Foreigners wearing Tracht - Munich

I would start a poll, but it's fairly plain as day which way it would go. However, I had the misfortune of meeting a Bavarian girl whose second sentence to me was that she disagreed with foreigners wearing Tracht. I then asked a Bavarian friend of mine what he thought and his response was that he had no problem with those non-Bavarians wearing Tracht who had didn't constantly run down Bavaria and its people and showed no interest in its culture, etc. This I agree with. It raises the question then as to why so many people state their loathing of the German language and refuse to learn it, constantly compain about the unfriendliness of the Bavarians and how fucked-up Bavaria is, are then the first to don Tracht. Anyhow, would be interested in what others think on this topic. Maybe you think the Bavarian girl was right...

VERY interesting thread Ulysses!

I'd wager the grumpy old fucks who moan about non-Bavarians wearing Tracht are the same ones who moan that so called "Ausländer" don't "integrate".

Well, I think that girl is a bitch for saying that. If you live in Bavaria and enjoy the culture, you belong in Tracht. I can understand your point about people not wanting to learn the language though.. I had a Aussie friend who was in her dirndl on the train, was asked a question in German but couldn't respond. She was embarassed about it, but it's not such a big deal.

Dirndls on girls, Bavarian or not, are really sexy, that's why I wear mine!

as to non-Bavarians wearing Trachtenl, think it's quite a compliment to the Bavarian tradition myself, though if one of these Trachten-wearing non-Bavarians started slagging off Bavaria/Munich/Germany I'd have a few words to say to em!

I heard years ago from a Bavarian that Bavarians loathe the fact that foreigners or Zugezogene wear their regional dresses and it did influence me since I did not want to step on anybody´s toes... I however changed my opinion this year and bought a second-hand one and wore it at the Fest. Did not get any weird looks or ugly comments and will buy myself a gorgeous one for next year...

I think as long as whomever is wearing tracht doesn't try and pass themselves off as Bavarian then where's the harm ?

It's a bit of fun and shows people willing to join in the atmosphere right ?

If we travel that route do you have to be British to wear Reebok shoes or American to wear the countless items that have the stars and stripes on them somewhere ?

as long as the tracht is nice and the person wearing has some connection to bavaria, why not... however, tourists/people who treat tracht like a carnival event, not so sure.

What about non Scots wearing kilts. Surely that is criminal?

I had a Bavarian girl maybe 19 or 20 ask me why I was wearing Tracht one night in the Schottenhammel. She started talking to me in Bayrisch, we ended up having a conversation in Germish and then she hit me with "Why are you wearing that, its nothing to do with you?" She didn't say it in a overly nasty way but it made me feel stupid...

If I have to learn the language, why shouldn't I wear Tracht? They're both parts of the culture, so why be forced to do one but discouraged from doing the other?

Personally, I have never had anyone scold me for wearing a dirndl. Any Bavarian I have ever spoken to had nary a cross word to say about it.

I have real (never for the Wiesn) and party Tracht due to having a former boyfriend from Bad Reichenhall plus being resident here since 1999, so yes I have been in a Trachtenverein in deepest darkest Bavaria, yes I do speak German and Bavarian, yes I love it here and therefore yes I'm proud to wear it.
And anyone who wants to disagree is ganz scho dappig.
Plus I like the compliments.

My old man was over for the fest and was shocked and appauled when approached by and English guy in a kilt!

Just how old is this tradition of wearing tracht to Oktoberfest anyway? I watched a documentary on TV showing lots of filmage of the fest from the 20's. There wasn't a person in tracht to be found. I suspect that the city folk, all in their "Sunday Best" would have thought that only peasants wear tracht anyway. Certainly wasn't the fashion at the fest in its early years as a celebration of the royal couple's wedding.

So, since the peasant class was mostly wiped out by WW2, and the fest didn't really restart until about 1948, just how old is this tradition really? When did it really catch on? 30 years ago? 15?

Also what about those Lowland Scots.

I personally think foriegners wearing tracht is a little bit taking the piss. I think tracht looks great and I don't actually blame people for wanting to wear it, I just couldn't do it myself. Unless it was bought for me by some gorgeous Bavarian woman, so that's what I'm going to wait for...
This could take a while!