Lederhosen and t-shirts might seem like an odd combination, but Germans have been doing it for years. After all, especially during the summer beer festivals and inside the Oktoberfest tents, it can get pretty warm: not everyone wants to be sat in a shirt and collar. What is more, the Munich lads especially like to combine one key element of their identity – leather breeches – with another: Bayern Munich strips.
Then there’s the ladies. Traditionally, they were never supposed to wear lederhosen at all, so they’ve never had any qualms about combining them with lighter wear, especially the skimpier shorts, which would look odd with a full shirt or bodice. Last but not least, Bavaria is not immune from general fashion trends, and now the trash-look is hitting Alpine fashion somewhat delayed, but with all the more force: thin-weave fabric, often distressed or torn, is now being used for a lot of Oktoberfest t-shirts, as are other markers of designer t-shirts such as open, unsewn hems, deep V-necks, and pithy slogans.
In a way, its Berlin crossed with Munich, big city meets big mountains. Men’s Oktoberfest t-shirts above are now as comfortable as they are edgy, as fashionable as they are Bavarian. The cut, the fabric, and the styles look like they’re straight out of Berghain, while the slogans are most definitely Alpine: “Da Berg ruft!” (The mountain is calling!) reads a Stockerpoint tee, printed with down-at-the-heel climber’s boots; or there are stags with the rhomboids of the Bavarian flag and the self-explanatory “Alpenhero” print. Then there’s the t-shirt memorial to the German beer purity law: “Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalts”, or “God save hops and malt!”
Speaking great German has never been this easy!
The girls, too, can take their pick of fun phrases. The MarJo brand is the one that will get you into the most conversations with Germans at the Oktoberfest, shocked and delighted as they will be by gems such as: “Scheiß aufs Pferd, echte Prinzen kommen in Lederhosen!“ (“F**k horses! Real princes come in lederhosen!”). Krüger, meanwhile, is going for all out trash with a sequin heart flanked by deer antlers on grungy-looking, oil-washed fabric. Berghain meets Bavaria and then some. Oddly enough, this makes the Stockerpoint t-shirts – once the raciest out there – look almost tame; they’re certainly girlier, although equally as non-traditional. Everyone’s favourite of recent years, the dog t-shirt with the red-ribboned pit bull, is still in the running.
If all of this looks a bit too advanced for your tastes, then you’ve only really got two solutions: either retreat from Oktoberfest t-shirts and simply wear your own with your lederhosen (entirely in the original spirit of rebellion) or go all-out old-school and get a shirt and loden coat or a dirndl and blouse. Because with these t-shirts, you’ve got to be willing to be a “Platzhirsch” – the stag of the herd.