This weekend is special to aficionados of German beer and cleavage the world 'round. It marks the kick off the annual Oktoberfesten (yes it is still September...), the world's largest funfair, dress up party and alongside carnival the best excuse white people have for public drunkeness on a massive scale. We will focus on the clothes here, as we always do.
While all the Trachtenmode or German native dress, looks cute and adorable it is very unfashionable. Yet it popped up on my radar twice recently. Firstly, Karl Lagerfeld blew the dust of all the classics for the annual Chanel Metiers d’ Art fashion show Salzburg-Paris last year, by bombarding the viewer with loden, felt, horn, velours, suede and countless references to Sissi and the Sound of Music. Fashion buffs of course already knew that the iconic boxy Chanel jacket was inspired by/derived of a liftboy jacket worn by the staff who brought Coco Chanel up to her floor in a hotel in Salzburg.
Secondly, while being bored out of my mind in the ICE from Amsterdam to Berlin, I picked up the free magazine DB Mobil and found an article about fashion photographer Gregor Hohenberg’s picture/table book Trachten, highlighting the various regional variants of Trachtenmode. It is not the first book, nor will it be the last book about Dirndls, Trachtenhose, -hemden and other, more exotic pieces, however the glossy fashion pictures make it stand out from the crowd. My desire to know more intensified.
Studying the quaint style lead to a reappraisal on my part, of the traditional Trachtenjanker, the Austro-German answer to the English tweed jacket. As far as the body and sleeves go, it is comparable to the latter. But most similarities end there. The Trachtenjanker is generally shorter like a women’s blazer, more boxy, and oftentimes features a deep center pleat on the back for comfort and a martingale. The number of buttons on the front varies. When the jacket has lapels, they are buttoned down by the very recognizable, fat unpolished deerhorn buttons. A collar is optional as well, but when there is a collar, it is worn popped up.
Traditionally the Janker is made with Loden cloth or suede leather for fall and winter, summer trachtenjacke are made with a specific linen called Jägerleinen. Front pockets on a men’s jacket range from two to four, mostly in a besom style, but flapped and patch pockets are a possibility as well. The pockets, like the collar, certain seams and the buttonholes are adorned with prominent piping details. For the full-on ethnic experience one may opt for floral embroidery any place you want.
In its most minimalist configuration, as seen above on artist, bon vivant and son-of-the-famous-Gunter, Rolf Sachs we get an awesome in-betweener. That is to say: a jacket that cross between blazer and a piece of outerwear to be worn in-between summer and fall, winter and spring. You know, like the casual numbers Corneliani ID, Loro Piana and Cucinelli poop out every year. The Trachtenjanker is occasionally still worn by German aristrocrats, preppies, traditionalists and wannabes in the same manner that the English tweed jacket, the Spanish teba jacket or the Tuscan maremma is worn. Casually. Paired with a (dressed down) shirt, denim, corduroy, flannel or chino trousers. Artistic or sophisticated types may want to add a scarf like Rolf or like Bayern Munchen’s always smartly dressed Karl Heinz Rummenigge.
