A test for my f-list

[hmpf]

Inspired by this discussion in stabbim's LJ.

Does anyone - of the non-Germans on my flist - believe that Lederhosen and Dirndl are widespread, typical and normal for Germans to wear? Reply anonymously if you like.

(I'm just curious if we have a kind of... prejudice about a prejudice here, or an actual prejudice. Although I do realise that, no matter what the result, my f-list isn't representative of anything, anyway... *g*)

Comments

[maestro1123.livejournal.com]

wtf no. That'd be like thinking all Japanese people wear kimonos to work, or Americans wear chaps and a cowboy hat.

I figured they would be traditional wear, for specific purposes. Like Morris dancing clothes in the UK.

They're also Bavarian, not German. *g*

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

They're not worn where my father was born (Schleswig-Holstein - up north, by the sea), or where my mother was born (Hannover - also north, though a bit further down), or where I was born (Frankfurt - kind of central/beginning of southern Germany). Some people seem to think that Bavaria essentially *is* Germany (the Bavarians, on the other hand, occasionally seem to think that they are not part of Germany at all.)

Some people in Bavaria do apparently wear them as everyday clothes, but I've never spent much time in Bavaria, so I've never actually seen proof of that with my own eyes...

[ommadon.livejournal.com]

Nah, I tend to associate such things more with Austria...

[ralphwynn.livejournal.com]

no only in the more inbred rural areas

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

... yes. I've been there, I know you all wear that.

[space-oddity-75.livejournal.com]

Actually, having been to Germany quite a few times, I've only ever seen people wear the traditional Bavarian costume with Lederhosen once. I was in München (Marienplatz) on a Sunday afternoon, and a middle-aged couple in traditional outfit were strolling down the road while tourists took pictures of them as if they were rare animals. How embarrassing!

Aside from that, the only other people in Lederhosen I've ever seen are the waiters of the Kapuziner, a Bavarian pub/restaurant a few km from where I live! ;)

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

Leiderhosen and dirndls are probably more common in the UK than Germany, to be honest! (There's more than one stripper group that uses them...)

*G*

I'd assume that such things would be dusted off for specific purposes (say a Bavarian Bierfest), but other than that. Um. No.

[calime]

Yeah, sure, like we here in Estonia only wear Muhu skirts and Mulgi longcoats /end sarcasm.
Frankly, I wouldn't dream of thinking anyone would habitually wear 19th century national clothes all the time, be it their own or some other nations :).

[starwatcher]

.
I always assumed they were worn [a] for specific holidays (maybe) and [b] if the wearer has a job in the tourist industry.

Now -- when you're finished the survey, you will tell us all under what conditions they actually are worn, right?
.

Special occasions and jobs in the tourism industry is pretty much right, I would assume.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Though my actual knowledge of Bavarian customs (and costumes *g*) is sadly limited, as I'm from the north... ;-)

[starwatcher]

.
And now that I've checked out the linked post, I see lederhosen and dirndl are specific to Bavaria (and still aren't worn on a daily basis). So, I learned something new today.

Unfortunately, H & R Block (a large tax firm) is currently running an advertisement campaign, wherein two guys dressed in lederhosen are discussing deducting the cost from their yearly income taxes because they're specialty clothing for work. But I suspect many people won't pick up on the "specialty clothing" and just think, "Oh, two guys in German costume." And thus, America continues to gaily perpetuate stereotypes about the rest of the world. Bah, humbug!
.

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

nope, i figured they were regional costume. I wouldnt' say I would know what region (though scanning through here it looks like Bavaria) but I never for a second thought they were widespread.

[nogias.livejournal.com]

Haha.. I was talking to a young man from Kiel about that late one night. He was frustrated with Americans because we are, and I quote:

"Prone to believing that we Germans are either screaming Nazis or drunk bavarians. MOST OF US DON'T EVEN OWN A SET OF LEIDERHOSEN!"

To which I asked, "Well, what are your beliefs about Americans?"

He said, "Oh, you are all dumb, fat tourists that don't want to make an effort towards anything. Especially language."

"Um.. What am I doing in your mother's house for a month, a woman who hardly speaks English, and what have I been doing for the past two years?" I asked.

"Oh, well thats besides the point." he said as he quickly changed the topic.

There is this general stereotype that is prevelant amongst people who have very little knowledge about Germany. The idea is there are stern and strict individuals, or the drunk bavarian. I blame American cinema, decadent Ocktoberfest-like festivals, and overdone pictures of Neuschwanstein that fill people's calendars and heads with stereotypical roles for der deutsche leute.

The only thing I'd point out as being particularly different in culture is body language and when it is appropriate to say "I'm sorry" or "Are you okay?". Terms like that I *hardly* ever heard throughout Northern Germany and Berlin, and I got some pretty damning looks for saying them too often like I'm used to saying here in the states.

Anti-American prejudice & apologising

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Re: anti-American prejudice. Yeah, I know. It's not as if we Germans/Europeans are any better about prejudices than Americans, really. We have our own set of them, and anti-American ones are very popular. If I had a penny for every time that someone replied to my telling them that I'm essentally studying American culture with the 'witticism', "there *is* such a thing?", well, I'd be rich. *g*

Re: apologising a lot. Hehe. I've noticed that with American and British friends, too. To the point of actually telling some of them not to apologise so much, because it was beginning to freak me out a little.

Cultural differences! Aren't they fun?! ;-)

Re: Anti-American prejudice & apologising

[nogias.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hear ya on the American prejudices. My European government classes have been nothing but articles on "How Europe hates America" over and over and over again. You'd think we'd be studying the governments, but apparently it is "Yes, you are hated outside of your country" 101.

I'm glad to hear you are studying American culture, what part though? It's a fascinating concept really. Though ours isn't stemmed in thousands of years of heritage, it's still a brilliant erray of many things.

And yes, we appologize for everything. I'll never forget the funny look I got from my host mother when I asked her, "Bist du okay?!" after she walked up a flight of stairs and was wheeeeezing for breath (seriously, it sounded like she was going to black out, but she glared at me anyway for asking).

[jazzymegster.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what Dirndl is. But I associate Lederhosen with the Swiss (which I shouldn't, since I now have a Swiss friend...but yeah...Lederhosen = Swiss to me, not German).

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what a Dirndl is, but I figured Lederhosen were like, traditional dress. The sort that you have to wear to school once a year on whatever patriotic day you might have, or put on if you were doing traditional dancing or something. I never really thought that people would actually wear them as day to day clothes. People think that? I didn't even think that before I'd ever been there...

Though I admit, I had no idea they were specifically Bavarian. Then again, we know that on my German side I am, in fact, Bavarian (ooh, and Prussian! I love that!) and so perhaps that means I have an unconscious bias towards assuming that's the most important part of your country... :p

Heeh.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of amused now. Dirndl is the female equivalent of lederhosen, essentially. Well, not really, because it's neither leather nor trousers - but it's a type of dress typically worn by women in situations where men would wear lederhosen. So, I'm now imagining myself in a dirndl. *g*

Truth be told, we don't actually have any kind of patriotic official kind of occasion to wear stuff like that. There are special festivals explicitly for wearing traditional dress, but it's pretty much a niche hobby, really. A bit like Star Trek fans dressing up as Vulcans or Klingons (though don't let the Bavarians hear that. *g*)