How do you manage to turn heads at the Munich Oktoberfest – and turn them the right way? What is the secret to creating an outfit that manages to bring together tradition, trends, and your personality in just the right proportions? In other words: what does the perfect Oktoberfest outfit for 2016 look like?
Well, there is – of course – no more one perfect outfit than there is one type of person who enjoys wearing Bavarian clothing or one type of person who likes going to the Oktoberfest. There are, however, several good looks to orientate yourself towards – and we’ll show you the best versions of each for this year’s Fest. These outfits combine new-season trends such as retro patterns, robust fabrics, and Bavarian/everyday-wear crossovers so that you’ll look great in the tents and yet feel able to express your own personal style. Which type best suits you?
“Grandma wasn’t always wrong, you know…”
Are you the type of person who never used plastic bags even before the ban? Who sucks on a strepsil if they’ve got a cold rather than bothering the doctor? The kind of person who actually doesn’t mind – perhaps even quite likes – the scent of lavender?
If so, then you’ll love one of the key 2016 trends in women’s Oktoberfest fashion: retro floral patterns and demure shades of colour. Here, we’ve taken a mid-length dirndl in ochre brown with beautiful florals and combined it with brown velour pumps and an off-shoulder blouse. This outfit is smart, traditional, and very much of the moment – your grandma would be proud (even if she’d suggest that you cover up your knees and shoulders…)
“As long as I don’t need to do my hair…”
Are you the organised type who is always sorting out the trips and holidays you and your girlfriends go on? The type that every group of friends needs because otherwise no-one would ever settle on anything? The type who is about to blow her cool if you hear just one more of your friends say “I don’t mind, you decide! But just make sure that…”? If so, then you’ll know that the important thing about the Oktoberfest is to get to the tents early so you get your pick of tables (and of lederhosen-clad hunks at them).
That’s why this comfortable, fashionable, and slightly racy pair of denim lederhosen is just right for you. Combined with a feminine but easy-care t-shirt in pink and a pair of Bavarian-style chucks with a floral pattern, all you need is the 2016 trend item – floral headwear – and you’re ready to hit the tents at 9am. By midday, you’re dancing on the benches and can still make it to the club that night while the other girls are complaining about their heels. And you look fantastic the whole time.
“I hate it when they change the cut on jeans…”
Of course, smartphones are useful tools, but isn’t it nice to put them away every now and then. And – between you and me – when did we start taking photos of food and posting them before we’d even spread out our napkins. What do you mean this restaurant doesn’t have napkins…?
You’re the type of guy who knows that men don’t have to be pretty: they have to be authentic. Couple of hairs on your back? No problem. If you wear a shirt with a collar, no-one will ever know. It’s already bad enough that normal 501 jeans look odd nowadays and that you had to buy skinnier ones a few years back. So you’ll love 2016 with its return to classic Bavarian looks: we’d suggest stocking up before the funny cuts and odd colours make a comeback. How about timeless knee-length leather breeches in brown and a plain white shirt? No need to re-invent the wheel.
“You mean you don’t shave your chest hair? But everyone does…”
You’re an early adopter: if they’d let you, you be a guinea pig for one of those smart chips that you can have implanted in your arm. When are they due to hit the stores again? 2025? Tradition is all well and good – you’re at the Oktoberfest after all, and it’s been going 200 years – but there’s no reason not to tweak and make improvements wherever you can. One improvement on recent decades is that you can now get away with wearing a t-shirt almost anywhere..
On that matter, here’s a cool tee in stone-wash grey jersey; it’s comfy and yet is clearly about the Oktoberfest (deer horns!). And the lederhosen are fun: why did it take Bavarians so long to replace the standard decorative stitching with something more exciting (deer horns?) See: there’s no tradition that can’t be improved upon.