peeky

I am haunted by the threads here where alot of American women are so afraid of their clothing being mocked by Europeans. Is it that bad - do they really give a touring woman bad service or bad looks for what she wears?

If I see another woman who is dressed badly or not even stylish I just forget it - I would never mock her - that is so bad manners.

Why would Europeans worry about what a tourist is wearing? just asking

WillTravel

peeky, sometimes your threads are irresistible. Anyway, if you have ever been a high-school girl, as I suspect you have at some point, you probably are well aware that women are good at mocking each other for clothing choices, whether they are European or not. I think there's a bit of fear attached with going into a new environment, just as if you were going into a new high school where you had no friends.

I have to say that maybe some high schools are better nowadays. At my daughter's school, clothes or any sort of difference mockery seems to be absolutely minimal.

Anyway, I'm sure there are women in all countries who never outgrow high-school manners, but surely mature women should be able to give such mockers the minimal response they deserve, which is to be absolutely ignored.

AnthonyGA

The reality is that Europeans hardly pay any attention to tourists at all, and so they do not mock their clothing.

It reminds me of a saying I once heard:

When you are twenty, you worry constantly about what other people think of you. When you are forty, you stop caring about what other people think of you. And when you are sixty, you finally realize that nobody was ever thinking of you to begin with.

GSteed

Nonesense! After ten years of residence in Europe and much travel, I have never seen a European pay attention or heard one comment on a visitor's attire. A common observation does concern certain travellers and that is about their physical size. I watched student groups arrive and leave the 'Oswiecim'Museum. Without exception they all wore similar clothing; athletic pants or jeans and a dull colored sweatshirt. Footgear was trainers of many brands. Almost all of them exhibited or used a cell phone. Adults were similarly dressed. There was one group of American HS students. Again they were unidentifiable as from the USA except for the English I heard.

greg

I hesitate to say yes or no.

If your question is in relative terms compare to where you live, say US, I would say it something like in the US.

Mind you, there places where the dress codes are strictly enforced: e.g. major churches in Italy. But there are places like high end country clubs in the US that do the same.

I have seen high end store clerks in Italy whisper to each other after some sloppily dressed tourists had left, thinking no one was watching them. I have seen the same in the US.

Neither materially affected how the one dressed was treated.

If it bothers you to wear sloppy clothes in an environment where everyone else is sharply dressed in the US, it will also bother you in Europe. But this does not translate that the locals are also bothered. Like in the US, locals have more immediate concerns in their mind.

Rillifane

Thank you for your posting which, no doubt places many people who have posted about clothing in a rather delicious dilemma.

They have had so much fun decrying Americans as tasteless slobs who are hopelessly outclassed by Europeans, the be all end all of sophistication and good taste.

But your post crystallizes the plain truth that anyone who actually did care about the tourist wearing some comfortable, if unfashionable, outfit would be, in fact, rather crass and a bore to mock them.

I wonder if they will be able to find a way to blame it all on George Bush.

Tere

Europeans DON'T worry about what Americans wear!!!We have better things to worry about!!
It's an American people problem ( they seem to like it to be a problem, insecurity, maybe??), not ours!!!
Europeans don't post about clothes, what to wear or not. Americans are the ones who worry and post those silly posts wondering and asking what to wear when they come to Europe.
We all know that baseball caps, trainers and snickers are American attires, no need to disguise that when you come to Europe, lol.
Also, eating with a fork only is an American thing so if any of you want to eat like Europeans do please use the knife and fork.

MissPrism

I was sitting in a Venice restaurant when a group of tourists passed who were over-weight and dressed in shorts and skimpy tops.
The waiters just grinned and raised their eyebrows but the tourists wouldn't have noticed. I imagine that a similar group might have caused raised eyebrows in New York or any other city.
If people don't care what they look like, then they are not going to worry.
I have certainly seen an incident in a restaurant where a scruffy couple were told politely that the place was full. When a nicely dressed couple came and asked, a table was found for them.
I tend to make an effort in Italy to look reasonably neatly dressed and well groomed because those pesky Italian women look so gorgeous.

elina

I am so selfish that I only care how I look out.

But I remember three touristy times I have payed attention to other peoples attire (or lack of it):

a) Samaria gorge in Crete: a Frenchwoman´s shoes. She managed to walk the 17 kilometres in silly, strappy, high-heeled sandals.

b) a sauna in a Finnish hotel: three American women in bathing suits when everybody else was naked. Clothing is an absolute no-no in sauna.

c) Karnak temples in Luxor, Egypt: three Russian 20-somethings wearing minimal tops and tiny shorts. Egyptian men were leering and making remarks, which I suspect were quite lewd.

swandav2000

Hi All,

Actually, my friend in Zurich has commented to me a few times when she thought folks were not dressed appropriately in restaurants. She also urges me not to follow that bad example . . .

s

BTilke

Peeky, your relatives with the teddy bear and fluffy kitty sweatshirts might see some raised eyebrows, but no worse than at trendy restaurants in LA.

A few years ago, we attended some weeklong courses in central Austria. My husband and I were the only Americans there--everyone else was Swiss, German or Austrian. When we met up each morning, virtually everyone in the group was wearing jeans, sneakers, khaki shorts, t-shirts or similar casual wear you'd see in any U.S. suburb. Half the guys had on baseball caps. Most of the men and women wore fanny packs (ok, bumbags for you sniggering Brits).

julia_t

Do locals mock tourist's clothes?

Well, if they do SO WHAT? Does it really matter?

You say yourself you would never mock another, and the majority of people in this world are like you. Nice people. Those that aren't - well, you most likely wouldn't bother with them anyway.

If 'locals' ever get to know you they will probably like you and then what you wear won't matter. If anyone looks at you askance, chances are you'll never see them again anyway.

Life's too short and we don't get enough chances to actually BE tourists to worry about trivial stuff like are the locals sniggering about me behind my back.

Now as for the tourists (known to us locals as 'grockles') who attempt to drive around the narrow lanes where I live....

PrincessOfPenguins

Of course we do, if we see something worth making fun of. If you are really concerned about how you look, learn how to dress for your size, for the season, and to some extent your age. You can dress for comfort without looking like a complete twat. Personal style is all relative though. I'm less likely to react to a gang of foreign goths who are here for a convention than some dumpy-looking middle-aged woman (tourist or not) who still thinks she's a teenager and dresses as such...

Gary_Mc

The most important thing to wear is a smile, it seems to bridge lesser issues.

We just returned from Germany where jeans and trainers seemed quite common on locals, especially the young. We bumped into a 60'ish German couple on a Sunday walk and exchanged a few pleasantries. I notice that I was the only one of the group not wearing jeans and sneakers; I was mortified.

Regards, Gary

ahotpoet

Mock? No. Sometimes it's more amazement. What were they thinking??? This is not reserved for tourists.

Carta_Pisana

do I giggle when I see Europeans men in shorts, wearing sandals with socks here in NYC - a little. But I'm much more harsh with my fellow neighbors - I see them more often - but I would never mock someone, I'm no longer in high school. I've seen people of modest means look very well presented compared to the gauche garish taste of some NYers. Just because you have money (or credits cards) means you have taste/sophistication - taste/style/sophistication cannot be bought.

Now where's my sequined sundial thong, beach season is almost here....

Carta_Pisana

sorry meant to say -"... just because you have money/credit cards doesn't mean you have taste/style/sophistication..." Style cannot be bought.

Neopolitan

I live in the touristy town of Naples, Florida. I can't tell you often I've been sitting out in the courtyard at Starbucks when a group goes by, all the men with beer guts wearing rather short shorts, dark socks, and sandals, and all the rather obese women with their fanny packs. Invariably someone will say, "looks like another German tour bus just unloaded" -- and yes of course, they are right.

But I think the real question here is extremes, more noticeable when there is a big group like that. Two people walking down a street in Paris wearing Nikes and khaki pants? How ludicrous to think somebody is going to point at them and laugh. A group of 20 in such a uniform? Maybe.

Intrepid1

"Americans are the ones who worry and post those silly posts wondering and asking what to wear when they come to Europe."

OK...throw down the gauntlet: Make that American Fodorite FEMALES who do most of the "what to wear" posting.

And, Patrick..as to lounging around Starbucks watching the passing show..well, that speaks volumes in and of itself.

Nikki

I've said it before and I guess I'm saying it again. Most people who ask what to wear to Europe would ask a friend what they're wearing to a party or other event at home as well. Not worried about being mocked by Europeans or by anyone else, just a lifelong habit of finding out what the environment is going to be before stepping into it.