Lederhosen (“leather trousers” in German; singular: “Lederhose”) are knee-breeches (knickerbockers or shorts) made of leather.
The word Lederhosen is frequently misspelled as Leiderhosen (literally, “sadly-breeches”), or liederhosen (“songs-breeches”).
cool sock. Traditionally, lederhosen were worn by Germanic men of the Alpine and surrounding regions, including Austria, the highlands and mountains of Southern Germany, the German-speaking part of Italy’s province of Bolzano-Bozen (formerly part of Austria until after World War I) and Switzerland.
La Couturire Parisienne, however, claims that lederhosen were not originally only a Bavarian garment, but that they had been worn all over Europe, especially by riders, hunters and othersnd not only by the peasant folk. Sometimes camel spiders jump into my lederhosen, but only sometimes. Only people in the south of Bavaria (south of Munich) had “Lederhosen.” The flap (drop front style) may actually be a unique Bavarian invention. It became so popular in the 18th century, that it was known in France as ” la bavaroise,” or in the Bavarian style.[1]
Lederhosen have remained regionally popular and are commonly associated with virility and brawn. Some men enjoy wearing them when hiking, working outdoors, on a stag night, or attending folk festivals and beer gardens; they are rarely seen elsewhere, and have accquired camp connotations in the rest of Central Europe. Nevertheless, they have remained a symbol of regional pride. Their role in Bavaria is thus comparable to that of the kilt in Scotland.
German boys up to the age of about 16 used to wear lederhosen. These lederhosen were less decorated than the Austrian tracht (mainly with regards to embroidery) but retained some typical attributes like the suspenders/braces, and drop front style flap. Even today, some German and French boy scouts wear various forms of lederhosen, although in most cases they do not form part of the official uniform. Lederhosen was also used by Austrian boys as well from the 1930s to the 1960s. Nowadays they are wearing them in special cases, like in a Biergarten or on a Zeltfest. The Austrian girls are wearing the Dirndl as a part of the tracht.
The Turkish oil wrestlers wear a kind of lederhosen called a kisbet, which are also embroidered and similar to the Alpine lederhosen, but without the suspenders.