Everyone knows that you can’t just wear any old shoe with a pair of premium lederhosen. Trainers are a no-no, and even a sturdy pair of leather boots can look odd if the style doesn’t match. The only really sure-fire footwear to accompany your leather breeches is the Haferlschuh, a traditional Bavarian workman’s shoe made of hard-wearing rough leather and with a robust nailed sole.
These hardy, heavy shoes are the basis for today’s Oktoberfest brogues, available either in suede leather in a range of brown tones to match various leather shades, or as polished nappa leather to accompany the traditionally upmarket black leather breeches. Regardless of material, the form is always the same: the short lace-up opening is on the side, the front is rounded, and the sole is thick.
Yet in recent years, this timeless classic has gone through several stages of evolution, turning from a fixed footwear item into a field for fashion experimentation – reflecting the innovations in Bavarian costume. Today, there’s more choice than ever about precisely which kind of traditional Bavarian shoes to wear.
First step: colour The first stage of evolution was simple but revolutionary: colour. Suddenly, traditional Haferschuhe were appearing in shining blue leather with bright white soles, or in combinations like green and red. The outline and structure were utterly standard, but the colours so strong that traditionalists were running for the hills. You’ll still find these models around, and those who went with the colourful lederhosen trend of the mid-2000s are pretty happy about the continuing stream of replacements.
Second step: form This simple but outrageous trick opened the floodgates to new ideas for the Haferlschuh. The next step was to add decoration like embroidery and lighter suedes to match the next big thing in the late 2000s, the worn, distressed look. The substance of the shoe was adapted, too, with soft padding and broader Velcro-clasps introduced for added comfort (and to sighs of relief from guys with thin ankles).
Third stage: comfortIn fact, the third stage was about comfort: while the look and fit of the shoe were left more less unchanged, the thick, inflexible sole of traditional models was swapped out for sportier, trainer-style rubber soles. This innovative brand of shoe has proven ideal for people who have a long walk to the Oktoberfest, or for Bavarians who want to wear their regional costume more often but need it to be more suited to hectic everyday life than slightly clumpy, stiff traditional footwear.
The next stage These innovations have now combined to produce a whole new breed of Oktoberfest shoes for fans of traditional costume who are looking to branch out into new trends. There are leather shoes that pick up classic details like side-lacing or strong stitching, but combine them with modern features such as large, colourful laces in an intriguing way. The form, however, is still formal, still strong, and still Oktoberfest-ready, even if this form of modern brogue suits a pair of jeans as much as it does a pair of lederhosen.
So really, there has never been a better time to be investing in Bavarian footwear than now, whether it’s a standard traditional Haferlschuh or a new hybrid: if the shoe fits…