A German tailor who specializes in bespoke lederhosen is in high demand ahead of Oktoberfest

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Germany’s city of Munich is getting ready to tap the kegs for Oktoberfest

BAD HINDELANG, Germany — As Germany’s city of Munich prepares to tap the kegs for Oktoberfest this weekend, Bavaria state residents and foreign regulars of the world’s most conspicuous beer party are getting ready to drink and celebrate while showing off their traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses.

Bavarians have worn lederhosen — knee-long leather pants with suspenders and embroidery — for hundreds of years. They own everyday lederhosen and special pairs for weddings, harvest festivals and hunting season.

These days, lederhosen-style garments made in China are available online for less than 100 euros ($107). Revelers preferring a more classic look book an appointment with leather tailor Klaus Bensmann for customized, handmade britches fashioned from deer or cow leather.

Bensmann, 64, who wears metal-rimmed glasses and a Santa-Claus-like beard, has made leather pants for almost four decades in his workshop in Bad Hindelang, a small Bavarian village in the foothills of the Alps close to the Austrian border.

“If you want a pair of lederhosen in time for Oktoberfest, you have to come to me at least half a year in advance, in the winter, so I can measure everything, get to work and finish it in time,” the tailor said during an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

Bensmann does things the old-school way. He collects deer skins from hunters in his region and personally takes them to a tanner in eastern Germany's Saxony state, where they are treated with blubber from codfish and herring, milled and dyed in the colors he requests.

Bensmann offers different cuts of Bavarian lederhosen, traditional knee-longs, short ones that end mid-thigh