“Tracht is traditional clothing that is closely related to the landscape,” says Maria Huber. “The colours of the dirndl are often based on the region it comes from,” she adds. By lakes, it’s common to find lots of different shades of blue. In forest regions, green tends to dominate. The Upper Austrian Heimatwerk also holds committee meetings, together with the Goldhaubenfrauen (a group of women actively involved in preserving traditional costume, particularly the traditional gold bonnets after which the group is named), to decide whether a dirndl is genuinely Tracht.

“There are certain requirements that official Tracht must meet – the colours and fabrics must be related to the place. So, something like the colours of the municipal coat of arms could be incorporated into the fabric,” according to the traditional costume expert. Tracht has seen a real boom throughout Austria for more than ten years now. “I’ve noticed that Austrians living abroad are particularly proud of our traditional clothing as well. In the past I’ve had customers ask us to tailor-make the Upper Austrian festival dirndl for an embassy reception in New York City. Because clothing is something that connects us, and Tracht especially is an outward expression of a particular community.

The plethora of Upper Austrian traditional costumes has led to some municipalities becoming style doppelgängers. “Sometimes two dirndls from two communities can look similar from a distance. In these cases, the cut or some special embroidery is what makes the main difference,” says Huber. The typical dirndl colours are green, blue, red, pink, purple, black and brown.

In a little room on the first floor of the Upper Austrian Heimatwerk in Linz, next to the salesrooms, there is also a tailor’s shop. This is Meta Kirchweger’s empire. The young tailor from Linz is passionate about her work and loves traditional master craftsmanship and high-quality materials. “It takes me around 16 hours to make a dirndl. Obviously, the sky’s the limit and there’s no end to the amount of embroidery you can add to a dirndl – depending on what the customer wants.”

Custom dirndls have a lead time of four to six weeks. This is because even the buttonholes on the Heimatwerk dirndls are handmade. “The most difficult thing is getting the darts on the chest right though. It’s really important because otherwise the dirndl won’t sit right,” says the young expert dirndl maker. Her fingers get pricked daily – that seems to be the lot of the handworker ...

So, what does the traditional Upper Austrian costume, with its black skirt, red body, and blue and white apron, say about the people of our region? “We don’t have much specific historical information,” says expert, Maria Huber, leafing somewhat critically through her old book of traditional costume again. But if we take a look back at the past, there are a few reasonable assumptions we can make: “The colours red and blue were relatively easy to produce, even 200 years ago. And back then people were hungry for colour, because there weren’t as many opportunities to dress brightly.” The blue dirndl apron with its white pattern could also be a symbol of the Danube. But nobody really knows for sure, not even Maria Huber.

While original Trachten always stay the same, dirndl fashion is as much subject to trends as the rest of the clothing industry. After all, even traditional dress is allowed to evolve, although it has to stick to certain guidelines, particularly when it comes to the choice of material. High-necked dirndls, like the ones worn in our grandmothers’ day, are popular right now.

Eva-Maria Naderhirn is a Perg-based master tailor with a modern take on the dirndl. Under her own label, Bergluft the she produces modern pieces using traditional dirndl fabrics. The creations are designed for everyday wear and not tied to special events. In general, the young designer doesn’t think much of trends. “I just sew the things I like and would wear myself.”

There’s one thing that Maria Huber and Eva-Maria Naderhirn both agree on though: neither is enamoured with the tulle aprons of the Oktoberfest dirndls or the tiger prints made in China.  “People who wear that kind of dirndl have no regard for Tracht or tradition, they just see dirndls as clothing.”