What they're wearing this year in Munich

by BettyP | September 23, 2008 at 04:06 pm | 1700 views | 14 comments | 0 recommendations

If you're off to Oktoberfest you're likely to run into a Dirndl or two.

A Dirndl is a type of traditional dress worn in southern Germany and Austria, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode.
The dirndl consists of a bodice, blouse, full skirt and apron. While appearing to be simple and plain, a properly-made, modern dirndl may be quite expensive. In the South German dialects (bairisch), 'dirndl' originally referred to a young woman or a girl. Nowadays, 'dirndl' may equally refer to either a young woman, or to the dress.

The winter style dirndl has heavy, warm skirts and aprons made of thick cotton, linen, velvet or wool, and long sleeves. The colors are usually rich and dark. The summer style is lighter and more frivolous, has short sleeves, and is often made of lightweight cotton, silk or satin.

Accessories may include a long apron tied round the waist, a waistcoat or a wool shawl. For colder weather there are heavy dirndl coats in the same cut as the dresses, with a high neck and front buttons, thick mittens and wool hats.

The placement of the knot on the apron is sometimes an indicator of the woman's marital status. When this is so, a knot tied on the woman's left side indicates she is single, a knot tied on the right means she is married, engaged or otherwise "taken", and a knot tied in back means the woman is widowed.

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nickylou78

at 18:08 on September 23rd, 2008

2008 Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas

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Bieniek Family

at 18:10 on September 23rd, 2008

Thanks NowPublic - I guess we can count this as our little girl's first modelling job :-)

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MichaelMoweryMedia

at 20:11 on September 23rd, 2008

Authentic Dirndls found in the 4th of July photos I submitted can be purchased at www.alpenschatz.com. Happy Oktoberfest!!!!!
Prost!

abads.david

at 20:36 on September 23rd, 2008

At the waning hours of the fest, the crowd was still in a good mood, listening to Edelweiss with beer in hand as the vendors were trying to close. There was a great amount of people wearing the traditional garb, some with exquisite detail, while others were simpler. Still all were equally proud of their german heritage.

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gogouci

at 21:28 on September 23rd, 2008

Mt. Angel Oktoberfest 2008. Mt Angel is a small community in Oregon, founded by German pioneers in the 1800s. Once a year, this community, for four days, plays host to the largest Oktoberfest west of the Rockies. They even have a mini Glockenspiel in the center of town.

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Barbie Davis

at 21:39 on September 23rd, 2008

Thrifty Dirndlz

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Sandra in the sun

at 23:20 on September 23rd, 2008

We celebrated the Oktoberfest in Singapore at the Swiss Club. It was great fun with lots of good German food and - of course - lots of good German beer ;-) An original Bavarian band was playing traditional German songs and these guys had us up on the benches dancing and singing along in no time! There's just one more thing to say: PROST!

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s.janc

at 01:15 on September 24th, 2008

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colourbynumber

at 04:32 on September 24th, 2008

I actually volunteered as a beer maiden at an Oktoberfest in Chicago. A lot of fun! And the beer was heavy!

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Rozanne

at 05:11 on September 24th, 2008

While visiting Munich, my family decided to spend an evening at the Hofbrahuas. Out front, there was a group of young ladies, each wearing a dirndl, getting ready to go inside. They were enjoying themselves and loving the attention their dresses brought to them. They happily posed for this picture!

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