Do foreign visitors wear Lederhosen & Dirndls to Oktoberfest?
Are they looked at as doofs?
Oktoberfest in Virginia Beach USA
Bruce
Virginia Beach
Reply by Marion
Hi Bruce,
yes, many foreign visitors wear Dirndl and Lederhose, the traditional Bavarian clothing.
Some of the strictest and most conservative Bavarians oppose this and think only the real Bavarians should wear Tracht.
But most everyone else is just happy and thinks it's fabulous that our visitors go with the spirit of the Oktoberfest and try to fit in as much as possible by wearing traditional clothing.
By the way, most of the Tracht you can buy are not the authentic traditional Bavarian clothing, but modern adaptations of it.
There's even one new style called "Landhausmode", which is much more modern and off course, it's frowned upon by traditionalists.
Anyways, wear what you like and enjoy the Oktoberfest :-)
Reply by Anonymous
Lederhosen passes everywhere for men and woman!
Yes I do certainly agree ,that sure "the munich Oktoberfest" is the most visited Fest in the World between 6 to 7 million visitors worldwide!And concerning wearing those lovely Lederhosen with suspenders are not only beautiful but very confortable to wear aswell!But the wonderful thing about it is that it fits PERFECTLY MEN?WOMAN ?BOYS AND GIRLS !I 've never been to the Oktoberfest ,but since over 30 years My wife and I have been on Holiday in Bavaria-the black forest-Austria-Sud Tirol ( in northen Italy )-Slovenia -Switzerland,and in all of theese countries Lederhosen is worn a lot ,and appreciated too!So yes even living in Belgium and possesing 11 short ledehosen with suspenders and 4 knee long one's too allways with the suspenders,I just love putting them on practicly evertime I go out and for my wife it's the same thing too!And more and more people are buying lederhosen complete with the suspenders beacause thet are just simply so good and cool to wear !Plus since years you can buy them on Internet sites as cheap as 38 euros ,so don't deprive yourself of them !
Reply by Anonymous
lederhosen is so chic !
I've been going to bavaria on holiday for years and you see more and more men and women wearing Lederhosen with suspenders ,and in very pretty colours too!Even when I'm back home in France I put it on !It's such a great feeling wearing them,and it passes everywear,when you go Shopping ,For a Walk,as you like And I get very nice reactions from people wich I cross in the streets so go on ahead and ladies like me if you go to Germany buy yourself one or even more simple they sell them on AMAZON-EBAY etc at very low prices between 39 to 49 euros complete!And we the women wear teh exteemly well too !!
Reply by Chris
Lederhosen
Being a foreigner and going to Oktoberfest I feel that you should wear lederhosen/ dirndl. I bought some from the train station (tourist lederhosen) but since been home have purchased proper hand made leather pair and love them, I can't wait to get back to Munchen and wear them, for now Melbourne oktoberfest will have to do and even here in Australia lederhosen/ dirndl are becoming more popular. ich liebe Deutschland
Reply by David
I was there at Virginia and I was able to attend the Oktoberfest. It was just amazing event. I could see people from all over the world to enjoy the fest. I liked the event and I have enjoyed fest very much. Keep sharing!
Traditional does not have to be such expensive
I agree... only if you are coming from countryside and are fan of deer leathertrousers and are member of "trachtenverein"who gets also money from bavarian state to buy the real one.... these clothes are around 800 - 1800 EURs upwards.
Even people who are very traditional buy cheaper wildbock leathertrousers. I know this as i sell them to members of traditional "trachtenvereinen" too.
To buy deer trousers for the octoberfest is useless as these expensive trousers will be spoilt within one day in the beertents.... Also to send tourists to the countryside at Miesbach makes no sense as they have to wait over 6 - 12 month till they get a original "Trachtenlederhose" with handmade embroideries and will mostly not find the rare traditional leathertrouser makers over the internet...
Within and around munic everybody wears lederhosen and dirndls at the octoberfest season and tourists want to be also a part of it. Also you get entrance in the beertents manly if you wear a dirndl or a leathertrouser. Also mostly the ladies prefer men with leathertrousers.... so we highliy recommend to purchase some for the wiesn....If you go in normal clothes you will feel like a stranger as everybody wears Dirndl and leathertrousers.... 10 years ago it was different but nowadays its regular to wear some...
Best regards- Dani working at trachtenrausch
Reply by Bigockl
authentic?
Authentic Bavarian Tracht (complete) costs 1000 minimum! If you want to buy some, go to the county of Miesbach or Bad Toelz. Not to Munich (mostly tourist trap!).
Why not wearing your own folk costumes at the Wiesn? Would be more authentic.
Btw.:
98% of the visitors are not wearing traditional Tracht.
30 years ago almost nobody wore Tracht at the Oktoberfest, except farmers. But Lederhosen do sell well...
Greetings from Bavaria
Reply by Mark Saniez
Lederhosen is so elegant
Hi there,
please stop asking yourselves questions about although I'm not German or Austrian can I wear Lederhosen.
Off course so! The first thing tourists from other countries do is to look and buy Lederhosen!
I live in the VOSGES mountains in eastern France and I've got 11 pairs of them 'shorts and knee long ones with the suspenders and believe me when I go out I put them on (for shopping-walking -hiking) and I don't give a dam (honestly even a lot of people tell me "OH HOW PRETTY IT LOOKS and WHERE DID YOU BY IT!).
And even my wife has 2 pairs of women's red leather hosen with the suspenders and she looks even better than I do to be honest (so ladies if you like Lederhosen just put them on!!
from MARK SANIEZ IN THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS IN FRANCE
Reply by Anonymous
Tracht for foreigners is absolutely ok.
if you try to follow these recommodations:
Try to avoid neon colours!
Dirndl dress has to cover the knees
Try not to buy cheap second hand stuff from grandma...nobody in germany wears it normally!
Avoid non fitting to loose dirndl dresses and blouses from cheap internet shops!
Dirndl has to be tight!
Dont wear a dirndl without a blouse!
Dont put sport shoes together with a dirndl dress!
Dont buy LANDHAUSMODE in linnen with a lot of antique looking fonts on it... its style from the 1980ies....
Avoid tourist traps:
Mostly you will get these tourist dirndl dresses in cheap quality inside the city around marienplatz - and around Hauptbahnhof in turkish shops! These shops are tourist traps with not at all german dirndls! Mostly the dresses come from india or pakistan and are made only for tourists - german middle class ladies dont wear these colourful fancy sexy dirndl dresses...only poor students sometimes....or people who dont have the money to buy a real one.
Normally a traditional dirndl dress costs about 100 EUR! In this price range you can be safe to get a good looking unique outfit.
Avoid to buy Dirndl from C & A - these are nice looking but you will have a lot of other ladies around you wearing them in the same beer tent....
Stores to reccomend are: Kaufhof, Hertie, Beck, Angermaier (medium to high price range), Trachtenrausch (medium and also small price range), and a lot of other small Trachten Laden in munic.
Gabi from munic (sorry for my bad english)
Reply by Marion
Tracht is In
Glad to hear you had such a good time !
Actually most Bavarian feel a bit proud to see foreigners trying to fit in. We like it when you guys try to learn German songs (I know this is quite difficult!) and wear Lederhose and Dirndl.
Reply by der Herman
Oktoberfest 2009
We went to the Wiesn, wearing Tracht and had a great time. I speak some German, and the people seemed warm to the fact that I was wearing Lederhosen and my wife, Kel, was wearing a (selbstgemacht!) Dirndl. I even got the impression that they preferred us to the 'Preußen'
One local taught me some Bavarian songs, and was suprised that I already knew and sung well some Oktoberfest songs (I learned them before we left).
We had a GREAT time and want to go again and spend more time there!
Reply by Kelly
I plan on being in traditional dress!
Why do you put goofy pictures of goofy people on your website? (Just kidding, that is my husband!!))
We look forward to visiting München for the festivities. I don't know about my husband, but I plan on being in traditional dress.
Kelly Finkelstein (Va Beach)
