This one is a vintage dirndl dress, for a hell of a deal on Etsy, for springtime when it eventually rolls back around.
This is a different style than most of the dirndls already in my closet (I have quite the collection growing now), and while it's probably from the 1970s or 80s, this 'modern' version of the dirndl dress is directly from the late 1930s.
I may need to lengthen the bodice at the waist seam slightly, but I'm just going on the seller's listed measurements of 15 1/4", and I'm not sure if she is measuring from the center front or the shoulder.
I'm tall, about 5'10", so it's often the case with vintage clothing that it runs short in the torso and/or sleeves.
Typically, even in newly made dresses, dirndls have a lot of extra seam allowance on the inside. This allows for size adjustments to be made for a perfect fit and years of wear, regardless of minor size growth or shrinkage of the wearer ;-) German efficiency at it's finest.
In pre-war Germany and surrounding lands such as Austria/Bavaria, there had been a major push to bring back and preserve traditional and regional costume. During the rise of the Nazi regime, it was suggested (never decreed by law) that traditional clothing was the only kind of clothing women should wear and take pride in, yet with so much beautiful fashion coming out of Paris and New York, it was more than a bit difficult to tell a good chunk of Europe to wear what they considered 'old fashioned' 24/7. Needless to say, they had to meet somewhere in the middle...
So, what happened?
Dresses such as this happened; a balance between the popular silhouettes of the late 1930s, and since the dirndl dress cut was already becoming fashionable world wide, this was a nice way to include the more traditional look of Tracht..."a traditional national costume in German-speaking countries. Although the word is most often associated with Austrian and Bavarian costumes, many other peoples of Germany have them."
A typical late 1930s dress...
"fashionable" and more traditional tracht for women, a fashion spread from the early 1940s...
Bauernmädchen aus dem Miesbacher Oberland...this look was still worn for festivals, and daily wear was not so embellished and accessorized.
Still brought out for special occasions and festivities...
Another traditional costume
More festival dress, their 'Sunday best'...
Still, wealthy women continued to wear French fashions until it was difficult to get them due to the outbreak of WWII.
This is what we have nowadays...not real dirndls in the traditional sense.
I do like some of the newer versions of the dirndl dress, and what has evolved from the originals.
