The Tostmann family has sewn dirndls since 1949, first in Seewalchen on Lake Attersee, and for decades also in Vienna, just behind the Freyung. Gexi Tostmann, folklorist and grande dame of traditional dress, freed the dirndl from cliché: her fabrics come from old pattern books, the cuts follow the regions, no glitter, no bow in the wrong place.
The shop on Schottengasse is a house full of fabric, linen, silk, printed cotton, with a workshop at the back. Try something on here and you receive, in passing, an introduction to the cultural history of the garment Austria knows best and understands least.
