited in design to the traditional form for a given region. On the other hand, folklore fashion design is limited only by the designer's taste and imagination. Tracht needs to be nurtured and cultivated, but folklore fashions are promoted by the manufacturers. Most importantly, a given Tracht exists in many forms according to the wearer's status in life while folklore fashions make no such distinctions.
Even though traditional costumes today have lost most of their importance and do not play a major role in globalized and leveled society, people still wear them in many places on special occasions. The traditional Bavarian Dirndl and the Lederhose have also become important fashion garments for many visitors to the Oktoberfest in Munich. Both folklore costumes have achieved worldwide cult status, as can be seen in many fashion and entertainment magazines where movie and sport stars pose in Dirndl and Lederhosen. |