Lederhosen

Written by Rachel Moss

Monday, 10 August 2009 12:20

His image has been staring out at us from billboards for the past month, wearing yellow lederhosen, and I'm not talking about a commercial for Alpine Yogurt. It's Sacha Baron Cohen, promoting his latest film, Bruno, sporting a pair of tight lederhosen shorts. As the saying goes, “There's no such thing as bad publicity,” (as long as you spell the name right!).

A good friend of mine, with a vivid imagination, said she thought lederhosen sounded like a type of strudel. They do have a dough-like quality and softness to them, but as good as they look, I haven't seen anyone eating them yet!

My first lederhosen encounter was upon arrival at Munich airport three years ago, when two young men came striding toward me in full lederhosen costume with feathers in their hats. At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing and thought the tourist board had sent them out to wave the flag for Bavarian culture and help reel in the tourists. But I soon realized it was voluntary and they had chosen to dress like this. Brilliant.

Lederhosen literally means, “leather trousers,” and are comparable to the kilt in Scotland. Incidentally, the first kilt on record was discovered in Molzbichl in Corinthian, Austria in 320 BC, establishing the Corinthian tartan, which is 1,600 years older than the eldest Scottish tartan, made in 1,300 AD. Mr. Thomas Rettl, a kilt maker in Mozbichl, is currently collaborating with a Scottish firm to create a deer leather kilt, a mixture of tartan cloth and a pair of lederhosen. LederKilt anyone?

The history of lederhosen started in the 18th century, when it was fashionable to imitate Bavarian and Alpine nobility by wearing lederhosen at pastoral weddings, festivals and dances. Over time however, the short lederhosen were elbowed out, making way for the longer version, in keeping with the more urban style of dress at the time. Even the country people began ignoring the short lederhosen.

Mr. Joseph Vogl, a teacher from Bayrischzell, however, was having none of it. He called upon five of his best mates to get into short lederhosen and cause a stir—and a stir they did cause. The date was August 25^th, 1883, and would soon go down in Bavarian history. The six young men stepped out in their new shorts to go to church on Sunday and raised the roof with laughter. The short lederhosen were for work purposes only and were considered offensive out of that context. Even the Catholic Church dispelled the lederhosen from church masses, and in 1913, the archbishop chair in Munich declared the Short Lederhose Association immoral.

So Joseph and friends set about founding their own club for the preservation of the trachten (traditional clothing) and were supported by King Ludwig II, who was a huge trachten fan. This riled up patriotism and enthusiasm among the locals and as a result, associations began springing up. Today, there are over 1,000 associations with more than 6,000 members.

Every region has its own lederhosen, using different leather, motifs and embroideries. Bavaria for instance, is represented by dark brown or black (deer skin), originally colored black with burnt wood and decorated by green and yellow embroidery, ornaments and motifs. Leathers like chamois, red deer, boar, goat, calf, or pig hide are used with buttons made of elkhorn. The internationally renowned designer, Markus Meindl, from Kirchanschöring in Upper Bavaria, is considered the “Lederhosen Guru,” with his true to the original creations. Check out the excellent Meindl website.

The annual Oktoberfest in Munich opens with a spectacular Thanksgiving Day Parade, showing off the regional lederhosen and traditional costume. Each lederhosen denotes the region of the wearer, his marital status and also whether he is an experienced hunter or not.

There is an International Lederhosen festival held in Windischgarsten, in the Austrian Alps each year. 20,000 tickets have already been sold for this year’s festival. Here you will, of course, see many lederhosen, test your drinking skills and show off your moves on the dance floor. And to top it off, there is a Mr. Lederhosen and Miss Lederhose best dressed competition.

According to reports, jeans designers are seeing a decline in sales as people turn to lederhosen, especially during the recession, since it can take 100 years for a pair to wear out. I would say that is definitely worth the money. It is hard to imagine lederhosen taking off in the UK, since most people would associate them with being camp, fancy dress or behaving bizarrely. They have a hint of Benny Hill about them that often makes me smile. But the last laugh is Bavaria’s; besides lederhosen, Bavaria also lays claim to the infamous blue jeans that were brought to us by Levi Strauss, a Jewish Bavarian from Buttenheim, near Bamberg. Nuff said

What is needed for a complete outfit, for a man or boy? A pair of lederhosen with or without braces, a shirt, a waistcoat or jacket, a belt, socks or loferl (socks that cover the calf area), a hirschfänger or hunters knife (you know you want one), shoes, a hat and a necktie.

Tips for buying your lederhosen:

#1 Know your measurements, with the proper European/American size conversion and make sure you get your correct waist, hip and inside seam.

#2 If you don't want to stand out as a tourist, go for a more traditional look, which is the more plain lederhosen. Young men wear the plain lederhosen and the older you get, the more bling you can add!

#3 Online shopping gives you a wide variety of styles and sizes with competitive prices and quick delivery. Personally, I prefer seeing, touching and trying on the real thing when shopping. Besides, it's more fun to go with friends and share a laugh.

#4 You can buy a good pair of second-hand lederhosen for around 100 euros and a complete outfit for about 200. But, as usual, shop around as there are many stores selling last season’s stock with plenty of bargains to be found.

#5 There are many long established and family run lederhosen companies in Bavaria and Austria who can custom make lederhosen for you. So if you have some money and are prepared to wait for around six weeks for delivery, this is the ultimate service.

Tschüss!

Rachel Moss is a professional style consultant. Your style questions can reach her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Written by Rachel Moss