Skip the online search and shop on-site in Munich for authentic and unique Oktoberfest attire.
By Alison Ramsey • Photographs Courtesy Alison Ramsey
For the full experience of Oktoberfest in Munich, dress like a local in traditional Bavarian Tracht or festival clothing. For ladies, this usually means a Dirndl dress with blouse and apron, stockings or socks, and comfortable boots or shoes. For men, the attire is Lederhosen with a linen shirt, knee-high socks or woolen Loferl (two-part socks whose top portions act as calf warmers), Haferlschuhe (traditional Bavarian shoes), and sometimes a vest and felt or wool hat decorated with feathers or a Gamsbart (a tuft of animal hair set in a metal or horn base). With changing styles and fashions, though, women can also be seen in various shades of leather suspendered short pants, paired with a blouse, vest, or blouse-and-bodice combination. Tracht costume fashion has come a long way since its beginning as peasant regional clothing in the 18th century.
The original Oktoberfest gathering was an October 1810 wedding celebration for Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later known as King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen. During the five-day wedding festival, guests wore clothing representing their various Bavarian regions. For some, this meant outfits fashioned in the style of practical leather culottes and peasant-style “maid’s dresses” customarily worn by mountain folk and country farmers or crafters for outdoor activities. In the 18th century, nobles began adopting peasant clothing styles and romanticizing the simplicity of rural life in their fashion statements, except using more costly materials, luxurious fabrics, and ornate threads. Courtly society ultimately copied the trend as well, until from country peasants up to the kingly courts, dirndls and lederhosen became the preferred attire. In 1887, Oktoberfest announced that these clothing items, collectively called Trachten, would also be the official dress code for its attendees.
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