INNSBRUCK, Austria — One of the many charms of the Alpine city of Innsbruck is its citizens' unabashed embrace of tradition--most notable, perhaps, in their dress. Women tend to their errands along busy downtown streets wearing flower-print dirndls, the traditional full-skirted dress with closefitting bodice, while men in leather breeches and jaunty felt hats look as if they had just hiked down from the surrounding mountain villages.

How I long to dress like an Austrian, to wear an apron-fronted dirndl in Tirol. And how I long to see my husband, GJ, in a pair of lederhosen. GJ calls this my Heidi fantasy and though he resists any attempt to clothe him Austrian-style, he patiently endures my many stops at shop windows to gaze at traditional garments, for which the general term is Trachten, meaning costumes.

Any Austrian will tell you that authentic Trachten vary from region to region and even from village to village. I am told that an authentic dirndl, for example, cannot be purchased in a shop despite all the facsimiles for sale. A bona fide dirndl is made at home, a collaboration between mother and daughter in adherence to strictly local designs.

I am, at any rate, far too practical to buy even an inauthentic dirndl, regardless of how utterly captivating I find them. Surely I would feel fraudulent wearing one in Tirol and foolish wearing one at home. But over several visits to the region I have discovered the next best thing: high-quality, locally made dresses, skirts, sweaters and coats that reflect Austrian style and charm but are modern and quite chic in design.

Several of Tirol's finest textile and clothing manufacturers, including the internationally known Geiger and Giesswein companies, have adapted Trachten designs and traditional materials such as loden, boiled wool and linen to create contemporary garments suitable for life beyond Alpine valleys and villages.

During last summer's stay in Tirol, I went hunting once again for fine clothing and was not disappointed. Although the factory outlet concept is not nearly as widespread in Austria as it is in the United States, several of the major manufacturers invite the public to peruse their factory shops, where they offer reduced prices on first-quality goods as well as on last season's items and seconds.

GJ and I visited five factory shops, all within an hour's drive of Innsbruck. (Together they could be visited in a single day's outing.) While their appointments and ambience varied from the basic to the elegant, all provided private dressing rooms and friendly, helpful service.