This was a welcome opportunity for my Mum to try once more to sell her hand-knitted socks, after we had not been overly successful with our stall at the outdoor market in the summer.
I had arranged to go and help out for a bit, so, after my usual Saturday morning round of cleaning, I went to join my Mum.
Our stall was at the back of the largest hall in the Kulturzentrum. It was amazing to see how many pretty things people had made and were offering at their stalls, from delicious looking muffins and brownies to silver jewellery and ornaments. Most of what was there was more or less "useless", for decorative purposes, and since I am not one for much deco at home, I did not want to get anything from these stalls.
Unfortunately, there was another socks stall nearer the entrance of the hall, which meant that most visitors passed there first - more than once, people arriving at our stall told us they really liked our socks but had already bought what they needed from the other stall.
We did not sell as much as we had hoped for, but a small sum still went to the Burkina Faso project, and we had so many nice and interesting conversations that we did not consider the whole thing a waste of time.
The stall next to us, on my Mum's side, was rather big and manned by a whole family. The parents had some decorative stuff on offer which I can't even remember properly, but the daughter...! She had put on display her own creations of beautiful dirndl dresses, and one in particular caught my eye as soon as I arrived at the hall:
And you can guess what happened, can't you?
At first, I merely looked at it. Then, I asked the stall holders permission to take a picture of the one I found most beautiful. Next, I asked the size. It happened to be mine... Then, I agreed to try it on in a small room behind the back wall of the hall. It fitted... I kept going back to my chair at our stall and think about occasions to wear the dirndl.
That wasn't so easy to work out, because my part of Germany is not like Bavaria, where ladies wear dirndls more often than here. In fact, I was quite against the "dirndl hype" that has been going on here for the past 5 years or so, with cheap dirndls being on offer even at supermarkets every year around the time of the Octoberfest and also in spring, when there is a big Frühlingsfest (spring fest) in Stuttgart. Whenever something - a specific piece of clothing, a book, a film or a new type of sports - is the subject of a hype, I usually do not follow that hype but look at it with a mixture of distaste and ridicule, and that had been the case with those mass-produced pseudo-dirndls.
But this one... a hand-made individual dirndl, like nobody else would have; very well made, beautifully put together, and so reasonably priced it was almost too good to be true. Last time I owned and wore a dirndl was when I was a little girl of 5 or 6, and I loved the full skirts, little aprons and puffed sleeves back then.
I agreed with the young lady who makes these wonderful dresses to keep "my" dirndl on the dummy, and if someone else wanted to buy it, not to wait for me to make my mind up. When the market ended at 4.00 pm, "my" dirndl was still there, though. Many visitors had admired this one and the other dirndls, but nobody had bought one.
So... I ended up taking this one home with me, already having several occasions in mind where I would get to wear it next year.
Just look at how much detail there is! Each of those tiny roses around the bodice is hand-made of satin ribbon. The little blouse is made of lace. The skirt is of deep pink satin, and the bodice and apron are of a rose-print on cotton with tiny glittery bits interspersed (I don't think you can see them in the pictures). Don't look at my footwear - of course I would not really wear those in public with this outfit.
My secret worry was that RJ would think it too kitschy and over the top, but when I showed him my new acquisition Saturday evening, he loved it as much as I did.
Now all I need is a pair of cream Mary-Janes to go along with it...
That is what can happen when you set out to sell socks: you end up buying a dirndl!
I think it looks good on you. I happen to love that magenta colour... I wouldn't know when to wear one, but then I don't live in Germany. (I never owned a traditional Swedish folk costume either.) As for the footwear, when you said don't look at it, of course I did look at it. In Sweden no one would lift an eyebrow at those shoes (in summer). They might at the apron, though! ;) Did the little bag come with the outfit too? I liked that detail in the first photo of the dress on the dummy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica! It'll be a good party outfit next spring and summer, and definitely take me to the "Rosentage" (Rose Days) in the Ludwigsburg palace gardens.
DeleteI have been wearing the shoes a few times in summer, but I think the dirndl needs a bit of a heel.
Hello Monica,
Deletethe little bag doesn't really come with the outfit, but I bought it as a Christmas present. (Meike knows, so I could write this here.) The young lady made it all out of felt, and also the tiny little roses on it, quite cute.
Very pretty! I'm interested in your writing about the "dirndl hype". I never saw one for sale when I lived in Germany in the early 70s. My granddaughters have a sort of dirndl outfits, but their German grandparents live just south of Munich. And my niece Ursula who grew up near Ravensburgh wore one when she came to visit as a little girl. I think they are charming, but must have become much more popular recently. But I would never have wanted a mass-produced one. It sounds crazy. The essence of such a dress should be that it is handmade, a folk costume.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry your mother didn't sell more socks. I wonder how the position of the booths is assigned....She would surely have done very well if she had been close to the front. And yes, I'm wearing a pair of her socks right now.
Kristi, the dirndl has had a revival here in Germany in the past few years. At the time of the big Frühlings- and Volksfest in Stuttgart (spring fest and then one in late summer/early autumn, several weeks before the Munich Oktoberfest), the train stations in and around Stuttgart are full of (mostly young) people dressed up in Dirndl and Lederhosen, all on their way to the beer tents. They look like carnival, which is something a dirndl definitely is NOT.
DeleteWhen my sister and I were little, we had proper Austrian dirndls, purchased on a family holiday there, and our grandmother made dirndls for us, too. We loved them, and they looked very pretty on us little girls.
Thank you for being such a good customer at my Mum's sock shop!
It is beautiful, I remember our daughter having a drindl when she was little. I wish I had kept it, it was so sweet.
ReplyDeleteThank you! My sister and I both had dirndls, always the same ones, so that we looked like "twins" (well, we didn't really, since I was a year younger and quite a bit smaller, and we had very different hair - mine straight and short, and my sister's always long and beautiful in waves and curls).
DeleteI had a dirndl too! It was green and white and this is the first fime I've remembered it.
ReplyDeleteI love your pink one......I remember wearing read shoes with my green as it was Christmas time and felt very well put together at nine yrs. old~
Have fun wearing it
xx
julie
Oh, am I sure I will have fun wearing it, Julie, thank you!
DeleteGreen and white and red does indeed sound very christmassy. The pink satin and the roses make this one very spring-like and summery, so it won't be worn for a few months yet.
Very pretty! I believe that buying up other peoples' stalls is a bit of a well known hazard at craft fairs etc. What bad luck that there was another sock stall nearer the entrance. Still, it sounds as if you had fun (and, of course, bought a dirndl). :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Jenny, we did have fun, and the surprise find of the dirndl was a bonus :-)
DeleteApart from the muffins, cupcakes and brownies, nothing else looked interesting enough for me to want to buy it.
WOW! Do you look stunning! That's my kind of dress, as you know I love colorful clothes. Good taste, it would have caught my eye too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Francesca! Yes, with those colours, it is bound to be an eyecatcher. There were other, very beautiful ones at the stall; one was in blue and silver-grey, one was dark green and brown, very autumnal/"hunting" style colours, and one was with black and a golden yellow. But the pink one was so much "mine" :-)
DeleteIt’s darling and not at all like the old-fashioned, buxom ones. You made a good decision, it’ll be a lovely summer frock.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Friko! You are right, it's a dirndl with a modern twist, way shorter of course than the proper Bavarian ones are. The fabrics are so nice on the skin, too, I really look forward to wearing this in summer.
DeleteFirst of all, I must say that I LOVE your Mum's socks! They are so soft and warm, but besides that, the color of them just make me very happy! I wish I could have been beside her booth with y'all, I would have really "talked them up"! (Not in a creepy salesman kind of way, I would just be wearing mine and tell people how nice they are!)
ReplyDeleteNow...THAT DRESS, or, the dirndl, as you call it...ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I LOVE it! It reminds me of the very full skirts I used to wear as a little girl and I loved to twirl around in them. The detail! I love the satin roses, with the green satin leaves and the lace, it is just lovely. I can just see you dancing in it, and I hope very much that you will wear it when you go dancing!
Kay, I don't doubt you'd have been a great asset to our booth!
DeleteNot sure yet whether I'll wear the dirndl to dances, I would be a bit overdressed at our usual Saturday night venue, but I guess I will find (or create) occasions for it :-)
I am from the South and one can never be TOO overdressed! (Most women go to sporting events looking like a million dollars. Me, I look about ten cents!)
DeleteDressing up for a sporting event? I do not attend sporting events, but if I did, I suppose my choice of outfit would be based mainly on the weather, where I was to sit and how "big" the event was.
DeleteSounds like a lovely day. The dirndl is gorgeous. Love the deep pink color of the skirt. Wear it and enjoy it, and as you say, search for occasions on which you can wear it. Happy Christmas, Meike. xoxox
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol, and the same to you and your loved ones!
DeleteI think the dirndl looks absolutely lovely on you and I have to say that I think traditional dress in the right circumstances has a very important part to play. Imagine, if you can, Scotland without kilts!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham! Scotland without kilts? That wouldn't be Scotland as we know it anymore.
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