Why should I spend a lot of money on a Dirndl when I’m only going to wear it once?
That is a great question my friend, and one that I hear quite often. I actually heard it from a woman just last week. Let’s call her Abby. Here is her story:
Abby called me and said, “I’m leaving for Oktoberfest at the end of next week and my husband said I need to wear a dirndl. All my friends ordered their’s [on a popular online store... let's call is Schmamazon], but I saw them… and I’m not impressed by the quality. I mean I don’t want to spend a ton of money on a dress that I’ll only wear once, but at the same time I don’t want to wear a costume or stand out as having a cheapo looking dirndl”. My response was naturally that she should come in and take a look and hopefully I have something that she’d like.
So she made an appointment and came in. She mentioned again this idea of feeling guilty for dropping $500 on a dress that “I really will only wear one time!” But she tried on a few dirndls and then fell in love with one. We then talked about options for blouses, petticoats, shoes, bloomers, 2nd apron for day 2 etc. Then she said these words, which I found absolutely fascinating. Abby said, “Ugh… I love this so much, but I just can’t ever see myself wearing this again after Oktoberfest! I can totally justify buying a $500 Sari because I get so much use out of them. I mean now I think I have 5, but that’s because I wear them to so many events. What ever would I wear this for?!” Now, Abby is a pretty standard white Chicagoan with some Italian background (she mentioned this to me, I’m not just making it up haha), so I’m thinking, “Wait. What?! Where are all these Sari wearing opportunities and why do I not know about them. I’ve never found an opportunity to wear my Sari.”
I proceeded to say, “That’s so funny, because I feel the exact opposite. Even if I didn’t make dirndls for a living, I would have many in my closet because I have plenty of places to wear it and nowhere to wear a Sari.” She asked, “Ok. So really, where can I wear this again?” I went on to list where she could wear a dirndl locally:
Maifest in Lincoln Square
Oktoberfest in Lincoln Square
Hofbrauhaus in Rosemont
Laschet’s Inn for dinner
Germanfest in Milwaukee
Events at the DANK Haus
Halloween (not my favorite suggestion, but it’s an option)
Or
Throw your own Oktoberfest party to your house and invite all your friends (sounds like some of them already have dirndls to wear!!)
Her eyes literally lit up with that last suggestion. She said that she was definitely going to throw a party next year and can’t wait to wear her dirndl! (If you want suggestions on how to throw your own Oktoberfest party, Click Here) And as she left the studio with her Dirndl, 2 blouses, petticoat and extra apron she said, “This place is going to be a problem for me… I can already tell.”
Now Abby’s story is not an isolated incident (well the Sari part was new to me, but not the whole “I’m never gunna wear this again part). After doing this for over 8 years, I must say, one of my favorite things is getting a call or email from a customer that said those exact words 2-4 years ago. Because their email usually reads something like this, “Hi Erika! I’m emailing because I LOVE my Rare Dirndl I got from you 3 years ago for Oktoberfest, but since then I’ve made an effort to wear it as much as possible, so now I’m an outfit repeater. I’m going to need another one before my local Oktoberfest this year for sure!”
So to wrap this all up… why spend money on a “dress” that you’ll only wear once in your entire life? Because you won’t! If you buy a dirndl that is fabulous and fits your personality and makesyou feel like a gazillion bucks… you will find more places to wear it! I pretty much guarantee it.
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