From today's Daily Telegraph (one of the UK's finest newspapers for those not familiar), I'll throw this into the ring:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/as...-more-out.html

Some interesting comments at the end.

I don't understand why some visitors to another country are ashamed of how they look. It is not shameful to be a tourist. How you dress is another matter but that goes for when you are at home or touring. It still baffles me.

Not shameful (except for some sorts of tourists who ought to be ashamed of themselves but never are), but it can have its downsides.

But I think people dress in the same taste as they do at home, how could you go from looking chic at home to looking like a dufus on a pleasure trip?

Except I will admit on my first trip to Europe I did bring some safari looking outfits. But it was in the late 70's and it was in style, I think.

>>how could you go from looking chic at home to looking like a dufus on a pleasure trip?<<

I think the problem is in the opposite direction: A doofus at home is not going to look chic when traveling...

I quit worrying about "standing out" or "not standing out" as a tourist long ago because I knew early on I had no prayer of being something I cannot be.

Perhaps a few of us can avoid being obviously American, but for most of us reveal our nationality as soon as we open our mouths.

A married couple with whom we are friends are American(husband) and French (wife). Their son has had French spoken to him since he was born.

In a few years he may be able to get by in France as being French, but even then, his clothes, shoes, hair style, and body language could still give him away because he lives 11 months out of the year in the USA.

In Vienna, I had booked tickets to the opera and was to pick them up the evening of the performance. A young man was in the lobby with a folder of tickets for the will call patrons. As I walked toward him, he reached in his folder, pulled out my tickets, handed them to me with a smile and said, "Enjoy the performance, Mr. Brown." I had not even asked him for my tickets. He simply took one look at me and knew.
Brown is obviously not an Austrian name, I was the only non Austrian in his folder, so Sherlock would say, "Elementary, my dear Watson."

One of the funniest experiences I had occured when I was in Germany doing research at the Institute for World Trade in Kiel.

Another student named Jens was a great mimic who could sound like an Oxford type. One day we had him passed off to a group of visiting Britishers as an Oxford Shakespearian scholar. The Shakespeare knowledge was real; the Oxford accent was good enough for a while. Then while we were eating dinner at the dorm, Jens said "There are no potatoes more."

We might have gotten by with a quick cover up had not one of the plotters, a guy named Rex from IU, blurted out "Oh xxxx."

If any of you out there lived in Kiel at the Christian Albrechts Haus in 1956, went to IU, roomed with a guy named Jens, dated a Finnish girl, and traveled to Italy with Drannan let me know. I know you!!

I am sure I will be marked as a tourist this summer while in Europe. I know I was 30 years ago when I went. I am very american looking if that is such a thing. I don't pass for the European look and I also don't speak any languages other than English. I can bumble through some Spanish I learned in High school. I know the pleasantries in French and German. So, I will be a tourist. Not ashamed. I just want to avoid being a victim of crime. I am most apprehensive about Paris. My travels through Munich and then Austria will be with German speakers and Austrian family. But in Paris we are all non French speakers. I guess I worry about finding my way around.

I am also shocked that shorts seem to be such a taboo. Doesn't it get hot in European cities???

There was a time -- in my lifetime, for sure -- when NA fashion and European fashion were markedly different:

1. Styles seemed to originate in Europe and get to NA about 2 years later, if at all

2. Italy (to choose but one example) always favoured expensive materials and impractical clothing whereas N Americans (this was the 70s) generally looked like they were headed on a wilderness survival course

3. British fashion was the most extreme on the planet; it was cheap but it was wild

4. French clothing was very "classic" ie extremely conservative, though chic. I've never seen so much navy blue in my life as in France. NA visitors wore colours no French person would wear.

Fast forward to 2008. Fashion is much more homogeneous. Which is both a good and a disppointing development.

For example: Italians dress down a LOT more than before.

The only difference I detect between European and NA style is that NA men wear "young" styles that no European man would wear.

Now, you notice I used the word "fashion", above -- and said it was largely invariable across the continents.

Yet many NA tourists do look very much unlike their European hosts.

What they're wearing is not fashion. It's clothes. Sort of.

Look, I wouldn't wear running shoes to a smart restaurant at home. Why would I wear them abroad? Yadda, yadda -- you've all read the debate countless times on these pages.

In Rome and Paris last month, I wore casual NA clothing almost constantly. Black NA boot-cut jeans. Lululemon sports gear. A simple Banana Republic cardigan (bought in Vancouver, Canada, yay!).

I actually packed Prada and Armani and did not wear it -- it seemed a bit too "striving" or "anxious" looking.

I don't know if anyone took me for a local (well, actually several did) but I kinda felt I looked roughly like everyone else on the streets. That is: My NA clothing looked just like their European clothing.

FYI: What I did NOT wear, however, was: a BASEBALL CAP, running shoes, a fanny pack ...and anything associated with wilderness trekking.

it's not what we wear - it's how we act
i dont care what tourists wear in the least unless theyre smelly
but i if they start taking over the joint just cos theyre high on happy snaps ( not the drink) then its cringe time

i will wear my sportshoes cos i want to walk as much as possible and i dont want sore feet but i will try to be respectful of rules and customs and keep my voice down when on public transport
nobody needs to know im a tourist - im not ashamed of being one but im not going to wear it as a badge of something to be proud of either

girlonthego- I think the southern cities get hot in the summer, but then, they're probably used to it.

Besides, most guys look silly in shorts. And I've heard that for women, skirts could be cooler than shorts.

Of course, I'm sure those issues could be avoided by not traveling in the summer.

I'm gonna have to try the skirt thing this summer, if I find any that I like and that fits.

Girlonthego,, I am going to Italy this summer , Rome, Venice and Florence. I am taking my 12 yr old daughter. I have not been there in 23 years.
I have enrolled in a night class( once a week x8 for 3 hours) to learn some travellers Italian,, as I speak none. I do speak some French ( we will also spend time in Paris) and I do think it is important to not just "give up" on making an effort to learn a bit of a language, contrary to what some people will tell you EVERYONE does not speak english... The course was offered at my community college, perhaps you will see a similar course offered near you?

As for shorts , they are not taboo, they are beach and country wear, not really city wear ,, and sorry, they are no cooler then wearing a loose skirt. My 12 yr old is bringing some as she is a kid, but only one pair as in Italy she will have her knees covered to go in churches etc.

Most teens in Paris wear jeans all the time , even in the heat, although when I was there in 2005 it was roasting hot ( over 95 day in and out) and I saw the young girls wearing lots of skirts. I really never saw shorts.

PS Shorts are a bit gross to sit on the metro with since the seats are a bit grimy to me,, and I don't like any of my skin touching where someone else was just sitting all sweaty,, yuckers.

I agree with landjohann. It's acts not dress that distinguish. While clothes can be changed, mannerisms are not easy. As a North American, I try to speak less loudly, laugh more quietly, listen more closely, and be more patient when in Europe. [That may be because my language skills are being put to the test]. I am not trying to conceal who I am [that's impossible] but simply trying to show respect for the norms of the country I am visiting.

Incidentally, I think this is a good practice when visiting different parts of the US as well. As a Redneck Southener, I tend to hold back my on "Howdy"s when in the Northeast.

I don't bother wasting my time trying to blend in. If somebody cares that I wear jeans, that is their problem, not mine. Not suggesting being rude or anything, but I'm not going to fool anyone into thinking I am French or Spanish or whatever, so why bother to try?

I never try consciously to blend in. Even if you are dressed like the locals, your body language will often give you away. Locals usually don't stare at their known surroundings - they move from A to B or look at people.

However I agree with the telegraph article that effects like a plastic bag or even better, a local newspaper, can do the trick.

In June 2004 we were on a vaporetto from Venice to Murano. We were lucky to get seats on the small quarterdeck, where there was a bit of air. I looked through the free paper "Leggo" in search of a weather forecast. It must have been the paper that tricked the old man next to me into a sudden torrent of Italian. I excused myself and explained that he had to speak slowly - lentamente - because my Italian was (still is) pretty bad. He smiled and then asked - lentamente - why the two stupid tourists had taken positions in the doorway where they blocked the breeze?

The tourists probably suffered as much from the heat as he did, but I didn't say that; instead I offered him my paper to use as a fan, and while he fanned himself we had a lentamente-talk about the weather, which was hot, but fortunately not as hot as in June the year before.

This hardy perennial is usually the case of American tourists not wishing to stand out while in Europe.

However, I find it interesting that this is a British newspaper advising its readers (the vast majority of whom are presumably Britons) how to blend in while on the continent!

I deal a lot with tourists, American as well as European.

Body language reveals much about where a person comes from. Americans, of course, wear shoes that look different (European guides we have used tell us that single factor reveals which are Americans). Also American men put their hands in their pockets when talking and put their weight on one hip.

Europeans, for the most part, walk more slowly, tend to shuffle, and almost never talk while putting their hands in their back pockets. Orientals, when talking among themselves, move closer to each other than do those from the West.

You may dispute these factors -- but take a little time and observe closely. Different people have different "body language."

"They're all gonna laugh at you" - Carrie's mother

It's funny how some people still suffer from the trauma of high school. "I don't want to stand out.. I want to blend in...look at what that person is wearing, ha ha ha..." I cringe at pac mentality - be it fashion, taste, poltical thought, etc. Go your own way - but try do it with a little bit of style.

And please, let's not start discussing dirty pillows.

>>>I find it interesting that this is a British newspaper advising its readers (the vast majority of whom are presumably Britons) how to blend in while on the continent!<<<

It doesn't surprise me in the least. IMO Americans and the English are very much alike. Different in many ways too of course, but to me the similarities are striking. But I suppose that's another topic altogether.

I've also come to realize this whole "what to wear to blend in" thing isn't really about Americans in Europe. It's more about people who live in rural or suburban areas, or small towns, being bit anxious about what to wear in a big urban environment- the "how to fit in" questions are always about Paris, London, Rome, etc. It is true that city people tend to stick in rural areas or the suburbs, and vice versa.

I do agree that being polite and having good manners are far more important than the colour one's shoes. Sometimes good manners extend to one's clothing, though, especially when it comes to covering up versus showing skin. The current thread about wearing tank tops and shorts in Italian churches is a good example.

I'd go even further and say no tank tops or shorts in the city period. But that issue isn't so much about not looking like a tourist, as it is about dressing appropriately, and dressing appropriately falls under the category of good manners because it's about considering the comfort and feelings of the people around you- wearing white trainers downtown is simply a style or "fitting in" issue, whereas say, wearing flipflops downtown is an appropriateness/politness issue. I think the two tend to get mixed up a lot.

For me it's a comfort thing - both physical and emotional comfort. I was in Italy almost four years ago, with my boyfriend and a male mutual friend. Being a middle-aged woman, I preferred to wear lightweight cotton skirts and cotton knit tops with sandals and the occasional scarf to accessorize - not trying to "fit in", just didn't feel it made me look very adult or very respectful to be trotting around in shorts in large cities.

We're going to the south of France this October, and while I may wear shorts on the grounds of the villa we're renting, I will be donning a skirt or lightweight slacks to go to town, or on excursions and day trips.

I've also stopped wearing shorts here, where I live, in the summer except if I/we are going for a walk in the river valley or I'm participating in our annual Dragon Boat festival. It just doesn't make me feel right. Plus, a lightweight knee-length skirt is cooler.