Erman Life - Lancaster Liederkranz

Visit German America!
erman
ife
G L
GERMANY ■ AUSTRIA ■ SWITZERLAND
Visit Villach, Austria!
Swiss Festivals
Kaiserslautern
Dirndls in the USA
Timber Rafting
JUNE/JULY 2013
$5.95 CANADA $6.50
DIRNDLS ON
DEMAND
BY MARK MEIER
Today, Dirndl designers in the
United States are both basking
in the traditional and stretching
the boundaries for a look that is
unmistakably German.
NEUMAYER USES FASHION DESIGN TO NEW LIFE TO ONE OF
THE TRADITIONAL SYMBOLS OF HER GERMAN HERITAGE. HERE
SHE ADDS THE FINISHING TOUCHES TO ONE OF HER CONTEMPORARY DIRNDLS. COURTESY ERIKA NEUMAYER.
UNLIKE MOST FASHION, THE ENDURING DIRNDL HAS
REMAINED, BASICALLY, UNTOUCHED BUT ERIKA NEUMAYER
IS FORGING A NEW PATH WITH HER FUN, YOUTHFUL
DESIGNS. COURTESY ERIKA NEUMAYER.
16
GERMAN LIFE
•
JUNE/JULY 2013
The dirndl is a staple of Oktoberfest the world over and
instantly recognizable: a blouse, a bodice, a skirt, an
apron. Like other traditional Trachten, such as Lederhosen, the dirndl was once the everyday wear of working folk in southern Germany and Austria and became
popular around the end of the nineteenth century as an
emblem of national heritage. The German-speaking Alps
remain the center of the dirndl universe, with a few dirndl
designers in Salzburg and many more in Munich, where
– since 2011 – the glossy, high-fashion Dirndl Magazine
has also been published. The spring/summer 2012 issue
even featured wedding dirndls, bedecked with pearls and
shimmering in shades of white. The United States, however, also has its dirndl designers, who maintain a necessary balance between tradition and contemporary fashion.
One designer – Christel Cloyd – grew up near Hannover, Germany. She moved with her husband to Kansas,
but made regular trips to Germany and Austria to visit
family. “Every time I went there,” she recalls, “someone
wanted me to bring something back: sweaters, Lederhosen, jackets. My friend said, ‘Instead of bringing something, why not just import it and sell it?’” With that suggestion, Bergland Trachten was born in 1987.
Cloyd’s company imports and sells some items, such as
men’s hats or jewelry, but Cloyd also imports fabrics from
Germany and Austria, which she then turns into custom
dirndls. She does make some dirndls without an advance
order to sell off the rack at festivals, at a store in Wichita open only by appointment, or through her website
http://www.berglandtrachten.com/. Most of the time,
THOSE SEEKING TRADITIONAL DESIGN AND UNIQUE
FABRICS TURN TO CHRISTEL CLOYD OF BERGLAND
TRACHTEN. CHRISTEL TAKES
PRIDE IN SOURCING HER
FABRIC SELECTIONS FROM
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.
COURTESY CHRISTEL CLOYD.
however, Cloyd’s customers come to her with specific
orders: “They tell us exactly what they want.” Eventually, that is. Since Cloyd supplies dresses to choirs and
dance groups, the members sometimes need a whole year
to agree on a final design. Cloyd always works with the
most recent fabrics and will not offer the same fabric to
two different groups, however, thus ensuring that each
organization has a unique look.
Once the design is finished, Cloyd and a team of several
workers swing into action. In a typical year, she may produce one hundred to one hundred fifty dirndls for adults
and another forty or fifty for children. Most of her customers live in the Midwest or on the East Coast, such as
the Alpenrose group in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, Cloyd fills orders coast to coast, and has even
been able to get an order one night and send it out the
next morning. Customers seem thrilled by their dirndls’
arrival. Cloyd quotes from a recent e-mail: “First let me
say that I am very impressed with everything! The Mieder
with pin tucking is gorgeous!”
Such feedback, frequently accompanied with pictures, “is
definitely one of the highlights of our business” for Cloyd.
Another highlight is “I can do it whenever I want; I can
work at my own pace.” Granted, September to Christmas
is exceptionally busy, but Cloyd still enjoys the business.
North of Cloyd, Erika Neumayer was born in Chicago
the year before Cloyd began Bergland Trachten. Neumayer grew up as a member of the American Aid Society for German Descendants and began dancing with the
group in high school, which meant wearing the requisite
dirndl. Neumayer went to Dominican University to study
fashion and also spent a summer studying in Paris. She
began to realize that “the United States dirndl market
could use a little lift. Europe was way ahead in terms of
REGARDLESS OF THE AGE,
A DIRNDL MAKES A DISTINCTIVE
FASHION STATEMENT.
COURTESY CHRISTEL CLOYD.
fashion for dirndls.”
Neumayer won awards for a collection based on
Donauschwaben dresses, and after graduation, worked a
few nights a week in a German restaurant and set up a
fashion shop, Rare, in her parents’ dining room in 2010.
“The dining room table is my cutting board,” she says,
“and I emptied out the China cabinet and it now holds all
my materials.” The day we spoke, however, she and her
dad were going over to refurbish the floors of a space that
is now her studio at 5051 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. (Neumayer mainly takes orders through her website
http://erikaneumayer.com/).
Neumayer was drawn to dirndls because of her heritage
and because she likes “to be creative and really push the
boundaries. In the fashion world, so much has already
been done. With dirndls, though, the style is so far back
in time, not a lot has been done. I like to mix fabrics and
colors. It’s fun.” She quickly began to produce menswear,
too, in response to demand.
Neumayer’s collections comprise twelve to fifteen pieces, of which she may make only ten of any piece, meaning
“if you buy something, you know only ten other people
in the United States are walking around with it.” The collections run the array from the bright primary colors and
polka dots and zebra stripes of “Sunkissed” to the darker shades and plaids of her fall/winter 2012 collection
“Beautiful, Dark Days,” inspired, Neumayer explains, by
“listening to lots of grunge.” The 1990s musical theme
carries through to the names of individual items, such
as the “Smells Like Teen Spirit Dirndl” or “Black Hole
Sun Dirndl,” which pale women model in front of an old
building with peeling paint and tires in the foreground.
Her Facebook page, meanwhile, hints of an Alice in Wonderland theme for spring/summer 2013.
JUNE/JULY 2013
•
GERMAN LIFE
17
BY POPULAR DEMAND,
RARE’S LINE OF CLOTHING
NOW ALSO INCLUDES
CLOTHING CHOICES
FOR MEN. COURTESY
ERIKA NEUMAYER.
ERIKA NEUMAYER DESIGNS FOR
WOMEN WHO,
“HAVE A DIRNDL CLOSET
LIKE I DO, BUT WANT
SOMETHING FRESH…”
COURTESY ERIKA NEUMAYER.
Explaining yourself as an haute-couture dirndl designer
may provoke some confused faces, but Neumayer relishes
the mix. “I can stay in touch with the fashion world, but
I can also have a bear in my fashion shoots.” She keeps
up with the major fashion shows in Paris and New York
as well as trends in Munich. “But of course,” she adds, “I
have my own ideas and keep up with what’s going on in
the United States. Ninety-nine percent of my customers
are American.” Neumayer describes her dress buyers typically as women “who have a dirndl closet like I do, but
want something fresh. They want to be fashion forward
but also want to hang onto their German heritage.” The
men who wear her shirts likewise have an equal interest in
tradition and innovation.
Being based in the United States helps cut down on the
competition for Neumayer, but as a one-woman shop
with only occasional interns, she still struggles to stay on
top of everything. She attends festivals and trade shows,
takes and fills orders, plans new collections, and keeps active on social media. She looks forward to the day when
she is not doing it all by herself and can have a few people
18
GERMAN LIFE
•
JUNE/JULY 2013
working with her. Yet building the business is much like
Neumayer’s least favorite task, making patterns and getting the fit right on a new pattern. “It’s always a challenge
and can be really tedious. Creating new shapes for the
human body is always difficult.”
Nonetheless, with Cloyd and Neumayer, through more
fun than toil, the familiar dirndl keeps finding new shapes
and figures to drape. GL
Like the Look?
If you are in the market for a Trachten, the following
businesses might just have what you are looking for:
Bergland Trachten
547 E. Grand Avenue
Ste. 5, P.O. Box 52
Haysville, KS 67060
Telephone: 1-888-524-0052 or 316-524-0019
www.berglandtrachten.com
Ernst Licht
347 Main Street
Oley, PA 19547
Telephone: 610-987-3298 or 1-800-776-3298
German Wear
Telephone: 888-743-6296
www.germanwear.com
Rare
5051 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
Telephone: 312-806-5099
www.erikaneumayer.com
The acculturation of the Forty-Eighters: Lessons for today’s
immigrants.
Biographical sketches of
Forty-Eighters.
German-American Immigration
Experience.
Low German in America.
How would widely held Turner beliefs mesh with recent developments
in the United States, such as the role
of government versus the rights of
the individual, public education versus private religious beliefs, or public
health care programs?
Graduate students and junior faculty are especially encouraged to apply. For these applicants, a limited
number of travel subsides is available to defray transportation costs.
In your proposals, please indicate if
you would like to be considered for
the subsidy.
The conference is funded through
generous donations from Deutsche
Welle and a private individual. Additional support is provided by the
Kleinfeld Lecture/Event Series at
Wartburg College.
More information about the conference
as it becomes
available can
COURTESY
ERIKA NEUMAYER.
be found at the conference website:
www.wartburg.edu/1848.
In the
Beginning…
Leipzig
Celebrates
its Famous
Son Richard
Wagner
in 2013
There was
Leipzig is celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of
Richard
Wagner,
who was
born
here
Ernst Licht
Embroidery
and
Imports
on
22
May
1813.
Whoever
wants
is the oldest supplier of Dirndls and
to
understand
young Wagner
other
Trachten the
and traditional
Germust
come
to
Leipzig,
especially
man goods in the US. Founded
by
in
anniversary
yearErnst
2013:Licht,
one
thethe
German
emigrant
Continued
on page
29
the company has
an extensive
online
catalog (www.ernstlicht.com) and
print catalogue as well as a store in
Oley, Pennsylvania, about 55 miles
northwest of Philadelphia. The
store’s team of tailors produces and
customizes Dirndls with materials
from Germany and can offer quantity discounts. In 1983, the entire
Oley Township was designated a National Historic District to preserve
the agricultural nature
of the
area as
Handcrafted
German
& natural toys
well as many of folk
the art
eighteenth-cenfrom Europe
tury Pennsylvania Dutch buildings
andwww.thewoodenwagon.com
other historic architecture.
Ernst Licht
www.germanwear.com
Short & Long Dirndls
Dirndl Set (Includes Top & Apron)
Lederhosen With Suspenders
Boiled Wool Jackets & Sweaters
Trachten Jackets & Long Coats
High Quality Clothing from Germany & Austria
www.germanwear.com • 888.743.6296
Drink like a
DownGerman
the
New Spring 2013 Collection!
Rabbit
. . . yourHole
tea that is!
Music
Jewelry
Germany’s finest teas and tea
accessories available online
www.TEEKANNE.US.COM
Beer Steins
or call toll free 800.556.6674
The Wooden Wagon
Shop
Oktoberfest
Now! !
Ladies Clothing
Hats and
Feathers
Mens Clothing
by erika neumayer
www.raredirndl.com
www.ernstlicht.com
610 987 9496
April/MAy 2013 •• german life
JUNE/JULY 2013
GERMAN LIFE
9
19