A dirndl is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in Austria, Bavaria (south-eastern Germany), Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Alpine regions of Italy (South Tyrol). A dirndl consists of a close-fitting bodice with a low neckline, a blouse worn under the bodice, a wide high-waisted skirt and an apron.
The dirndl is regarded as a folk costume (German: Tracht). It developed as the clothing of Alpine peasants between the 16th and 18th centuries. Today it is generally considered the traditional dress for women and girls in German-speaking parts of the Alps, with particular designs associated with different regions. The usual masculine tracht counterpart of the dirndl is lederhosen.
In the late 19th century the dirndl was adapted by the upper and middle classes as a fashion mode, and subsequently spread as a mode outside its area of origin. There are many varieties of adaptations from the original folk designs. The dirndl is also worn as an ethnic costume by German diaspora populations in other countries.
Key in the evolution of the dirndl to a commercial fashion were the Jewish brothers Julius (1874–1965) and Moritz Wallach (1879–1963), originally from Bielefeld in north-western Germany. After moving to Munich with their family in 1895, they became interested in and began promoting Alpine tracht. In a personal memoir, Moritz Wallach later stated, “We saw a possibility to keep these irreplaceable traditions and to revitalize them.” The seamstresses employed by the Wallach brothers produced elegant dirndls from colourful printed fabrics, predominantly silk; these were exhibited by models in the Alpine resorts. A major breakthrough for the Wallach brothers came in 1910, when they organized and paid for the traditional costume parade for the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Oktoberfest.> They also designed a festive dirndl for Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt, which created a sensation at a ball in Paris; virtually overnight, the Wallach name became internationally famous in fashionable circles.
In the hard economic times following the First World War, the dirndl became a big-seller; as a simple summer dress, it was an affordable alternative to the often expensive and elaborately worked historic women’s costumes. Between 1920 and 1926, the Wallach brothers operated the Münchner Volkskunsthaus (“Munich house of folk art”). In 1926, Moritz Wallach founded the Wallach-Haus (Wallach House), a specialist supplier of tracht and folk art, which became well known outside the borders of Germany.
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