Honest Question about dress codes!
 

An honest question and in no way intended to stir up the usual US v Euro bickering we get so often.

I've been kicking around the US and Europe boards for a while and noticed frequent post on the Europe board regarding what its acceptable to wear in such and such a place and how not to stand out as a tourist. I've seldom see similar queries on the US board from European posters.

Do Europeans not care about this issue when travelling and do the US posters find the responses to these questions useful?

Europeans are very happy to look like tourists when they visit other countries, and the farther away from home they are, the sloppier they dress.

Also, in many of their tourist destinations, there is no risk at all of NOT looking like a tourist. People of European stock kind of stand out in Africa, Asia, the Carribean, or the new resorts of the Middle East, so there's no point in wearing camouflage.

In terms of North America, unless they are visiting office buildings in Manhattan or Beverly Hills, even sloppy European tourists will be better dressed than a significant percentage of the locals anyway.

Really, I couldn't care less about dress codes, if such a thing has ever existed except in a few places I won't be visiting anyway. So no, I won't be asking about that if I were to visit the States.

My only concern is practicality, so I am more interested in climate or weather than in dress codes; I don't even think in terms of dress codes.

German tourists certainly don't care. Otherwise, here in Florida, you wouldn't see so many sandals with socks. Yikes!

Behavior may be the key to acceptance in a foreign society. That said, Some tourists are not concerned what or if the locals identify them as strangers. Has anyone ever asked about the 'dress code' at a Disney Park?

I just dress the same wherever I go and know that shorts are for the beach, that you dress fairly smartly to visit a posh restaurant etc. etc.
I strongly suspect that most Americans are just the same.
In my town, we see many tourists and the vast majority dress perfectly normally. I was walking behind a group the other day who looked just like everybody else in the street, but one old boy had a baseball hat where the elastic bit at the back had ridden up and hadn't stretched. Immediately, I thought "American" and when I heard him speak, I knew that I was right.
I wasn't tempted to mug him or serve him with an Asbo though, forbidding the wearing of a baseball hat in a public place by a man over 60.

LOL MIss Prism, my thoughts exactly. When I'm away I just dress for the appropriate activity as I would at home, making allowances for the weather of course.

Do people go out and buy new wardrobes on the strength of advice given here?

Why should I care about what maybe some people on the other side of the world think of me? I will never see them again, and they will probably never see me again.
And what is wrong with being a tourist? It's exactly what you are when you are abroad on vacation.

When I first stumbled across Fodor's Forums I seriously thought for a while that all these "dress threads" were just some tongue-in-cheek jokes because I was not able to understand that grown-up people can fuss for ages over that kind of questions.
(Questions re. proper attire at special occasion, e.g. houses of worship etc. are exempt)

Do people go out and buy new wardrobes on the strength of advice given here?

Ah, you've rung one of my bells!
Completely off-topic, of course, but I always wonder about those people who try to tell us how to live.
If Fiona Ranger-Sloane or Jeremy Chinlesse-Wonder write in a magazine that wallpaper or hollyhocks are out, do people rush to scrape off their wallpaper or dash into the garden to uproot the hollyhocks?

I'm not that fussed about whether I look like a tourist, though I will make sure I'm aware of what is considered appropriate dress (particularly for women) in some countries or regions, as I have no desire a) to offend or b) to be harrassed as a result of what I am wearing.

I certainly never give a thought to blending in when I go to the States - I wear what I wear at home.

Why should I care about what maybe some people on the other side of the world think of me? I will never see them again, and they will probably never see me again.

Have you read Cranford by Mrs. Gaskell?
In it she says that the ladies of Cranford don't worry much about being fashionable because when they are at home everybody knows them and it doesn't matter, and when they are away, nobody knows them, so it doesn't matter there either.

<i>even sloppy European tourists will be better dressed than a significant percentage of the locals anyway.</i>

yeah right.....

you haven't been to Florida, have you?

European beach attire is a reality TV show waiting to happen
Overweight women in thong bikinis
Men in speedos with black socks and sandals

European casual wear
Men in tight hot pants with the same black socks and sandals
Women for the most part dress better and blend in.


That said, we love the Europeans. It's good for business and for all the young people employed at the local restaurants, bars and hotels. I just wish that the Europeans followed the motto of &quot;when in Rome...&quot;
and realize that we have a different system here. It's customary to tip your server at least 10% and if the service is excellent as much as 20-25%.

AAFrequentFlyer, we will agree to tip in accordance with American customs when we visit America if you lot agree to tip in accordance with local customs (variable, according to where you visit) when in Europe.

Re. Beach attire:
Yes, it is also not always a nice sight at European beaches. But again: People do not care.

Re. tipping:
I understand it can be a PIA for people working in restaurants.
BUT: What keeps the restaurants in areas that get much tourism from Europe, e.g. FL, to put a &quot;tipping guideline&quot; in writing in their menus or somewhere else? I mean, if a country can put a man on the moon, it cannot be an unachievable task to find a way to solve THAT problem...

I remember reading an article somewhere about this, and the writer made a point of trying to &quot;dress local&quot;. It just seems silly to me. In a place like Asia, I'm not going to be confused for a local anyway, so it just seems like playing dress-up to bother trying.

In Europe, I don't find the locals to dress differently enough to even worry about. Indeed, as best I can tell, the US and most of Europe have largely settled into a pretty generic style, dominated by a few major brands. Some of the names may differ, but there really isn't that much to tell Zara apart from Banana Republic. Or H&amp;M from Old Navy.

I don't want to make this into a debate about whether one system is better than other.

In the US, tipping is expected.

I believe that as a tourist one should know few thinks about the destination. I can almost excuse the first timers, but a repeat visitor should know better.

Yet, I have heard from many youngsters working on our little paradise island that the same visitors that are here once or twice a year and in some cases own condos and they visit multiple times a year still don't tip.

<b>Padraig</b>

agree....:-)

&quot;there really isn't that much to tell Zara apart from Banana Republic&quot;

You've clearly not shopped in either lately. The day Banana opened in London a couple of months back, you could hear the snores of the rag trade - who hadn't seen such boring clothes since C&amp;A hit the dust - from the other end of Oxford St.

btw, my dear Irish friends that own a condo and all their friends that stay there are some of the best tippers. The village restaurant/bar employees love them. :-)

AAFrequentFlyer wrote: &quot;my dear Irish friends that own a condo and all their friends that stay there are some of the best tippers.&quot;

That might be in part because tipping restaurant staff is more usual in Ireland than in continental Europe.