LOL...reminds me of a time that I traveled through Ireland for 6 days before ending up at my friends in Belfast. I had bought an Aran Sweater along the way and put it on to keep the chill off...and was promptly mocked by my Belfast hosts "because nobody *in* Ireland/Northern Ireland actually wears them

The point was taken only mildly until my Belfast mates came to America last February, and while in the malls came across a multitude of St. Patrick's Day shirts/hats/etc. They could not comprehend why there was so much "to do" about and Irish 'holiday' which is barely celebrated there. It took a lot of explaining, and I got why the Aran sweater was important to me but mocked by them:0

More recently I was in the Hannover region of Germany last April, and saw a gent wearing what I thought was 'traditional garb': short brown leather shorts (lederhosen) and the traditional Alpine hat. I mentioned this to my German friend who quickly fired back that the man wasn't GERMAN, he was BAVARIAN..and no self respecting Hannover resident would be caught dead in Bavarian Lederhosen Never mind that Bavaria is *in* Germany...I had insulted my friend by insinuating that this was somehow "German" traditional garb instead of a regional thing

I'm guessing, and this is a poor analogy, that it's like displaying a Confederate flag in Wisconsin...something just doesn't quite work out.

That said...I wear my Aran sweater with pride here in America. When I went to Morocco in the middle of August a few years back, I opted to wear a long skirt and long sleeves (cotton, of course) to be respectful of the fact I was visiting a predominantly Muslim nation. But they were "American" clothes, not bought locally.

Long winded way of saying this, but...feel free to wear what you like! Trachten clothing is beautiful and quite stylish, especially the items on the Staasny website...as a designer I have heavily borrowed on Trachten, Bavarian, and in general 'all European Folk' clothing influences when designing new items.