Dress Code in Italy
 

I am planning a honeymoon in Italy where we will likely spend most of our time in the cities, but will delve out into the countryside for a day or two. I've heard expectations for dressing are different in Italy than in the US, and I was wondering if I could get recommendations from the board on appropriate outfits for both men and women.<BR><BR>Thanks in advance.

The only place where dress may be an issue would be at the Vatican. Otherwise, just dress as you normally would.

You're in luck, they haven't yet introduced fashion police to parole the streets (although given the Italian obsession with clothing you never know). There are no restrictions on clothing except in churches where you need to cover bare shoulders and legs above the knee.<BR><BR>However, you will notice that the Italians dress VERY smartly - young and old adore fairly conservative designer clothing - remember Gucci, Armani, Prada and the rest? All Italian designers, all worn as uniform in Italy, particularly in the cities. The men also love traditional english tailoring - they're big on suits and shiny shoes.<BR><BR>So the answer is - yes you can wear whatever you want, but unless you're dressed head to toe in black Armani, then you'll look like a tourist. Luckily they have a lot of those in Italy, so you won't stick out like a sore thumb.

Check out the photograph in last Sunday's N.Y. Times Magazine article The Anti-anti-american. It was taken in front of the Doges Palace and shows you how not to dress.

Italians dress nicer than americans,usually don't wear shorts unless they are running,<BR>usually no t-shirts etc. But everyone does not wear Armani,most can't afford to.But especially in large cities people dress to go out.Fortunately there are more casual places which we frequent,such as Osterias or bars which frequently have food as well as drinks.

Your responses have been very helpful so far. If I can just summarize,<BR>DO: wear slacks (men)<BR> wear skirts with the hem below the <BR> knee (women)<BR> dress on the upward end of business <BR> causual<BR>DO NOT: wear shorts<BR> wear short skirts (women)<BR> wear tie-died clothing<BR> wear jeans<BR><BR>Questions: How about sneakers or sandals? What would you recommend for travel days? If I can't afford Armani either, is American moderate fashion (Polo, Slates, etc.) acceptable?<BR><BR>

Of course, when they're on vacation, Italians don't dress as they normally do. You will see a lot of Italian tourists wearing such items as shorts and sandals with white or black socks for men. It's one thing to dress up a bit to go out to dinner or to work or do some shopping for a couple of hours in one's day-to-day life. It's another thing to be tromping about sightseeing all day, especially in the late spring and summer.

Wandl02:<BR><BR>If you dress as you state in your post, you'll be just fine.<BR><BR>I'm constantly amazed (I shouldn't be) at the slobby Americans that try to get into churches in shorts, tank tops, and hats. IMO, if people don't like the way things are in Italy, don't go.<BR><BR>You'll also notice that these same Americans that are dressed like they are in Florida on a beach, are the ones that complain about service in the shops and restaurants.<BR><BR>Americans will always &quot;look&quot; like tourists no matter what they wear, but I assure you, dressing the way Wandl02 and others have suggested will reward you.

I think the photos you can link to from this article are pretty self-explanatory (and classic!):<BR><BR>http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...A7907-2001Jun1

Your clothing list is pretty good. My husband and I dressed &quot;down&quot; in the day and &quot;up&quot; in the evening within the business casual look and felt that was appropriate.<BR><BR> I wore shorts sometimes (long cotton walking shorts, not short shorts) and they were fine for some excursions such as the vineyard tour but not churches and other city sites (so many are church-related!). <BR><BR>Possibly the most useful item of clothing I had was a nice just above knee semi-fitted rayon dress. Cool, pretty, could walk anywhere, fitted in anywhere day or evening depending on accessories. My husband wore cotton trousers and short-sleeved cotton/linen shirts and that worked really well.<BR><BR>Take a good sunhat if you are going in the summer (no baseball caps).<BR><BR>Take good + fairly nice looking (second place priority!) walking shoes or sandals - test them before you go. Sneakers look a bit odd with the clothing mentioned above. There is a good thread on shoes on the &quot;other topics&quot; board that evaluates merits of various shoe brands if you need it. <BR><BR>Important note - many churches in Italy will not allow women to enter with bare arms (some even short sleeves are a problem). Take along a light cardigan,jacket or shawl just in case(sometimes they lend shawls at the entrance but dont count on it).<BR><BR>Have a wonderful time!

You can certainly wear jeans virtually everywhere. Assuming the jeans are in good shape, you can wear a nice shirt/blouse and blazer and fit in just fine, even in the evening. I wouldn't dress that way for the Opera or a Michelin rated restaurant but you will be fine. You don't say where in Italy you are planning to locate but many of the previous posters seem to want you to dress rather conservatively. It is okay to be a tourist. Obviouly, if you dress nicer you are likely to be treated with greater respect. No different than here in the States. I wear a suit almost every day, I wear jeans when I'm sightseeing.

As the previous poster says, nice (ie no holes!) jeans look fine and can be dressed up/down.<BR><BR>My main concern with jeans if you are travelling in summer (and you dont mention) is that they may be too hot - I know I couldnt have worn them when we were there (July) or I would have cooked.

It all depends on how you usually dress. If you tend to dress &quot;up&quot; for dinner at a nice restaurant (or even go to one) then do so on your trip. If you dress casually all of the time and can't see yourself dressing in slacks, etc. then do so.<BR>But since you are asking the question in the first place shows that you do care how you present yourself, so I would say try to buy copies of what the designer's are showing this year. <BR>Get as close to Gucci, etc. as you can using the more inexpensive lines and you will do fine.

Some drawbacks to jeans, are that they take a lot of room to pack, they take forever to dry if you have to wash them, and they look American (which you may or may not care about).<BR><BR>Keep in mind that clothes dryers in Italy are not what you'd find in America.

When I travel in the summer , I normally wear summer dresses and casuals skirts, the only time I wear jeans is on the plane..Also I always bring a nice scarf and use it us a sash for my skirt, this way I am always ready to visit a church.. The Duomo in Milan has a very stringent dress code, luckily I was prepared or I could not get in..

It is true that the italians like to 'promenade' on a weekend. They will always have at least one designer outfit, no matter what their income, it is very important for them to look good and to be noticed. Even to do the grocery shopping at a local store they will dress as smartly as we would to go out to dinner. Obviously business suits are the norm. for city workers but on holiday smart casual for sightseeing is the way to go. Some women wear very short skirts so do not think that is an issue.

Glad to see that some of the &quot;experts&quot; here are backing away from their total &quot;thumbs down&quot; on blue jeans. True they are heavy, hot, difficult to dry, but don't believe anybody who says that Italians don't wear blue jeans. We saw them everywhere we went, on both sexes, all age groups, etc. My favorite memory was a group of obviously well-to-do Italian men and women who came into a small tratoria we were in in Siena. Each and everyone of them were wearing Levis button front blue jeans, button down collar pastel shirts with dark blazers. The men wore obviously expensive Italian loafers with no socks, the women in low heels. Never saw a more sylish group in all of Italy. <BR><BR>Another item of clothing we saw on many men in Italy was what, for lack of better description, I would call a fly fishing vest. Saw men wearing these in all of the major cities. Thinking back on it, they appeared to be quite convenient for the things that guys carry around with them. Lots of pockets, etc.

Leave your sneakers in the States. Good walking shoes and sandals are best. Remember you will go lots of walking on old streets.

One importat thing you have not consideder while talking about &quot;clothes to wear or not to wear while in Italy&quot; is that for the most part of their visit tourists tourists stay in the very center of the cities they visit. These area are, in Italy as well as in the Us, also the business areas. Obviously, while walking along the streets of the center of Florence you will see a lot of &quot;dressed up people&quot;: they are business people or people rich enough to shop in the boutiques, who therefore can afford, must or enjoy dressing up. If I, an Italian tourist, would land in Manhattan I would probably see lots of the same kind of dressed up people, and I might derive the somewhat not correct idea that all Americans dress up all the time. In Italy things work not much differently: we dress up for work (often, not all the times) or in special occasions (including for the Sunday stroll), but most people just wear whatever happens to be clean and folded. This means: jeans (often enough not so clean or in too good shape), t-shirts, sneakers, shorts and all the stuff.<BR>I have taken a look to the photos in Leslie's link: the two people looked more like business people at work that as tourists 0_0 ! I would not dress like that not even if I were to worn in some Law firm in the center of Milano! Well, my mom does actually work in a law firm in the center of Milano, and she does not dress like that!!!

I think it is just as easy to pull on nice pants as it is jeans. Most of my nicer pants are lighter material such as cotton or light wool and are not as heavy as jeans. I wear a blazer which is just as easy to wear as a sweatshirt and easier to remove in a warm cafe.<BR><BR>In the winter I do take one pair of jeans for walking in the country and may dress it up for dinner with the blazer and good loafers.<BR><BR>I just feel better about myself when I am dress nicely, I dont like to look slubbish even in my hometown, and I dont give up comfort.<BR><BR>I think you can dress for comfort and still look stylish.