By Isla Quinn
A knot. A pull of cotton at the waist. Somebody always says the bow on a dirndl apron is a message. Which side means what? We read what the sources say. They are cautious.
First, the word
German Wikipedia says “Dirndl” is the diminutive of “Dirn”, the Bavarian and Austrian form of “Dirne”, which in dialect still just means a young girl. Until about the middle of the twentieth century “Dirn” was the usual upper German word for a farm maid, and “Dirndlgewand” was the full name for the clothes those servants wore. So the dress began as work wear. English Wikipedia says the same: it developed from rural clothing into the working clothes of Austrian servants.
From farm to resort
Then came the holidays. The German article says that from about 1870 or 1880 the dirndl caught on among wealthy summer visitors in the Sommerfrische, the resort season, as a supposedly rural dress. At first it was an urban fashion. The English article says the same for the 1870s and adds that around 1875 Empress Elisabeth promoted a rustic dress called the “Sisi”, based on the peasant dirndl. It gives the tight bodice, lower neckline and wide skirt as features that came from seventeenth-century court fashion.
What is on the body
The two articles agree on the pieces. A close-fitting bodice, often low-cut. A full skirt set high at the waist. An apron. Usually a white blouse that ends just under the bust; the English article says cambric, linen or lace. The German article adds a shoulder cloth, and says a pocket is traditionally worked in under the apron. The fastening is usually at the front centre. Materials, per the German article, are plain or printed cotton, linen or silk. Skirts were long once. The English article says modern ones are normally mid-length, and the German one says length follows fashion. We give no measurements.
The bow
Here is the code, as the English article states it. A bow on the left means single and available. A bow on the right means married, engaged or not interested. Some versions put it at the centre front, for an underage girl or one who does not say, and at the centre back, for a widow, a waitress or a child. The German article gives a similar scheme: front right for taken, front left for not attached, front centre for a maiden, back centre for a widow. It notes that waitresses and women in some regions tie the bow at the back as a habit with no meaning.
Now the part that matters. The English article calls this a tradition that developed only in the past few decades and says it appears in some versions. The German article says the origin of the code cannot be traced. It reports that the Trachtenverein Miesbach calls it “an invented tradition without historical basis”. It also quotes the folklorist Gesine Tostmann as regarding the bow as a matter of taste, while passing on the practice of “front right for married, front left for single” as historical. The German article calls those two statements contradictory and unclear. We leave both there.
Our reading, then: the bow is a game that has grown up around the dress. Widely known, and not shown to be an old rule. The sources do not promise that anyone reading a bow reads it the same way.
Where it is worn
According to English Wikipedia, dirndls are still worn on public occasions in Austria, with strong traditions in Tyrol, the Salzkammergut and the Wachau. In Germany the dress is traditionally worn only in Bavaria, where the article says six official Alpine costume types are recognised. It is also part of South Tyrolean culture in Italy. The article says opinions differ on the word: some reserve “dirndl” for modern designs and call traditional ones Tracht, while others use the words interchangeably. English uses “dirndl” for both.
Why Munich
German Wikipedia says the Wallach brothers founded the Trachtenhaus Wallach in Munich in 1900, and that in 1910, for the Oktoberfest’s hundredth anniversary, they equipped the costume parade free of charge, which counts as the dirndl’s breakthrough. The English article says the first Oktoberfest, in 1810, was a wedding celebration, and that citizens were supplied with French clothes because folk costume was thought unsuitable for public occasions. It says a costume parade was held in 1835. By the 1970s most visitors did not wear Tracht; since the late 1990s it has been regarded as nearly obligatory. German Wikipedia says wearing rose strongly from the 1990s.
The English article gives 1859 for the first costume association, in Miesbach, and 1890 for the first umbrella body. It says these groups helped preserve the dress, and that wearing declined where they were not active. English Wikipedia’s article on Lederhosen, the men’s counterpart, adds that in 1883 the teacher Joseph Vogl founded a society for preserving the national costume in the Leitzach Valley, which became the model for later Trachtenvereine.
Dates in order
- About 1870 to 1880: resort fashion, according to German Wikipedia.
- About 1875: the “Sisi” dress, according to English Wikipedia.
- 1859: Miesbach costume association, according to English Wikipedia.
- 1900 and 1910: Wallach shop and the jubilee parade, according to German Wikipedia.
- Late 1990s: near-obligatory at Oktoberfest, according to English Wikipedia.
What we left out
Everything touching the twentieth-century political use of the dress, which needs more care than this page can give. Also prices, brand names and fitting advice.
Quick answers
What does a dirndl bow on the left mean? According to English Wikipedia, single and available. The same article says this code is a recent tradition.
Is the apron bow an old custom? German Wikipedia says the origin cannot be traced, and quotes the Trachtenverein Miesbach calling it an invented tradition.
Where did the dirndl begin? Both Wikipedia articles say it began as work clothing for servants, then became resort fashion from the 1870s.
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Roam first. Shop later.