I think by now it’s obvious that I love wearing a dirndl, but I love even more that it’s something I’ve been able to share with Bunny, who received a dirndl on her 18th birthday last year.
I love how she adds her own personal style to how she wears it!
We even had a chance to get dressed up and go to our town’s Oktoberfest last fall:
I’m so happy she shares my interest in the culture of our ancestors!
In 2021, I received my first (and second) dirndls. Throughout the course of the year, I added two more, and now in addition to the four dirndls, I have a total of nine aprons, four dirndl blouses, and a whole bunch of fun accessories. I didn’t get them to just have them hang in my closet, though, so I made a point of dirndl-ing up at least once a month this year. I’ve worn Heiligen Tracht for Easter and Christmas, I’ve traveled to Chicago in one, and I was able to wear a dirndl to Oktoberfest and Grant’s Farm for the first time (among other places). Here’s a look back at my year of dirndl-wearing.
And a closer look at some of my favorite dirndl accessories (including lots of edelweiss!):
I’m looking forward to wearing my dirndls to even more places this year!
Merry Christmas!
Time for a look at this year’s festive fashion, heavily influenced by the Arctic weather we’ve been having. The chill made warm clothing a must on Christmas Eve, so I added a cape and beret (and red tights), to my usual Christmas dress. I also added a Christmas Splendette stack, my favorite sparkly Christmas brooch, and equally sparkly silver shoes.
Even at home, I had to dress with the cold in mind, so I threw a cardigan on over my Miss Candyfloss dressing gown:
The faux fur collar on my cape is removable, so I changed up its look on Christmas Day. This time I wore a Rare Dirndl and my new Christmas apron, plus a flower crown that arrived just in time for Christmas. I accessorized with edelweiss, a brand-new Homes bracelet, and some Erstwilder brooches:
I kind of enjoyed having truly cold weather for Christmas, especially since it allowed me to dress a little differently this year!
It’s time to think about festive fashion!
I spent much of the fall eagerly anticipating the preview of the new holiday apron from Rare Dirndl, and I was not disappointed…the reindeer apron is perfect for not just Christmastime, but all winter! I love that farmhouses and bunnies join the reindeer on the snowy background:
I chose edelweiss accessories, as I usually do when I wear a dirndl, but made sure to cover the Christmas colors of red and green as much as possible:
Here’s a closer look at my necklace duo, both from Rare Dirndl:
I chose to pair the apron with “Die Heimat” dirndl for these pictures, but I’m also looking forward to wearing it with the Herbology dirndl in the (not too distant) future:
I love the red ties on the apron, and I added a red ribbon to lace up the front of the dirndl, too:
I love how the pops of red stand out!
Red tights and sparkly silver shoes complete the look:
This just screams “Christmas in Germany,” don’t you think?
Frohe Weihnachten!
It’s a little later in the month than I would have preferred, but today we finally had our annual Markel Family Oktoberfest! It was a beautiful day, and I thought it was very fitting that we sung a hymn in church this morning that I remember my dad singing in German while I played the piano when I was a child.
I was excited to have a dirndl and lots of edelweiss accessories to wear this year:
When we got home from church, we had our traditional Oktoberfest lunch of fondue with brats, German pickles, and homemade pretzels:
I made most our dinner of schnitzel, spaetzle, rotkohl, and sauerkraut from scratch (the sauerkraut was the only store-bought item).
For dessert I made our favorite Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte:
Oktoberfest is a lot of work…like an actual holiday’s amount of work. But it is a holiday for us, and I love having a way share my heritage with my family!
Yesterday we went to Grant’s Farm for our first normal visit since 2019. Yes, we did go on a Private Expedition last year, but we didn’t get to walk through the Tiergarten or see the Clydesdales then, so that was a very different outing. We found that things were somewhat different this time…I don’t know how much of that is due to changes implemented during the pandemic, and how much of it is because the ownership group has changed somewhat, but it wasn’t quite the same experience we had remembered. It was still a beautiful day to be outside, and it’s the closest I feel like I can get to Germany while staying close to home.
It’s always fun to see all of the animals!
And we were still able to take a picture at our favorite photo spot…I wonder how many pictures I’ve taken in this exact same location over the years?
I was also very excited to wear a dirndl to Grant’s Farm…after Oktoberfest, this is the one place I was most looking forward to showing off my German national dress!
Even thought things were a little different, it was still nice to go back and walk around after such a long time!
For the first time, I had national dress to wear to Oktoberfest! I went with my newest piece from Rare Dirndl, the Herbology dirndl, and I dressed it up with my fanciest apron:
I planned my outfit carefully, including some lovely Edelweiss accessories and a not-quite-Alpine hat:
I even painted my nails in lovely fall colors for the occasion!
I decided to try something different when it came to footwear…I went with ankle boots, and I love how they went with the outfit!
I’m really happy with how this look came together!
Here’s a pair of photos from the event:
And some pictures of the event itself:
It was so much fun to be able to dress for the occasion!
“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things.”
The Herbology Dirndl from Rare Dirndl is my fourth dress from them, and it’s the one that most makes me feel like I’ve stepped right out of a scene in The Sound of Music. There’s something about the blue and brown dirndl combined with the plaid apron that just screams frolicking through the Alps to me!
I love the foliage print apron ties!
I also love that this particular style takes some inspiration from Professor Sprout…that makes my Hufflepuff heart happy!
I accessorized with lots of edelweiss (hair clip, earrings, and necklace), plus some beaded bracelets:
I think this will be a great look for fall!
But wait there’s more! When I placed my order, Rare Dirndl was running a special that included a bonus lace apron. According to my middle daughter, this particular pairing makes me look like Cinderella!
There’s such a lovely elegance to a lace apron.
It has the same beautiful foliage print ties as the plaid apron:
But I couldn’t just leave it at that, right? As soon as I saw the colors of the dirndl in person, I knew I had to pair it with my deer print apron from “Die Heimat” dirndl:
That, of course, meant a slight change in accessories, because a deer print apron calls for a bold Hirsch necklace!
This look is just as great as the first two…I love having the ability to mix and match aprons (I have a total of eight of them for my four dirndls).
The best thing about this dirndl is how absolutely versatile it is, and I have yet another styling in mind that I’m planning on trying out for Oktoberfest!
Last week, Bunny and I got to visit Erika Neumayer’s Rare Dirndl Design Studio in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago!
It’s a small studio, which is why you need an appointment to visit, but they pack a lot of great items into the space, including jewelry and other accessories, dirndls, blouses, and even their denim lederhosen! You also get a look at the design space, plus some of the special items they’re working on.
While we were there, Erika showed me a poster she had on display at German Fest in Milwaukee at the end of July. You can imagine how tickled I was to see myself featured front and center!
Bunny was searching for a necklace to go with her dirndl (she found a great one that’s just her style!), but I didn’t have anything too specific I was shopping for. I did have something in mind that I wanted but I wasn’t even sure it existed…a fancy zipper pull to add a little extra bling to my dirndls. I was thrilled to discover Rare Dirndl had just what I had imagined! I picked up a beautiful heart and flower design that I can add to any of my dirndls (but I especially like the way it looks with my periwinkle Everyday Dirndl!):
It was so great to tour the studio (we even got to peek in the basement!), do a little shopping, learn about more about the design process, and especially meet Erika, her adorable children who were helping out that day, and Maria, the studio manager, who kindly took our picture:
I’m so glad we got to stop at the studio when we were in the city!
On Thursday, we chased one last wild hair of mine for the summer, and drove up to Chicago for the day. We had a few goals, starting with visiting Buckingham Fountain, which we didn’t get to do in May…it was just as grand as I remembered it!
The place we really wanted to spend time at, though, was Navy Pier, the last really big thing on my list of Chicago things to share with the Fab Five. We walked all the way around it, and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to do it…it was in the 70s with a beautiful lake breeze!
Seeing the anchor from the USS Chicago is kind of amazing…you just don’t realize the scale of the size of one until you see it for yourself!
The views from the Pier are amazing!
I also finally got to reunite some of my Homes Bracelets with the place they represent…Lake Michigan!
There was no way we could do all of the things, so I picked one big attraction…the Centennial Wheel. It is very similar in size to the Ferris wheel in St. Louis, but the views of the skyline and Lake Michigan are a lot more impressive than anything we have here in the Lou!
We stopped for Rainbow Cones after our ride. I really prefer the original Beverly location, because it has so much character, but the scenery made the five flavors taste even better!
We walked over to Polk Bros. Park just across the street:
We also shared a burger from the Billy Goat Tavern, just so we could say we had one:
And then we walked back through the mall and to the end of the Pier again:
I will never tire of the view!
The other big reason for our trip north was so that Bunny and I could visit the Rare Dirndl design studio, located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, which is a really cool place! We toured the studio, did some shopping, and most importantly of all, got to meet and talk to the designer, Erika Neumayer!
On the way home, we stopped at Portillo’s, as is our tradition:
I’m not going to lie…it was a lot of time to spend in the car in one day (although we certainly had days that were longer on our vacation!), but it was worth it to get to see Chicago one more time before the end of the summer!