Are you looking for an Oktoberfest costume? Whether you're attending an Oktoberfest festival or simply looking for a fun costume for Halloween or another occasion, you're sure to enjoy dressing up like a Bavarian barmaid in a cute dirndl dress.
What to Wear for Oktoberfest
The best option for women when dressing up for Oktoberfest is a dirndl style dress. The basic dirndl is a dress with a close-fitting bodice and full skirt gathered at the waist, usually about knee-length. The material is colorful and can be strikingly patterned, often with bold details like braiding and piping. The bodice is worn over a frilly peasant blouse, usually white, and the skirt is covered in turn by a colorful apron.
To be really traditional, women may also wear a choker that features an Edelweiss pendant. They can further accessorize with chain necklaces that are covered in hunting prizes, such as a deer horn or bear claw.
Buying Oktoberfest Costumes
There are a number of online retailers that carry costumes appropriate for Oktoberfest celebrations.
Oktoberfest Products
If you are Bavarian, or want to dress the part in a costume that is traditional, go to Oktoberfest Products, where you'll find a large selection of dirndls in all sizes, as well as jewelry and other accessories for Oktoberfest costumes for women. Some of the prices are a bit steep, which is to be expected when you are going the more traditional route. However, most are made of nontraditional polyester, which does make for easier care.
German Import House
Another site for great traditional costumes is German Import House. The clothes are hand-designed and each dirndl is colorfully embroidered. You can choose from a variety of blouses, dirndls and aprons. They also sell dirndls for little girls.
Bavarian Shopping Mall
You can also try the Bavarian Shopping Mall, where the dirndls are all full-length, but very well-made and cut and 100 percent cotton.
Amazon
If you want your costume simpler and sexier, you can also shop on Amazon, which has such fun costumes as the Sexy Fraulein, which includes an off-the-shoulder top, lace-up bodice, short green skirt and petticoat, which no one else seems to add. Amazon also has several choices of Beer Garden Girl costumes, all of which are very sexy and feature miniskirts.
Making Oktoberfest Costumes for Women
If you want a costume that looks great and is unique, try making one yourself. This way, you can use cotton or linen and mix and match colors and trims as you choose. You can use leftover trim to design your own headpiece, too. Finding a pattern, however, can be tricky. Look for vintage patterns for barmaid dresses, pirate wench costumes and gypsy attire. A few patterns that you may be able to find in your size are:
- Butterick 3906: This pattern is designed to create peasant or tavern girl outfits and is easily adapted for an Oktoberfest outfit.
- Simplicity 2847: This pattern is designed to be used for gypsy, pirate wench, witch and princess costumes but can easily be used to create a Bavarian barmaid's dress.
If you can't find one of these specific vintage patterns, search ebay for "bar maid pattern" to see what other options may be available at the time you need to create your costume.
Consider Searching for a Secondhand Costume
Don't forget vintage shopping when searching for your costume. Sometimes costumes that were used in plays or festivals get sold at thrift shops, consignment boutiques and online auction sites and they can often be of better quality than anything in the cheaper costume shops. While there's no guarantee that you'll find something that will work, it's certainly worth your time to look.
Enjoy Oktoberfest
Whether you choose to purchase or make your Oktoberfest costume, you're sure to have a great time wearing it. You'll surely feel like enjoying a selection of German foods and beverages while you're wearing it. Who knows? Maybe you'll even dance the polka!
