Can you wear a dirndl without a dirndl blouse?

A few years back, nobody in their right minds would ever have asked this: obviously, of course you need a traditional dirndl blouse if you’re planning on wearing a traditional Bavarian dirndl. If you don’t, the outfit won’t be complete, it’ll look awful, and you’ll be uncomfortable. End of story.

Nowadays, however, this is a valid question – because there are now some dirndl dress designs that actually cannot be worn with a blouse. The classic trio of dress, blouse, apron has been loosened up in recent years as new stilistic elements have entered Oktoberfest fashion.

This year, for example, the 1950s are a big thing: you’ll find dresses on which the skirts are short and wide, the waists high and waspish, and the shoulder straps big and broad. That is, in some senses, the diametrical opposite of time-honoured Bavarian Tracht dirndls, which have long, slim skirts and shoulders which are a part of the dress, not extraneous straps. This means that many of the dirndl blouses developed for the traditional style of dirndl dress are not compatible with new fashion models.

To add to the predicament, classic dirndl cuts are low and flat across the chest, with a line that is actually more under the bosom than over it. That’s another reason why blouses have been an essential part of the ensemble for so many years: they cover up the breasts. The new Mad Men-style, however, has shape based on a v-shape plunge created by two rounded cups which entirely cover the nipples and make it entirely possible to wear the dress without a blouse under it with no danger of indecent exposure. That makes the dirndl blouse essentially redundant.

You can see the difference here if you look at the traditionally-shaped Lalita as against the 1950s, plastic-fantastic-inspired design of Cyrus, one of this year’s most fashionable Wiesn dirndls.

As you can see, Lalita (right) is cut on the assumption that there will be a dirndl blouse underneath it, while Cyrus (left) only looks good if it is worn on bare skin. Just imagine a traditional blouse with those big shoulder straps, its rectangular chest cut clashing with the curves of the dress‘ decolleté… It would look truly terrible, no question about it!

Essentially, Cyrus is made to show a lot of skin in the shoulder and neck areas – and needs to be worn with confidence. Yet no matter how much confidence you have, you would never wear Lalilta without a dirndl blouse.

So, as with many things in life, in the answer to the question “Can you wear a dirndl without a dirndl blouse?” is a boring old “Well, it depends…”