My name is Alayna and I am 24 years old and an active member in the Akron Ohio Donauschwaben and I dance in both the Juggendgruppe and adult Tanzgruppe. While I am not of German heritage, my mother married into the culture and I grew up making it my own. When I am not dancing and celebrating my adoptive heritage, I find myself with my nose buried in a book or riding my horse. In these photographs, I am at the Akron German Family Society Oktoberfest which took place the second week in September of 2014. One picture is of my sister and I, one of me and my dance partner sharing a pre-performance selfie and one of me dancing in my dirndl. I love to tell people how I stumbled upon my Rare Dirndl. For about five years, I had been searching the internet and Europe for a Dirndl that matches my taste in literature, art and music as I felt my dirndl should reflect my personality, but had been unsuccessful.
When I went to the Donauschwaben labor day competition this past year my friends took me over to look at the Rare Dirndls. To be completely honest I had never heard of Rare Dirndl, but I was immediately taken with the care and quality of the dirndls and how each one seemed to be unique. While browsing the rack, I found “The Raven” Dirndl and fell in love instantly, as Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite reads! Without a second thought, I tried one of two dresses that were there and one fit—as I imagine Cinderella’s glass slipper fit only her. So I purchased it that day. Since then I have worn the dirndl for every dancing event I get the chance to and am always receiving compliments on the dirndl. One of my favorite things about Rare Dirndl is that each and every dirndl (as you can tell many of my friends and fellow dancers own them from the one photograph) is well made and shouts whatever inner spirit the wearer wants it to reflect. For me, throwing on the sweat-heart off-shoulder blouse with a simple necklace, no knee socks and black satin bloomers with my Rare Dirndl, I feel beautiful and confident. For me, my dirndl shouts: Be Bold. Do you want to be the next Rare Dirndl Customer Spotlight? As the winner you will recieve a $50 Coupon Code for any online purchase, a feature on the Rare Dirndl website and blog, and a gift package worth approx $100!! Click here to get all the details!
This week I thought I'd test my new iPhone6's photography capacity by taking a magnifying glass style look at some of our most popular accessories that I'll be featuring at this weekend's event in Milwaukee!
Here are some of the "Under the Glass" style photos! Pretty cool huh!?
You can take an up close and personal look at all of these in Milwaukee this weekend. Rare Dirndl will be at "Germany Under Glass,” a family-friendly celebration of German culture will be presented by German-American Societies and various German clubs of Milwaukee, in partnership with the Milwaukee County Parks, Saturday, March 7 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. The Domes, “Milwaukee’s Living Landmark,” is located at 524 S. Layton Blvd.
I'm super pumped about this event, I think it will be a lot of fun. In addition to music, dance, authentic foods, and table-top displays, this year’s festival will celebrate two historic events and the recent soccer championship. Speakers will provide details of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov. 9, 1989), the centennial anniversary of the start of World War I (July 28, 1914), and Germany’s winning of the 2014 World Cup.
We will have a booth set up featuring all of our favorites accessories and some of the new 2015 collection to take a look at. For more information click here for the full PDF press release about the event and follow us on Facebook and instagram (and now @raredirndl on snapchat) to see more fun pictures and behind the scenes goodies!
I'm so proud to announce the release of the newest collection, Reawakening. This collection is inspired by the elusive Chicago spring season. The idea of cold transforming into warmth, old growing into new, darkness turning to light and the destruction of winter becoming the growth of spring.
I didn't want to make you wait any longer to see the new designs, but unfortunately you will have to wait just a bit more to actually get any items in your own closet. I made a quick video to explain my plan to give you more that a great offer on the new collection, but if you don't have time to watch just scroll down and keep reading.
We ran into a few bumps in the road during the production of the new collection and the dirndls and menswear are still being made. However, in an effort to make everyone feel better about the late delivery date, here is the plan…
All the new dirndls and menswear will be 20% this week only! Then March 3rd, you can still save, but the savings goes down to 10%. And on March 11th: 5% off and then the following week everything will be back to full price and everything will ship out approximately April 1st.
How does that sound!?! That sounds like a big bowl of awesome-sauce to me, but then I'm easily excitable. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail info@raredirndl.com anytime or call the studio.
In the past I've had trouble designing Spring collections because here in Chicago… spring is this elusive season that lasts for about 3 days, so it is truly find inspiration for a Spring Collection. This year I thought I'd do things a little differently and design a Winter/Spring 2015 collection that is inspired by exactly that, winter into spring. The idea of cold transforming into warmth, old growing into new, darkness turning to light and the destruction of winter becoming the growth of spring.
I was in yoga class and the instructor was talking about how in order to grow, we must let go of things that are restraining us. Like seeds; in order for a seed to become a plant, it must first let go of it's outer shell, essentially destroy itself in order to become new. I starting thinking about animals and humans and how we must all cope with love, loss, life and death to be able to grow and become new and better.
Using this as inspiration, I created my own fabric design using a photo of a deer skull that was given to me that I made new again by adding a flower to it. I also used a muted color pallet with pops of greens to signify the muted colors of winter followed by pops of the first signs of spring; grass peeking through the snow.
The majesty of strong animals that live through the tough winters inspired the use of leather and strong hooks and chains.
And the confusion of the transition from winter into spring, the warm days followed by freezing rain, followed yet again by bright, sunny afternoons inspired the mixing of textures and fabrics to create new and innovative silhouettes.
I'm very excited about how the collection is coming along. Be sure to follow @raredirndl on Instagram to see more behind the scenes pics of the collection before its release.
Also, check out the behind the scenes video from the photo shoot!
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Although the winter months are not typically the season for wearing dirndls, many of us will find a way! Whether your going to a local German restaurant, or you have a German club event, wearing a dirndl can get chilly… cuz let's face it, it's cold outside! (I mean unless you live in Florida, Texas or southern Cali… in which case I'm very jealous and don't want to think about your weather compared to the balmy 3 degrees outside here in Chicago.)
But should you want to wear a dirndl, you'll most likely want to wear a sweater and I have 3 ways to help you decide what sweater to wear.
#1 - Cropped Cardigan
A cropped cardigan is your best bet for a dirndl. Why? Because dirndls have a natural waistline and cropped cardigans stop at the natural waist. This sweater style is the best way to compliment your dirndl without taking away from the essence of the dirndl style. One of our customers said that she found some at Old Navy for $20 and I got mine at Target a few years back. They are still in style, but sometimes hard to find in a long sleeve (mine is 3/4 length).
#2 - Draped Sweater
If you don't have a cropped cardigan then I would go with a sweater that drapes in the front like this one. Although it changes the silhouette of the dirndl, it doesn't cover up the detailing of the bodice. These sweaters are pretty easy to find and if you go with a color like black or grey, you can get lots of use out of it, because it's a great style for every day. However, should you find one in a classic loden green… that would go perfect with our bonus item! (Keep scrolling down ;-)
#3 - A Trachten Sweater
Don't like either of those options… then I would go for a Trachten Sweater like the Rare Dirndl Long Sweater. Wear something that says dirndl, without actually wearing a dirndl! Whether it is a traditional wool sweater with embroidery, or our comfy cotton loop knit sweater with edelweiss trim and buttons, you can go out to those German events in style! Right now there are only 3 Long Sweaters left (L and XL(2) in Black) Click here to get yours before they're gone for good.
BONUS! Not a sweater kind of gal? Check out our new Infinity Scarf! This scarf can accent any black dirndl or bring some German flair to your everyday outfit. Its classic grey color with the traditional bright red & green Edelweiss trim juxtaposed with the black ribbon with silver spikes will certainly dress up your dirndl, sweater, or t-shirt!
When I am not dancing and celebrating my adoptive heritage, I find myself with my nose buried in a book or riding my horse. In these photographs, I am at the Akron German Family Society Oktoberfest which took place the second week in September of 2014. One picture is of my sister and I, one of me and my dance partner sharing a pre-performance selfie and one of me dancing in my dirndl. I love to tell people how I stumbled upon my Rare Dirndl. For about five years, I had been searching the internet and Europe for a Dirndl that matches my taste in literature, art and music as I felt my dirndl should reflect my personality, but had been unsuccessful. 
