My Dirndl and Frühlingsfest

Hello!

So Tracht. Tracht is traditional Bavarian clothing. The most famous piece is, of course, Lederhosen. Lederhosen is one of those beautiful, literal German words - literally meaning leather pants, or shorts. The female equivalent is called a dirndl. I remember my first German teacher had a dirndl hanging on her wardrobe, and that was part of my first introduction to German culture. I thought that as a future German teacher, that it would be cool to be able to do the same thing and use it as a way to introduce others to some of the more historical aspects of German culture :)  So I went shopping with a couple of other study abroad students (before classes started) to pick out the perfect one. I managed to find one I completely fell in love with at the second store we went to. 

Trying on dirndls is an, capital - A, affair. The dirndls are not easy to fit into. The first piece of clothing that goes on is the blouse. The blouse (I have an off the shoulder one) only goes to the middle of my chest. Most of it is visible. Then the dress goes on, and you have to suck in your breath to get it to fit. An older woman (picture below) was really kind and helped me with trying it on. She was very familiar and so kind. We were pretty sure that she was the proprietor. I bought the first one that I tried on, and I love it. 

Tracht today is worn most frequently at traditional beer events - such as Oktoberfest or Frühlingsfest (Spring Fest). So assuming that everyone knows what Oktoberfest entails - Frühlingsfest is basically a smaller version of Oktoberfest. For the most part it looks like a carnival - complete with overpriced food, ferris wheels, and souvenirs. JYM reserved a couple of tables for us in one of the beer tents, the Hippodrom, on Bavarian-American Friendship Day. Sarah, Grace, and I sat at one of the tables, and when 7:20 rolled around, a group of obviously drunk German girls in dirndls came up and asked if they could sit at the table with us. I said yes, because I thought it would be more fun with people who have been to the festival before. Pauline was one of the more outgoing of her friends - and one of her other (more sober friends) told me that she had begun celebrating at 3 in the afternoon. I had so much fun with them! After 8 we were standing on the benches singing and dancing along with the music (and spilling beer ALL over the place). 

Me and the woman who helped me with my dirndl

my dirndl

Me, Grace, and Sarah

Pauline and I 

Tschüß!