Every year on the first Sunday of October, a two-week-long festival begins in the city of Munich in Germany. The festival mainly consists of a huge variety of beers and the famous German sausages. Another interesting feature is the Oktoberfest costumes people love to dress up in. Germany has a rich Bavarian culture with lots of interesting rituals and traditions which tourists love to be part of.
Origin Story
The celebration originated from the marriage celebration of the Prince of Bavaria. The marriage was deemed to strengthen the Bavarian monarchy and so was met with big celebrations by the locals of Bavaria. The festival originally concluded with a 5-day event which included the creation of a new sort of horse race called ‘Theresienwiese’. Their anniversary met with the addition of food and drinks stalls. Becoming a popular concept, the festival began to be celebrated annually attracting a vast number of tourists.
Oktoberfest Costumes
There are two main costumes that are popularly worn by attendees at Oktoberfest. Dirndl for women and lederhosen for men. These outfits originated in the 18th Century when Bavarian communities were becoming more revolutionized and civilized. People needed comfortable clothing they could wear when working.
Dirndl
Also translated to ‘the dress’ or ‘women’ in German. The dirndl consists of a blouse, skirt, and apron. Ladies usually pair them with a pair of traditional shoes.
They were worn by women working on farms and suited women who wanted to better cover their ‘problem areas’ which was a big concern back in the days.
Locals prefer to buy dirndls in floral or tendrils. It was never considered a dress to be worn at festivals but it came into popularity in order to preserve German culture.
Lederhosen
They are knee-length breeches that were worn by men working in the countryside or farming. They were worn in the regions of Austria and Germany outfits. It was a common attire to wear in Bavarian communities.
Lederhosen are considered more durable than fabric. The leather also makes it very easy to wash and withstand extreme temperatures in places like the Alps. It also became a popular attire worn by sportsmen such as in horse riding and other outdoor activities.
More Lederhosen for Men
History
As previously mentioned, these breeches originated from the regions of Germany and Austria. They were trousers worn by the working-class community due to their amazing durability. Moreover, during that era leather trousers were worn by many European men in outdoor activities such as horse riding and hunting.
The Bavarian community is the one that came up with the innovation of a ‘flap’ that differentiated these breeches from normal leather trousers. This style quickly became popular in regions of France and was termed ‘the Bavarian style’ of trousers.
Details
You can find that there’s intricate embroidery done on the leather in places such as trousers and suspenders. This slowly evolved into defining what kind of region or tribe of the Bavarian community these people belonged from. It signified regional pride for the locals.
Many men took the liberty of owning more than one pair of lederhosen, one for each occasion. Festivities and weddings had their own pair of lederhosen. But generally, these breeches are what we now consider to be blue jeans in society at the time.
Models
When searching for lederhosen, they are easier to be described as knee-breeches. Generally, all models are decorated with embroidery on the straps and trousers. Make sure to look for high-quality or pure leather when looking to buy these breeches.
Lederhosen come with staghorn buttons and knife pockets. This is why they preferred to be used when farming.
Styling
Nowadays, you will see many people wearing them at German festivals such as Oktoberfest or sports festivals. They are also considered appeasing among women of the German culture.
When combing with modern fashion, many people prefer to wear them with sneakers instead of the traditional Haferl shoes. They also couple it with accessories such as knife pockets or cowboy hats.
Many men also wear them on a casual basis due to the comfortable and fashional look it gives at home.
Colors
These are the common colors you find lederhosen in:
-Shades of brown
-Shades of grey
-Black
