Wearing My Dirndl

ドイツのミュンヘンで毎年開かれるビールの祭典、オクトーバーフェストでは、ほとんどの人がこの地方の民族衣装であるディアンドル（女性用ドレス）とレーダーホーゼン（男性用革製半ズボン）を着ています。
夏祭りに８割がた浴衣な感じ。
だから作ったのよ、ディアンドル。
日本人がディアンドル着ていいのか、っていうのもあるけど、その辺はコスプレ精神で。

っていうか、ものすごくコスプレーヤーの気持ちが分かったわよ。私、もしかして隠れコスプレーヤーだったのかも。味を占めてしまったわ。
丸二日、ルンルンでこの格好でミュンヘン市内を歩き回り、オクトーバーフェストを楽しみました。
あ、今思い出したけど、オクトーバーフェストではアルプスの少女ハイジの風船売ってたよ！ドイツでも放送されてたのか？

One thing you have to know about Oktoberfest is that literally everyone is wearing a dirndl and lederhosen. It's almost like if you are not wearing it, you are missing a part of the experience. We were so glad that we all wore ours too; it was so fun!

The Man of the House and I talked about cultural appropriation a lot during the process of my making a dirndl and while we were in Munich. MOTH is a German descent; both of his parents' ancestors came from Germany, so lederhosen on him is perfectly fine. But me, undeniably Asian, wearing a dirndl, that's another story.

I mean, I was so surprised that I did not see very many Asians in Europe. Well, I saw a lot of Asian tourists in touristy spots, but they were obviously tourists. Even at Oktoberfest, where thousands upon thousands of people were in this giant park/fairground, I didn't see many Asians, let alone Asians in dirndl.

Anyway, I just hope that my me-made dirndl did not offend the eyes of the local people. While I totally enjoyed wearing it and now I totally understand why people do cosplay, I did not want my dirndl to be a costume.

Serious thoughts aside, I could not be happier with my dirndl. I loved every bit of it and I wore it for 2 days, all day long, sightseeing around town and Oktoberfesting. Definitely it tickled the cosplayer side of me.

By the way, while I was walking through the Oktoberfest ground, I saw a guy with a Heidi balloon (tied to his kid's stroller). Heidi from Girl of the Alps. She is a character from an old (early 70s) TV animation series based on a Swiss children's novel. Was Heidi popular in Germany too? I've never seen a Heidi balloon in Japan and now I have seen it in Munich...