Traditional garments are now given as confirmation gifts, while hoteliers like to deck their children out in re‑ gional costume. Generally speaking, a lot of the purchases are made by people in rural areas. Monika Bögli also has young female clients, who have often inherited their grandmoth‑ er’s dress and want her to adjust the size for them. Or customers who want to mark a significant birthday with something beautiful. Bögli used to wear traditional dress herself as a little girl. She would go folk dancing and later joined a group of folk costume enthusiasts – like her mother and grandmother be‑ fore her. For her, wearing traditional dress shows that she belongs – to her family and to her region. “These clothes are part of my culture,” she says. “They express regional identity.” Indeed, not only does every Swiss can‑ ton have its own specific traditional costume, there are dozens of local var‑ iations that vary in colour, tailoring and ornamental detail. No fewer than 700 different costumes have been iden‑ tified around Switzerland. An expression of a diverse culture Some dresses are similar, says Sissi Sturzenegger, who chairs the STV’s folk costume committee. But those with a discerning eye recognise the differences. For example, a wheel‑ shaped bonnet called a “Radhaube” is worn in the cantons bordering Lake Constance – but also on the other side of the Swiss border. To mark its own anniversary, the STV wants to showcase the rich diversity of Swiss traditional dress to a wider public – at events like the Schweizer‑ isches Trachtenchorfest (Swiss folk costume choir festival) on 5 and 6 June in Sursee (canton of Lucerne), but also in the form of a lavishly illus‑ trated book showing styles from all the cantons. They say that folk cos‑ tume is a “certificate of origin that you wear over your body”. This also rings true far beyond Switzerland’s borders: during her training, Bögli was involved in making dresses for two Swiss Abroad who live in Canada. Bögli only produces costumes from the Bernese Mittelland, the Em‑ mental Valley and Oberaargau – she would never consider garments from any other regions or cantons. All her fellow tailors follow this same prin‑ ciple. Little room for artistic interpre‑ tation is allowed anyway: every cos‑ tume has its own template detailing the respective cut and accessories. You can only choose the colour and maybe also the patterns yourself, says Bögli, pointing to a whole stack of folders containing patterned fab‑ rics and costume descriptions. “It was a real hotchpotch before the 1930s. Then things improved.” One day a week Bögli trained for three years as a gar‑ ment designer and did a further two years of specialist training. There are still plenty of people who want to fol‑ low this same path, she says, but ap‑ prenticeship opportunities are be‑ coming rare. It is now possible to do modular training in the canton of Berne, with specific courses on mak‑ ing bodices and blouses, for example. “But families are key to passing on the tradition.” For a start, Bögli’s own children enjoy wearing traditional costumes. Her three daughters, aged 26, 28 and 30, were only three years old when they first appeared in folk dress at family celebrations and other important events. And they still wear folk dress on such occa‑ sions to this day. Bögli still has other things to do today – and disappears briefly into an adjacent room to change. She nor‑ mally spends one day a week in her workshop, and the rest of the time taking care of the livestock and the shop at the family farm in Neuenegg. Bögli returns in her decidedly 21st-century jeans and blouse, her Bernese folk dress now safely under wraps until next time. “These clothes are part of my culture. They express regional identity.” Monika Bögli “Das Schweizer Trachtenbuch” contains more pictures like the ones on page 13. It will be published on 15 June 2026 to mark the 100th anniversary of Switzerland’s traditional costume association. Further information about the book: www.trachtenbuch.ch Monika Bögli stitching a threelayered bodice by hand – a job that takes many hours. Photo: Denise Lachat Swiss Review / April 2026 / No. 2 14 Society
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