Since (by the traditionalists) it is seen to be highly desireable to sew your traditional clothing by yourself, there are not so many opportunities to get traditional clothing in the strict sense. It is easier to find a course which shows how to make such clothing yourself than to find a shop which sells such clothing.
To find a shop which is able to send this clothing to abroad will be very difficult, maybe impossible. However, they have addresses of tailors who are specialized in traditional clothing, sometimes women who do this in their leisure time.
If you are looking for clothing which just looks (!) traditional, you'll find many shops. However, a non-specialist might not see any difference and maybe such tradtionally-loooking clothing will even be more impressive in his eyes since it has been designed by a stylist.
I think for real traditional clothing there are no catalogues available since it is described in the several books how it has to look like. A certain clothing is normally simply named after the region it comes from.
There are also some shops which sell "rather" traditional clothing. This is clothing which is not tradated but follows the rules of the traditional costumes. There are only a few people who can identify such clothing as being not passed on but designed.
An organisation which is spezialized in traditional clothing is the Bund der Österreichischen Trachten- und Heimatverbände.
Please tell me if you know other resources. Thanks!
Plankl R., OHG (Loden-Plankl) Sport- und Lodenbekleidung Michaelerplatz 6 A-1010 Vienna Tel. 01 / 533-80-32
Giesswein Walkwaren AG Niederfeldweg 5-7 A-6230 Brixlegg / Tyrol http://www.giesswein.com/ info@giesswein.com
Wurzer Dirndl http://www.wurzerdirndl.at office@wurzer.comMitgeteilt von Christian Wurzer
Thanks to Liliane Lohse
I was searching through the Internet to find retailers or anyone for that matter, that sells authentic German/Austrian costumes for adults and/or children. I came across your sight and kept in mind that if I did find any information, I would send it you way.
Well I was very lucky when I searched under "german clothing" vs. "austrian clothing". Note: I tried everything under "austrian" first thinking that would give me more to choose from, but that was not the case. "German" gave more. Anyway, I have two sites to give you for anyone on the U.S. side, that is interested.
1. European Classics Limited http://www.vommoro.com/ecl/index.html This is a very, very good site and I personally spoke with the proprietor and he is quite the accommodating salesman. I highly recommend this!
2. Ernst Licht Embroidery and Imports http://www.ernstlicht.com This is limited as far as the website itself goes, but it does offer to send a catalog which might be more descriptive.