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Almost every place has its own traditional costume.

 

In the Black Forest, costumes have a great tradition, which is still actively cultivated today. It is noticeable that the wealth of variations from place to place is quite high. In total, there are said to be 120 different traditional costumes in the Black Forest.

 

Traditional costumes probably originated in the sixteenth century, as a result of various dress codes that were related to the respective social classes. The affiliation to religious denominations played an essential role, as well as the marital status. However, traditional costume areas are largely based on the dominions, as they were in pre-Napoleonic times. Nevertheless, the Black Forest traditional costumes are also part of the ecclesiastical tradition.

 

In the Black Forest, the colors black, white and red as well as purple dominate the traditional costumes. The men usually wear a wide, white shirt, over it a black vest with red lining, and with it black pants and a hat of the same color. The stockings are either white or red, and the shoes are black.

 

The women wear basically the same set, instead of trousers a long skirt in black, which is heavily pleated and therefore quite weighty. The white blouse has half-length puffed sleeves. Over it comes a velvet bodice embroidered with small floral motifs, especially tinsel on the collar. This is then accompanied by purple ribbons and white stockings and black shoes.

 

In 1894, a first traditional costume association was founded in Hausach. Many other towns and communities followed this example. If you want to get an overview of all the traditional costumes known in the Black Forest, you should take a look at the Black Forest Costume Museum in Haslach, which was founded in 1980. More than a hundred life-size figures display a wide variety of traditional costumes.

 

You can also buy original costumes from the Black Forest in some stores in the region. However, the pieces are not exactly cheap, because their production is expensive.