The simple “Dirndl” alpine dress, with its distinctive white blouse, full skirt and apron, has won new fans between Austria and foreign fashionistas in recent years.
His folksy appeal has now made historic Dirndl and other traditional clothing is an important part of the Austrian clothing industry, around 70 percent of which are exported, according to the Chamber of Commerce.
Even the British style Vivienne Westwood icon, better known for its provocative punk design, has been fascinated by Dirndl, which also displays the right corset.
Now the eternal garment is a new exhibition star, which tracks his journey for years from the countryside to the catwalk.
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The event was detained in the Austrian Spa City of Bad Ischl, the former Summer Residence of Emperor Franz Josef and his wife Elisabeth, known as Sissi.
It is located in Salzkammergut, a spectacular mountainous mountainous area and lake which is one of the original Dirndl houses, along with neighboring Tyrol and Bavaria in South Germany.
Thekla Weissengruber, the curator of the exhibition, said Dirndl “is to Austria what kilt for Scotland or Kimono is to Japan”.
Prestigious customers
It is a woman who lives on the ground which initially adopts a cheap practical dress, whose name comes from the term dialect which can also mean “girl”.
But at the end of the 19th century, it was also being charged by women in the Imperial Court when they flocked to the countryside in the summer.
“Everything is very corset in Vienna,” Weissengruber told AFP.
“On holiday they can free themselves, with this lighter and brighter style,” he added.
The host in Marmorschloessl, “cottage” given to Sissi by her husband, the exhibition shows how Dirndl has evolved through around 50 examples.
The initial version, no frills quickly provides ways to clothing more complicated for those who are looking for hearings at Villa Imperial.
Angelika Schauer runs the family of Dirndl families in a bad Ischl who traces its history back to 1895.
He remembered that his grandfather counted visitors in court between his clients.
“When he made a measurement, he was under a close watch” from the bodyguard who came with a well-heeled client, he said.
“He must refrain from making certain movements”.
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‘There is no more evil’
During the Nazi period, while women were encouraged to wear a similar traditional dress, the word “Dirndl” was prohibited, the regime found it too reasonable “Jewish-Run” clothing industry.
But Dirndl never disappeared, with customers the prestigious Salzburg festival has charmed it from the 1920s and so on.
Overseas popularized by the “White Horse Inn”, a musical music in Salzkammergut which reached Broadway in 1936.
It also has a MARLENE DIETRICH screen icon fan, according to Weissengruber.
Along with other traditional Austrian clothing, Dirndl has undergone a revival in recent years, especially at the beer festival.
Today’s woman “Wear Dirndl anytime”, said Schauer, with a man wearing a famous “Ledhosen” leather pants.
Although often cheaper produced in Asia, Schauer’s husband Johannes Topizopoulos said that many Dirndl fans preferred to buy locally, especially in the times where people wanted durable and sustainable clothes.
“The fact that it is difficult to use according to a very good time,” he said.
The high-end version is certainly an expensive investment: Dirndl created can be charged between 650 and 1,000 euros ($ 767 and $ 1,180), not to mention the version it turns out with fashion houses like Westwood’s.
However, when the exhibition proudly quoted the designers as said during a visit to Austria, “if every woman wears Dirndl, there will be no more ugliness in the world”.
