Swiss traditional costume, known as Tracht, is festive dress that belongs to a region rather than to changing fashion.
Origins and revival
These costumes emerged in the eighteenth century as expressions of regional and social identity. Urban fashion displaced them in the nineteenth century, but by its end they had become a patriotic symbol. The first costume festival was held in Zurich in 1896, and the national costume association was founded in 1926. Prints of the period reduced each canton to a costumed couple, and 22 such couples appeared in processions and festivals from the early 1800s.
Wearing Tracht today
Costumes are generally not rented, and people wear the costume of their home or origin. Switzerland prefers the word Tracht to dirndl, and costumes are worn for events such as Swiss National Day and the Zurich Sechseläuten festival. Cantonal differences are wide, from Bern, with 128 groups listed in 2015, to Valais and Ticino.
Sources: Wikipedia: Swiss traditional costumes, Wikipedia: Dirndl.
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