Ursula von Minckwitz Remarkable Dirndl from München

When I moved to München several years ago, I thought I’d never wear a dirndl. Nope, never. I associated the clothing with music befitting a hoedown, an outlandish sense of tradition, and touristic Oktoberfest hype. But now all that has changed.

Because dirndl isn’t always the same as dirndl. The festive dress, which in Bayern can be worn to weddings or other celebrations, is in no way comparable to the polyester curios found in München’s shopping district souvenir shops and outlets.

More and more labels are giving this classic livery a modern interpretation. Including Ursula von Minckwitz. She’s one of many impressive business women who one day decided to try something new and creative aside from her day job.

For successful lawyer Ursula von Minckwitz, it was designing dirndls. Not with overdone frippery and constricting chains, but rather with eccentric patterns and fine materials like linen, cotton, and silk of first-class Italian production. She creates her designs in her Haidhausen workshop, then a seamstress in Brackenheim, Baden-Württemberg brings the drafts to life using the finest handiwork techniques.

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Von Minckwitz has been selling her designs together with business partner Inge Reichert-Wibmer in the store they founded on Steinstraße in Haidhausen since April of this year. Word has evidently spread that there are plenty of other beautiful items available here alongside dirndls.

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A number of customers are still around as I enter the store shortly before close to interview for this article. One woman, searching for the perfect gift for her daughter’s graduation, chooses a necklace, saying, "A wonderful store you have here- and I say that even though I don’t wear any dirndls…"

Along with matching accessories including handbags and jewellery, Austrian delicacies are also lined up on a display table- wines, chocolates, and the obligatory pumpkin seed oil. "Mrs. Von Minckwitz’s husband is from Steiermark, which is where the idea came from to sell these fine products," Mrs. Reichert-Wibmer explains.

You can thank the store manager herself, however, for the selection of exclusive home fragrances. The same goes for a funny accessory idea: for each Ursula von Minckwitz dirndl there are small and large cushions made of the same material- the wooden benches at beer festivals can be really uncomfortable to sit on!

And the materials really do all the talking- whether as a cushion or dirndl, delft and ikat don’t need any more than the right colour trim to compliment their resplendence. I particularly like the detail on the back: a grosgrain ribbon zipper creates a visual colour block, an unexpected eye-catcher.

"Yeah, that’s our signature. If you ever see such a colourful zipper, you know it’s a true Minckwitz," Reichert-Wibmer laughs. And I’ve now arrived to the conclusion that my closet desperately needs an “artistic investment”- and stat.