Most people in Paris ( it is a big place) outside the "posh" spot look rather ordinary. Still, don't remember seeing baseball hats or short pants on locals.

Shifting the discussion sideways a little: we must look like tourists. In Seville recently, as we bought our tickets to visit Pilate's House (surely a place frequented mainly by locals) the vendor went immediately into French, and gave us guide leaflets in French. Not a big problem, as we both have reasonable French.

I put it down to the nice blouson I was wearing.

Later on, I noticed that Herself had got herself a leaflet in English. I asked where she had got it, and she told me she had gone back and asked to attendant to exchange the French one for an English one. Knowing a little about how her mind operates, I asked what language she had used in asking for the exchange: French.

Back to the original pictures. What jumped out at me was how many people looked so obese!

Luckily, my neck disks don't feel like carrying more than a small tote purse with sunglasses, kleenex, rain or sun hat etc. Obviously wallet elsewhere.

I can sympathize however, that some of these tourists may have left in the cool of the morning with their raincoats/sweatshirts and are still out walking/wandering when it's many degrees warmer. Plus the guy has to carry a water bottle, camera, etc for both of them.

I see to always focus on those unlucky men that have to carry their wives purse. You know the wife that is wearing her red, white and blue cruise outfit with the ships wheel buttons.

Don't they know in Europe men carry bags now of their own?

And don't get me started on the men with the shorts, dress socks and sandals.

I wonder how many Parisiens are stewing about how to blend into the New York City streetscape on their Big Apple holiday. More likely, in my experience, they are scheming where to buy a pair of blue jeans and a leather jacket for a third of the cost in Paris, then looking at home on either side of the Atlantic.

What's so terrible about socks with sandals? Everyone loves to hate it, but socks help prevent blisters and blood poisoning, protect your feet from the dirt of the city, and simply increase comfort.

Will, you are talking to a woman here... you know the kind that sacrifices some comfort for fashion. ;)

Just tell me you aren't wearing crocks and socks, ok?

I'm a woman too, and I haven't had any desire to wear Crocs. (But no problem with those who do.)

I dress more for comfort than for the approbation of strangers, and generally prefer to wear socks with sandals.

But no way will I wear Crocs. There are limits. And Herself would not resort to her normal coping strategy of laughing at me: she would disown me. Come to think of it, so would I.

It's not only Rick Steves books carried by tourists. My husband and I did a day trip from Paris to Troyes. One of the walking tours we followed from the Michelin Green Guide took us down a side alley that I'm sure was someones driveway. We weren't the only ones in that vicinity and every person was carrying the Michelin Green Guide. We just stood on the sidelines, laughing as we watched the "books" go by. We also noticed the guides were in several different languages so we played a game of guess what country the tourist is from before they passed us ;;) Deborah

Something which surprised us when we drove around western France a year ago was the number of men (not necessarily young) who wore what I would describe as beachcomber length pants, with usually sandals or sandals and socks. They wore them to dinner also. These were European men definitely. And I'm talking nice boutique hotels.

Yes, they're on vacation. They feel no desire to be chic. ;)
American men are not the only slobs.

My question, based on a trip this month: if the French in France are so totally chic and shocked by the attire of tourists in their city, why were there so many French tourists in NYC and India dressed so poorly? And carrying cameras and maps, no less?

The French are not at all shocked by how the tourists dress. The problem is that some of the tourists are shocked at how the other tourists dress. This is due to the fact that they have brought their dressy clothes to play <i>Barbie's Dream Vacation</i> when they come to Europe and are somewhat pissed that not everybody is playing the game. This is akin to being invited to a costume party and really making an effort and then arriving to discover that you are the only person wearing a costume.

I started two other threads showing how the normal French dress and this upset a number of people who did not want to believe photographic evidence.

This showed how the locals were dressed in April: http://tinyurl.com/df4d3d

And this showed how they were dressed last summer: http://tinyurl.com/d36vxo

Hey bottom line....dress as you want. No one cares, and you have the right to be comfortable.

Barbie's Dream Vacation. Love it.

I used to live in a college town in Missouri where many of the young women start the school year off dressed in their obviously back-to-school fall clothes, sweltering in tweed and knee socks or whatever with the weather in the upper 80's. Having formed a fashion vision of how it was to be, and reality refusing to play ball.

dont care if i look like a tourist...how can i not with my camera and my diary and my raincoat dangling or tied round my waist
i care not
i am so lucky
so grateful that i can travel..that we both have our health ..are fit and good walkers...have a decent budget ( well not when it came to scandinavia but we still spent!)
i will not totter around in heels ...i will not wear light coloured clothes and i will be comfortable
i wear the same stuff at home anyway
after visiting russia where the average joe cant even leave the country cos they cant save the fare..then i am forever humbled that i can take the opportunity and look like a tourist

what i dont like is when people talk loudly and really make it known theyre not locals...like calling across a supermarket or in souvenir shops

in scandinavia most of the men wore jeans and a dress jacket
jeans are everywhere
and they are beautiful people...my lordy lord they are!

<<what i dont like is when people talk loudly and really make it known theyre not locals...like calling across a supermarket or in souvenir shops>>

Sooooooo agreed.

I cannot stand when ppl don't "play by the rules" - it is less about dress and more about an attitude... that can be said for at home too, but I guess that is another thread, huh?

~Jay