Lomoody

I heard that it is not allowed to enter the church/Museum when wearing shorts.
Is that true?
Which sights/churchs we must follow the dresscode?
Thank you very much

ellenem

Churches prefer that you dress modestly with short/skirts no higher than the knee, and upper arms/shoulders covered. Some churches have people at the door who will turn away those who are not dressed modestly. Most churches will have signs showing the preferred behavior, including clothing and photo-taking. If you are going in any church, please respect their wishes.

Museums have no such requirements.

bardo1

I can't believe how often this gets asked! Are there that many out there who have never been in a church or temple before?

bardo1

Or can't imagine for themselves: "what's appropriate in a place of worship?"

november_moon

bardo - Clearly there is a need for this type of information. In many places, no one cares what you wear in church. Besides, I imagine most people would dress differently to attend church rather than stop in as part of a day of sightseeing.

Lomoody

Anyway, thanks for the info.
As in my country, there is no restriction in dresscode. I am afraid we'll miss the sights, just because of the dresscode.

J62

Or you could change your dress for the days you wish to visit these lovely sights.

LoveItaly

Is there some reason that on the days you want to visit churches that you can't wear capris and a short sleeve top (that covers your shoulders), Lomoody. The dress code is not all that strict.

kayd

Who travels to cities with only short shorts and sleeveless shirts, and nothing suitable for slightly cool weather?

It would be a shame to miss some of the most fabulous art and architecture of Europe just because it is too much bother to wear ordinary street clothes, but that is your choice.

colduphere

Bardo - what were you thinking during those four minutes between your posts? Any bad words?

bardo1

I guess it's ok to visit Arlington Natioal Cemetary? After all, you might not be attending a funeral. It's not a question of "rules" but rather of one considers the feelings of others in special places.

bardo1

I meant visit Arlington in a bathing suit.

november_moon

Correct me if I misinterperated what you wrote Lomoody, but I think that what Lomoody was saying is that he or she asked about the dress code so as not to be dressed in appropriately and have to miss visiting churches - a direct response to bardo's complaint about these types of questions. I don't think he or she meant that following the dress code was too much trouble.

bardo - Of course it is ok to visit Arlington National Cemetery, that's why it is open to the public. Were there supposed to be more words in your question?

Underhill

This is probably one of those questions (frequent questions) where if you have to ask, you probably already know the answer.

raincitygirl

Just dress like grown-ups, people!

kayd

My sincere apology to Lomoody. On looking back, I think I misread his/her second post.

J62

In my opinion the advice to "Just dress like grown-ups, people!" is utterly useless.

Sleeveless dresses or shirts are perfectly acceptable "grown-up" clothing just about anywhere in the world, but as stated above bare shoulders are NOT allowed in churches that enforce a dress code. Ditto for mid-thigh length skirts.

Lomoody

I am really sorry that my question is so mis-leadnig. Wanna know why my sentence will lead to misunderstanding, a wording problem? My english is not good

As november_moon and kayd said, I just want to know the situation in Italy, not complaining about the rules.
For safe, I will bring a long trouser too

Thanks again, all of you, providing the useful info.

november_moon

Lommody - Here is how you could have reworded the sentence to maybe avoid some of the confusion.

Instead of: I am afraid we'll miss the sights, just because of the dresscode.

You could have said: I was afraid that we would miss the sights because of the dress code.

I think that putting it in the past tense would show that with the new information, you will be prepared. Overall, I think your English is pretty good though.

In general, I also think it is important for the people on this board to realize that people from different cultures and regions have different ideas about appropriate dress, so it is important to ask these types of questions. Dressing like a grownup means different things depending on where you are from. I grew up in a California beach town - shorts and sleeveless tops are fine just about anywhere. If it's foggy, put on a sweatshirt. Done.

Christina

The fact that this is peculiar to Italy as far as I know shows that it isn't obvious. I don't know anywhere else in Europe where you have a strict dress code to enter a church to look at it as a tourist, not during services (and even during services, I see things in France that are not allowed in Italy for tourists just sight-seeing). They don't even have dress codes like that in Spain.

So it really isn't obvious at all.

Now I have never heard of dress codes for museums anywhere, though. I guess a museum that is essentially a church or something, woudl be that way (I think the Vatican does that from what I've heard, but I haven't been there).