I am going to study abroad in Sydney for a few years and was wondering what kind of clothes and accessories to buy. I have never been to Australia before so I don't know what types of clothes people typically wear. Any suggestions or information would be great. I'm looking to buy every day wear for college, jackets, and accessories. Thanks!

Same as London, NY, Paris, Rome, except that it's now our Winter. It's a cosmopolitan city of 4m+ in a country of 20m.

So, if you live in a large city/town, chances are the fashions will be similar in Sydney.

Hi There,

Alot of the young women here wear outfits with flat shoes, footless tights, a long top/dress over the tights with a big wide belt.

Boots are very popular as well. Boots (either high heel, or low riding type boots) with jeans tucked in is also very popular right now as well.

Hope this helps. I have found clothes, especially shoes to be very expensive here. I wish I had brought more from the US when we moved here!

dkw: I buy a most of my shoes and other clothes from the USA - particularly now that we are just about on parity with the US. I love the brands and the US made shoes and it is a change from everything made in China. Travel Smith is having a 70% sale right now and I have got an order in for clothes from there - the freight is not bad either and it makes the purchase a lot cheaper than buying locally.

AT the risk of not being able to get what I want because everyone will rush this online store, here is the website for clothing and goods which are not only designed for the travelling public but which are lovely anyway - this is the 70% off site

http://www.travelsmith.com/jump.jsp?...C2%2C253%2C800

If you want to pack light you will find lots of great ideas on this site and the clothes which are designed for travelling are non iron, lightwight and very smart. I took travel underwear last trip, camisoles, a couple of shirts and a couple of the crinkle cotton pants and each one would dry overnight - fantastic!!!!!

PS - its OK as I have put in my order. Regarding Travel Smith If you cannot use the checkout just send them an email and they will tell you what to do.

That's a great site, Lizzie- thanks for sharing it with us

Thanks, Liz

I've ofen looked at the travelsmith site - but couldn't order!

If you have Skype ( and everyone should have Skype by now ) you can phone them on their 1800 Free number and put in an order just by putting in the country then the free number. Do you all know that now you can pay the equiv. of $47 per year and use Skype to phone any landline in Australia for free? You can also do that for overseas countries but its a bit more. You can actually do away with your phone and get one of theirs and cut your phone bills to nothing!!!!!!!!
A pox on Telstra. Hurrah for Skype.

PS it usually takes about one week to get your order from them too.

Hi goingtoitaly, you will love your time here in Australia, but to answer your question it may help to know where you are coming from, because our weather could be quite different to yours and fashion trends differ. You could wait till you get here before buying too.

Thanks for all of the information! I'm coming from India so fashion here is pretty different.

In terms of coats, what type of coats do people typically wear? Heavy, light, wool etc? and how long do they tend to be? My climate typically stays above 20 deg celsius so I think I'll feel cold in Sydney, especially in the winter.

LizzyF, I can see the advantages of Skype, but it pays to look and your individual needs and do your sums. For example I have an Optus package that costs about $100 per month, for which I get broadband internet (ADSL2), local and long distance calls plus calls to Optus mobiles. When we were making a lot of international calls we used a Chi-Tel phone card - quality was mostly OK and dirt cheap.

I've kept my mobile on Telstra though because I trust their coverage more, and last time I checked the other carriers' packages were more focused on heavy users (i.e. the profligate youth). I pay $20/mth, whih includes $15 worth of calls, and that's usually all I need.

Something Australians need to be aware of is that in many countries a mobile (cellphone) subscriber is charged for received calls as well as calls made.

There are fashion trends in Sydney???

Sheeesh! I've lived here all my life (so far) and never noticed...

haha well I just want to make sure I don't stand out too much...but if I keep in mind that trends are European style, should I be ok?

goingtoitaly

In regards to winter coats, girls tend to wear shorter light coats - either wool or slightly padded. I would suggest you wait to buy them here. For example, I wouldn't buy a coat for Canada in Sydney. It's hard to gauge if the warmth is appropriate with coats made for different climates - especially as you say your temperature rarely goes below 20 degrees. BTW if you are studying/living near the CBD - Sydney Uni, UTS or NSW you will probably be surprised that many winter's days hit 20 degrees during the day but may get colder at night.

My daughter is in her last year of HS (so quite a bit younger than you, but she isn't way out there) and will be starting uni next year (if she doesn't do a gap year in Toronto). She wears jeans, leggings, sweaters, boots(ankle high), flat ballet and very high heels.

In reality, many of her clothes are from multinational retailers and designers because we travel a lot. She likes Gap and Banana Republic, Not available in Australia, as well as Benetton.

Have a look at these websites for ideas:

www.witchery.com.au
www.justjeans.com.au
www.countryroad.com.au

There are lots of cheaper stores that sell the same type of styles.

Goingtoitaly, the other big variable that determines what students wear is the degree they are doing, for example art school students dress very differently to engineers or business students. Jeans are a pretty safe option however.

head out to birkenhead or homebush factory outlets when you get here

get yourself a pair of sheepskin uggh boots and you will fit right in

(hey im not having a go at uggies...theyre a musthave)

Cardinal Red and Papal Creme .

>>>>Cardinal Red and Papal Creme<<<<

Ha ha...very true this week!

How about a very fashionable backpack of yellow, orange and red and clothing made out of the flag of your choice!