jonmck

My wife and I (both in our mid 20s) will be going to London and Paris in mid-June.

What is appropriate to wear for both comfort and style. I know that we are not supposed to wear jeans, khakis, sneakers for example. So what should we wear?

Thanks!

yk

< I know that we are not supposed to wear jeans, khakis, sneakers for example. >

Who told you that?

I've been to London over a dozen times and have worn jeans every single time. I wear stylish sneakers by Cole Haan.

My DH wears jeans and Cole Haans also.

When I'm in London, I'd say at least 1/2 of the people on the tube wore jeans and sneakers.

You can wear whatever you want, but make sure you wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking A LOT.

yk

I do pack a pair of black slacks and black Cole Haans when I go to the Opera or eat at nice restaurants.

BTW, DH & I are about a decade older than you.

lauraallais

If you are in your 20s, you will definitely want to wear jeans. They will be fine for all of your activities except for some high end restaurants.

Sneakers are fine too. You might want to get a stylish pair (Diesel, Puma, etc.) if you will be self conscious in your nikes. My husband wears a pair of black leather Timberlands.

Europeans in their 20s wear jeans, even (esp.) out to dinner at night.

bozama

At your age if you don't wear jeans you will likely stand out! LOL
In Paris younger folks all wear jeans, albeit with nice tops( not tshirts with slogans on them ever) LOL or with a nice jacket. Women wear jeans , nice top and nice shoes out to dinner .
Men do tend to wear more shoes then runners, but they do wear runners there too, usaully stylish ones though , not big basketball types.
Most important is comfort, no one here is exagerating on that, trust us, you must take comfy footwear no matter what, every thing else is unimportant.
If you are going out for a nice dinner take a collared shirt maybe, and shoes, but unless doing Michelin starred dining don't worry about it too much.
Jeans there are pretty stylish, not carpenter style, or baggy sloppy look, and they never ever had the tacky underwear showing style thing going on,, thank goodness.

Have fun and don't stress too much about clothes.

janisj

you wear what ever you darn well please - but I personally would not take JUST jeans. They are not warm in cold weather, not cool in hot weather, are heavy in your suitcase, and take <b>forever</b> ti dry.

So take some jeans if you normally wear them - but take some non-jeans too.

Also make sure all your shoes are comfortable - I like conservative looking walking shoes better than &quot;Nikes/trainers/basketball&quot; styles. But whatever you prefer - they must be comfortable since you will walk your legs off

adeben

Whatever you wear, very few folks will notice, and even fewer (probably about zero) will care.

hetismij

Wear what you are comfortable in. If that is a pair of jeans, any make will do, then wear them. Sneakers - why not? My sons (mid -late 20's and as European as they come) wear them. Not clumping great white training shoes, but sneakers yes.
As janisj says take something besides jeans as they can be very hot in summer. Capri length loose shorts (on both men and women) are very popular here with your age group.
And adeban is right - no-one will notice and fewer will care what you are wearing. So go with comfort, both physical and mental.

flanneruk

But some of us are at least intrigued about quite where you got this &quot;I know that we are not supposed to wear jeans, khakis, sneakers&quot; nonsense from.

Has someone set up a website with other helpful suggestions? Like &quot;when on the tube, introduce yourself individually to all your fellow passengers&quot;. &quot;London taxi drivers prefer payment in dollars&quot;, perhaps? Or &quot;Londoners love being told how quaint they are&quot;

If so, many of us would love to add our own hints and tips.

Londonres

During the week office workers generally look smart, but they dress down at weekends. People from out of London often stand out, because they have dresed up for their day out. In hot weather, lots of people wear Tevas or similar and long shorts or capris.

&quot;Jeans there are pretty stylish, not carpenter style, or baggy sloppy look, and they never ever had the tacky underwear showing style thing going on&quot; -

This isn't true. You see all sorts of jeans and thongs, and lots of builders' bottoms.

bozama

Sorry totally true in PARIS..
perhaps carpenter type and baggy type jeans work in London, they are not cool in Paris and not in style.

Josser

I quote from a splendid chap called Liam who replied to another question on dress.

...I just don't get the mystery of clothing that seems to paralyse people.

The basic rule:

1. Wear slacks, but if wearing jeans make sure they fit. If the crotch of your jeans is almost at your knees or of the seat of your pants is not up against your bum, they don't fit. Darker jeans are both more fashionable and more flattering here in the US, too.

2. Wear comfortable shoes if you expect to do a lot of walking. Eccos, Puma sneakers, flats. Dress shoes at night. Case closed.

3. A tee shirt is okay as long as it is not torn, stained, or showing signs of age. That &quot;Knoxville Worlds Fair 1982&quot; tee and Islanders hockey jersey are not cool at home. They are even less cool inside Westminster Abbey. Deal with it. Wear a presentable shirt or a sweater and a light jacket.

4. Wash your face. Comb your hair. Put on lipstick if you're a woman.

Grow up about this already!!...

Dukey

You will see every possible variation of denim, jeans, &quot;athletic&quot; shoe in London AND in Paris and about in every other big city in Europe.

PatrickLondon

Here's an idea that might be more fun than us berating the (unknown) authors of the odd advice you're (rightly) checking:

Try looking for webcams of London and Paris and see what you can judge about peoples' clothing from that. Or try internet replay/relay of TV programmes which could show you people's everyday wear:

http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.itv.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/tv/

JohnAtLC

But no one seems to have given a thought about the proper COLORS to wear while in Europe.

If an American wishes to fit in, somehow, then simply bring the darkest, ugliest, dreariest colored garments you have in your closet.

For both male and female, simply bring along a lot of black, dark brown, navy blue, and dark green garments even though the time will be late June and it will be summertime.

If you wear soft pastels, bright primary colors, checks, plaids, and stripes that are quite suitable here in the U.S., you practically guarantee that you will stick out in Europe like a sore thumb.

They simply do not have any sense of color or color style in Europe.

laustic

Jeans are just fine for day touring. But definitely have a nice pair of slacks or a skirt for evening shows. I wore jeans to the opera and felt like a total dolt.

Khaki pants would be fine too. The only thing that might make you really stand out would be shorts.

I like to wear black tops simply because they hide stains (just in case!) and are easy to match. It's not anything I do special for Europe though. It's what I wear at home too.

I wear sneakers, but not the white athletic kind. I don't even wear those at home. Comfort is very important in this area. If you're miserable you won't care what you look like!

scotlass

For women, pumps (with some support) are great during the day as they are cool and always look good with cotton/linen trousers. I'm personally still addicted to cargo pants as I dress them up, not down. In the evening, low heel open sandal. Great pedicure essential before you go. Focus on the top half for looks and bottom half for comfort. Neutral tones with no pattern easiest to mix and match.(sage,camel etc) For a splash of invention and colour, pick a really attractive handbag that goes with everything you wear. Summer hats also look lovely and great for bedhead days.Oh and use those small packets of travel perfume pads that you can rub on your neck when warm, men love it!
For men, if you wear socks as well as sandals, you are an embarrassment (and likely to be british). Clean, crisp, fresh, cotton and casual shirt over plain black/white T shirt over black trousers. Not jeans as they're horribly heavy and weigh a ton. For shirts, I highly recommend Brooks Brothers as they have shirts that never need to be ironed. Just wash and hang and they look fantastic.

GSteed

What do you wear at home, at church, the school board meeting or most important to the bank for a loan? I sold womens's shoes one summer. I often asked the customer about other women and their style choices. Only one of hundreds had an answer. The only one important was 'herself'. And they always thought their feet to big. I bet you can walk down Oxford street barefoot and nobody will notice. Be comfortable!

StCirq

John, I do hope that was a tongue-in-cheek post. I always get my sense of &quot;this year's colors&quot; from my March trip to Paris. I remember being a bit horrified a few years ago when the color scheme was bright orange and lime green. Actually, orange turned out to work quite well for me.

European styles this year are extremely colorful, though gray also seems to figure prominently in the palette.

vestandini

Dress casual but avoid flashy colors that might be considered too &quot;American&quot;. Not that people are that antiamerican there, but you know, there are always a fringe of people who can be prejudiced against American in Europe.