Inspiration, Trends & Recipes

Nail art has been a fashion trend for a while now, but I'm seeing more and more awesome Bavarian/Oktoberfest themed nail art! These ladies are not just painting their nails black red and gold, they're going for dirndls, lederhosen, pretzels, and beer steins just to name a few! At German Fest in Milwaukee a few weeks back, some fabulous ladies came to visit our pop-up boutique and I noticed their fabulous nails!  

O... M... G... How adorable is this Betsey Johnson pretzel purse. The cross body strap makes it perfect for your dirndl and the little mustard zipper pull is just too funny. Too bad it's not Düsseldorf mustard.  

I decided to wear a dirndl everyday for 2 weeks to see how it made me feel and to see how other people reacted to my clothing. It was a fun experience and I learned a lot.  

Yesterday was the final day of my 14-Day Dirndl Challenge and I went with my favorite... The Raven Dirndl. I wore it with a black blouselette (all my other blouses were in the wash) and a cropped sweater. It was a pretty uneventful day... yoga in the morning, cleaning, laundry and cooking in the afternoon, relaxing and working on wrap bracelets in the evening and that was about it!  

For day 11, I thought I would throw it back with my American Aid Society Jugendgruppe dirndl. I was impressed that it still fit and also impressed by how great I felt in it. It is a polyester embroidered dirndl from Ernst Licht with a white apron, white blouse and white socks. Throughout my years with the youth group I added pins from our trips, labor day weekends and gifts from other clubs and friends. 

May 4th is Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you) and so I went all out! I have a lot of Star Wars gear so it was kind hard to choose, but I decided on the In Bloom Dirndl with my Star Wars Apron, Black Mini Dirndl Petticoat, old green V-Neck Blouse, Industrial Edelweiss Necklace, my blue fleece leggings, R2D2 socks and my Chewbaca Jacket.  

I thought I would mix it up a little bit for Day 9 of my 14-day Dirndl Challenge. My aunt gave me a skirt that she got in India and I thought it would be fun to wear that with a dirndl vest and blouse! I wore the Sweetheart Blouse with lace and the Sweet Distraction Vest (from 2011) with the Indian Skirt.

Monday is the day of the week when I work on marketing, which means a decent amount of sitting on the computer. I chose the Guten Morgen dirndl with the Sparkle Organza Blouse for day 9 because it was finally bright and sunny outside... however it was not comfortable because I was still so stuffed from all the food I ate at the birthday party the day before. It was simply too tight, and I was getting cranky.  

Yesterday was my cousin's son, Erik's 10th birthday, so we all went over to his house to celebrate. We had roast lamb, fresh home-grown hydroponic lettuce and pasta. For day 7, I went with the Day Break Dirndl, Sweetheart Blouse with Draped Sleeves in black, black tights and a sweater. I chose this dirndl because I thought it was springy but also could pass as a party dress. With a black blouse I don't think it looks super dirndl-y.