kureiff

LOL Jules!

Eloise

My dear JJ5, Please let me thank you for your kind consideration and put your mind at rest: I am very happy with what I am, what I do, and what I wear.

But I do not need to be patronizing in order to demonstrate it.

L84SKY

It's amazing to me that white sneakers are still a topic of discussion. Back in the 1980's, there were few comfortable shoes available to women, white sneakers were about it. Worn with a pair of skinny leg pants, it was a cool look. With all the comfy shoes and clothes on the market today, it's time to get a new look. Now they're as outdated as a bee hive hairdo.

jules4je7

L84SKY -- I hate to break it to you, but beehives are BACK!

Not kidding. I saw one. On a hip young thing.

Jules

Tallulah

I don't really care either way, but when I travel somewhere I like to absorb myself in the 'way of life' rather than hit the museums and tourist traps. So in that way I do try to avoid being a 'tourist'. But at the same time I love seeing tourists in London and try to talk to as many as possible, as I want them to love my city.

It's horses for courses....

So, I guess I'm sitting firmly on the fence!

Scarlett

Tattoos and piercings? you could be in Portland Oregon.
Ira, indubitably (ps-hope your bulb stays on)

Patrick

Sometimes I think if I hear one more person with that "people in Paris don't dress the same as people in ____" line, I'll scream. It is such a completely stupid comment. First of all not all the people in Paris dress alike. Nor do all the people in Podunk dress alike. There is as much variation in dress between people within one city as there is between different cities. Period. Those of you who seem to think that every woman in Paris wears the same type of dress with the same type of scarf and the same shoes is just plain not looking. Maybe you have a style you like, and while in Paris you pick out women dressed that way. But you must be missing the many, many Parisian women who go off to market or wherever in their jeans and tennis shoes, or in their floral print dresses, or in their shorts and halter tops on hot days, or in their khakis and blue denim shirts. They are there -- only the blind don't see them.

crefloors

Amen Patrick, and this topic has been done to death.

walkinaround

>>>>>
zwho: I don't know how to break it to you gently, but people in Paris or Rome do not dress the way you do in Kansas City. And the people in the suburbs of Paris and Rome do not dress the way people in the suburbs of Kansas City do.
If you want to stick out like a sore thumb in your jeans and white tennis shoes, by all means, do so.
>>>>>>

Most tourists in Rome and Paris will be europeans, not americans. These germans, poles, bulgarians, brits, danes, etc also do not dress they way romans or parisians dress. however, you do not see them worrying over how not to look german polish, bulgarian, british, or danish.

After years of observation of this overworked topic, i can only conclude that the vocal minority who must teach americans how to look and act in europe are americans who are deeply ashamed of their country and have an inferiority complex based on the fact that they are american and not european. this is why americans who visit europe and (gasp) actually look and act like an american are so derided.

people who are comfortable in themselves and where they come from do not expend so much time and energy trying to look like something they are not...and deriding others who wish to visit europe and be themselves.

Patrick

The tourists that really stick out in Paris are the ones who are wearing some all black travel outfit that they think looks very chic, despite the fact it is 90 degrees out. They have a colorful scarf wrapped around their neck trying to look like they fit in, but they just can't carry it off. There is a large stylish handbag flung over the shoulder to hide the camera and tour guides and maps, and she is struggling to peek at them so no one can see her with them. And they're the ones sitting in the cafe with their shoes off, rubbing their aching feet because they hurt from the uncomfortable but "stylish" shoes. But the easiest way to spot her is the smug, self-impressed look on her face as she is convinced she doesn't stand out as a tourist. Her greatest goal in travel has been met.

Chele60

Patrick! You have been on a roll today! Thanks for the great laughs this afternoon!


(But, wouldn't she also be speaking some form of French so that tourists would be asking directions of her as well, rather than the waiter who is serving her at the cafe?)

Eloise

Walkinaround:

I recognize the quote, and I would like to rob you of your delusions:

1. I am not American and therefore, happily, have no reason to be ashamed of being American.

2. I was born and educated in part in Europe, and I have traveled to Europe annually for many years. I do not claim to be European, but I do claim to understand Europeans better than someone who has been to Europe once or twice and "rant[s] about 'us' tourists."

3. I wear the same clothes in Europe as I do at home. How, then, am I trying to be anything other than myself?

With that, I withdraw from this discussion and urge all Americans to "be themselves" in Europe -- at the risk of earning the scorn of many Europeans.

Eloise

Patrick: You probably hope that I will find your vivid depiction personally offensive.

You are quite wrong:

Although I have not been to Paris in many years, I speak fluent French.

I am frequently in Italy, and I speak fluent Italian.

rockhopper7

Pinheaded fodorites dancing on the head of a pin.

Give it rest Eloise.

jules4je7

I'm going in a couple of weeks to London and Paris, and I have decided after reading this thread that I am wearing my New Balance running shoes with the reflective stripe (just so those Paris taxi cabs will have something to temporarily blind them as I sprint across the street in complete comfort). I will wear my Levi's with pride and a Denver Broncos shirt wherever I go. And so much for that big black Liz Claiborne bag I got that will hold my maps and guidebooks. Now I'm going to take my orange backpack.

You guys crack me up.

Jules
Wiping that smug look off my face, 'cause now I look like a tourist.

Chele60

"Earning the scorn of many Europeans"? Over wearing white sneakers? Are you for real?

If that really is true (sorry, not the sophisticated world traveler that most are here in that I'll be going to Europe for the first time next month), then I'll wear my white sneakers proudly and let them "scorn" all they want. All the while I'll be spending my money there. And thinking how we Americans really are more accepting about people's wardrobes.

And the funny thing was I was always given the impression that it was the Europeans who were so much more open minded than Americans. Go figure. Getting all hung up over white sneakers. Huh.

walkinaround

No chele, you have it all wrong. i have never seen a european rant about americans looking like americans in europe. generally, it's the american europhiles who are embarrassed by the "ignorant" masses.

europeans from other countries are the favoured targets of derision, americans in white trainers are not given a second thought. given a choice, most europeans would favour an american in tennis whites over a german in armani all-black ...just kidding (well 1/2 kidding anyway).

mariposa85

From a European perspective: we don't really care if Americans wear white sneakers and stonewash blue jeans. If there are dozens around dressed like that, complete with fanny pack, we might snigger and make a comment like 'spot the American tourists' but it really isn't as big a deal as many Americans themselves make it out to be. That's not to say that dressing more in a 'European' style (nice leather shoes, black, scarf etc) doesn't have it's advantages, as people MAY be less likely to assume you're a tourist and act a bit rudely or be dismissive, but on the whole it doesn't make much difference. The second you open your mouth, it will be obvious you're American anyway. I feel like there are people on here who try way too hard to appear local when really, there isn't much point. Wear whatever you feel comfortable in, nobody really cares what you look like. The next time you see people in white sneakers, jeans etc with cameras hanging from their necks, have a listen to them. There is a very good chance they are Dutch, German, Swedish, English.... MOST tourists dress for comfort, not just those from the US!