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!
Mother's Day is right around the corner and usually I'm a big fan of the gift that never fails… a Big HUG! But this year I felt that all the women in my family have been extra supportive and extra fabulous and deserving of more than just a good ol' fashioned hug. I've been thinking about it and I've honestly decided to give them all an Edelweiss Clip!
Check out this quick video of how I make these fab little accessories as well as all the unique ways to wear it!
I decided to give the clips to my mom and grandmothers this year, not because I make them, but because it's a simple gift that goes a long way! Here are just a few ways you could wear the clip:
Click HERE to get your own Edelweiss Clip or to order one for your Mom, Oma, Aunt, Cousin, Sister or any other mother in your life! They're going to love it! I can't wait to see my Oma's face when I give her the clip. I hope she likes it as much as my boyfriends Great Aunt did when I gave it to her while we were in Basel, Switzerland.
Ever wonder what dirndl style you are? Take our dirndl quiz and find out! Simply type in your email here
On Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early to catch a flight to NYC for the dg Expo, a fabric and trim show held in the heart of the garment district. I decided to go because, as much as I love woking int my studio and sourcing here in Chicago, I just knew that if I explored what this expo had to offer I would be able to find things that would simply make Rare Dirndls better… and I was right!
I found a great source for zippers, took wonderful seminars about costing, sourcing and marketing, ordered a beautiful knit for a summer sweater, met a digital printer who would be able to get the Rare Dirndl Edelweiss Icon printed onto fabric, found a source for beautiful beading for bridal dirndls, but probably the most exciting was meeting Warren Brand, president of M&S Schmalberg, who specialized in custom fabric flowers.
I was simply walking around the show and I had on my Loose Knit Scarf on with the Edelweiss Clip and he says to me "Where did you get that?" I replied, "I made it," And that started a conversation that led to, "Erika, why don't you come by the booth tomorrow morning and I'll take you over to our warehouse/workshop and you can see the place for yourself. Maybe we can help you make those flowers!"
I was over the moon! Soooooo excited!! The next morning Pam, (a lovely woman who works for M&S Schmalberg) took me to the warehouse, which was only 3 blocks away. I was blown away by the old school feel, the genuine artwork that was taking place. They showed me how the fabric is starched, cut into the petals and then pressed to shape the petals to look like real flowers!
Flower Petals being cut
We searched through their vast array of die cuts and tools to find a shape that would work for an edelweiss. Some had too many petals, some had too little, too fat, too round… until all of a sudden, the lovely man who worked the cutting machine pulls out a perfect shape! A little uneven, some petals longer than others, it was perfect! I couldn't believe it!
The flower shape I picked for the Edelweiss (unpressed and then pressed)
When I showed the girls who were putting the flowers together the edelweiss that I made, and they were most impressed with the fuzzy center. They said right away that those tiny details were something they would not do, but just having the petals cut for me is a blessing! Not having to take apart a bunch of lilies from Michaels Craft Store would save me so much time… and these are much better quality!
Then I found some fabric that they had laying around and they said I could use that as my flower petals for no extra charge. And believe it or not, they made the petals that day and I took them home with me! I also bought some beautiful white leather at the expo that they are going to create into leather edelweiss petals for me and I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Overall, I am so glad that I went because I met some amazing people who are doing amazing things in beautiful US of A and I got to hang out with other wonderful designers that I have been working with over the past year. I have to thank my coach and mentor, Jane Hamill, for convincing me to get out from behind my computer and "go get it, girl!!"
From the well-known song, to it's iconic and unique beauty, the Edelweiss flower is regarded in Switzerland as a national symbol and a common theme on Bavarian and Austrian trachten. This wonderful flower has a unique history.
Edelweiss is not really a flower as such, but a set of 500 to a thousand tiny florets grouped in several heads (between 2 and 10 of them) surrounded by 5 to 15 white velvety leaves, that's fertilized by flies.
"The Edelweiss was adopted as a national symbol in the 19th century to give back some lustre to a nation that was looking a bit washed out,” says Didier Roguet, project head and keeper of the Botanical Garden in Geneva “but no-one knew that this little silvery and hairy flower would become a real alpine celebrity.”
Over the years the edelweiss has been used to decorate a large number of products made in Switzerland, from postcards to chocolate bars, from folk costumes to sun lotions, and from penknives to purses.
The original home of the Edelweiss is in the high plateau of the Himalayas and Siberia, but somehow my grandfather learned to grow the beautiful flower in his garden!
The plant "migrated" to Europe during the Quaternary ice ages. Today it is found in the alpine region of Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Spain, and the Balkans at an altitude between 1,500 and 3,000 metros.
"It can no longer be regarded as an endangered species, seeing as it has been cultivated in Valais since the 90s. But it is protected in almost all the countries where it grows," explains Roguet.
"The star of the snows” as the Edelweiss is sometimes called, is also a reminder of a dark past. "The Edelweiss was the favorite flower of Adolf Hitler. For that reason it was used as a symbol by the Nazis," says the curator of the "Edelweiss - Myths and Paradoxes" national exhibition, which was on display in 2011 in Geneva.
In 1935, the German Wehrmacht formed an alpine unit which used the flower as part of the insignia on its uniforms. Towards the end of the Second World War, however, the Edelweiss became the symbol of the German resistance against Nazism.
The “Edelweiss pirates” were groups of young workers who had turned against Nazism and were active as a kind of urban guerrillas against the regime. For English-speaking people, the famous “Edelweiss” song in The Sound of Music is also associated with patriotic resistance to Nazism.
Today the image of the Edelweiss continues to adorn many items to represent, Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany. It is the logo for many trachten companies in Germany and it's our icon too! The Rare Dirndl Edelweiss icon is a unique design taking the traditional shape of the flower and giving it a fresh, edgy street look.
The Rare Dirndl Edelweiss Icon
(designed by Sydney Musselman)
I've also created fun and unique Edelweiss clips that can be put in your hair, on your jacket, on your bag… wherever! Its a great little item and has a felt center that has the look and feel of a real Edelweiss!
The Edelweiss Clip on one of our Loose Knit Scarves!
Do you love the Edelweiss flower as much as I do?
Be sure to follow Rare Dirndl @raredirndl on Instagram and on Facebook because all this week I'll be posting all the fun items with the Edelweiss on it that is either in my own apartment or in the Rare Dirndl Design Studio. I'd love for you to comment back via social media of all your Edelweiss things using #raredirndl and #myedelweiss! Maybe it'll turn out to be a battle of the Edelweisses!!!
