Tackiest outfit seen whilst in Europe?
 

Anyone? Please describe it, and please share why this outfit was such a faux pas.

HAS to be the famous (infamous?) pink jogging suit with white tennis shoes . . . .

An American woman wearing running shorts and a halter top in Cairo. Beyond faux pas, a total disregard for the local culture and religious practices.

Not Europe, but funny anyway. This really skinny guy was walking down Connecticut Ave. in DC wearing leather chaps and no shirt first thing in the morning. I couldn't stiffle my laughter.

Yup, color blocked nylon jogging suit, tee shirt with glitter and sequin design, brand new HUGE white sneakers with trim to match jogging suit, tons of fake jewelry - in a very nice restaurant in Paris at lunchtime. She was loud (her conversation could be heard all over the room) and complained about everything. She left abruptly when some businessmen lit up. Now, I think that's why the Parisians smoke so much - to get rid of the Americans such as her.

Tackiest outfit I ever saw was a pair of elastic-waist brown shorts on a very overweight woman, with black socks and white tennies, a neon-pink terry-cloth-shirt with lime green piping and bleach stains. At a nice French restaurant. Also a very LOUD person, to add insult to injury. Do I have to tell you why this was a faux pas? I never saw anyone in Europe dressed like this, ever.....

Does anyone remember Mike Meyers' skit on Saturday Nite Live where he does CAFEE TAWK with Linda Richman?? Well, I saw Linda's double in Ferragamo in Florence with green fingernails at least 2-inches long. She was wearing purple pants 3 sizes too small with red pumps. She had a rhinstone & denim purse bigger than my car. She was saying to the salesgirl, "Honey, I don't want the price in lira, I want in dollars CAPEESH?"

It has been a while since I have been in places frequented by the tackiest Ameican tourists. So he worst I've seen have been German tourist. Fat bleached blond women wearing sundresses in towns in Greece, big sturdy woen, with chunky legs, wearing shorts in Naples.

A bunch of Rick Steves Americans dressed entirely in black, muttering to their spouses 'You think they know we're American?'

John G that was HYSTERICAL! Oy vey!

You guys are making this up, right? I guess I'll keep traveling off-season!

His and hers matching green and black (large check/plaid) Payne Stewart knickers on middle aged couple in Venice. I've no idea of their nationality, but their shirts/whatever didn't even go with the knee pants. (I have to admit my eyes were totally drawn to those awful pants.) This was in May.

At Versailles, a tour group of Italians (all badly dressed) but one slightly overweight woman was the worst--she had on high, high heels, fishnet stockings, short black, tight skirt, tight red sweater, and a moth-eaten lacy shawl . . . and I can't even describe her hair! She looked so bad I had to take a photo of her, followed her around for 20 minutes until she got to a place with enough light (couldn't use flash). I have her picture in my album, everyone who sees it laughs. <BR> <BR>Next worst are the Japanese tour groups who all have on stupid hats, plaid blouses with striped skirts, black socks with their sandals, and about 5 cameras hanging from around their neck. <BR> <BR>I love people watching!

one of my few regrets from our Italy trip was not taking a picture of this gentleman. <BR>I am assuming he was italian. <BR>We were sitting in P.della Rotonda, at the Pantheaon. <BR>A tall man, came strolling into the piazza. <BR>He was dressed in a white suit,white shirt half unbuttoned so we could all gaze upon his chest ,no socks, white loafers.. <BR>He had long , dark, straight hair to his shoulders , a chiseled, but not really attractive face. <BR>He was followed by a short, plump man wearing black. <BR> <BR>He looked like a caricture off a cover of a bodice-ripper novel. <BR>A Fabio. <BR> <BR>He strode into the center of the piazza, put his hands on his hips, surveyed the crowd, spoke a few words to his follower, <BR> tossed his hair a few times, and walked off. <BR>My freiend and I were in stitches, my poor 10 yr old daughter was sitting there saying " yeuw, ick" <BR> <BR>I have never seen someone so caricuture -like with my own eyes! <BR>He could have been in a Fellini movie <BR>I am really sad I did not catch him on film. <BR>The photo would make a good conversation piece!

This wasn't exactly tacky, but it was startling. On my very first trip to Paris I was walking through the Place du Tertre in Montmartre when I saw a tall, slim woman with a lavender skirt, matching lavender sweater, lavender hose, lavender heels, lavender purse, and lavender hair. She was walking two lavender poodles on lavender leashes.

Kennedy Center, Saturday evening performance. Middle-aged woman of plump proportions, medically endowed breasts (was there a fire sale on silicone?), run-of-the-mill cellulite on the thighs. Wearing very high red heels and a bright red low-cut dress that was the shortest dress I think I've ever seen on a woman. Even I was staring from below on the escalator wondering how much others can see when you wear a dress like that. Answer: a lot!

Well, not exactly tacky but certainly noteworthy. Our hotel in Rome was on Via del Corso which is kind of a "stroll" at night. While out walking in the evenings, my husband and I would often find ourselves walking behing a group of young Italian guys wearing the tightest freakin' jeans. I mean, I haven't seen a guy stateside in jeans that tight since 1983. Granted, they had terrific lil' behinds but still it left us shaking our heads. My husband speculated that maybe they wore them as a form of birth control because any man who squishes his marbles up like that would have to be sterile. <BR>Whatever.

John G, not only do I remember Mike Meyers' "Coffee Tawk with Linda Richman" skit, but I <I>loved</I> it (as well as pretty much anything else Myers has done.) Myers was on a talk show once and said he modeled "Richman" after his mother-in-law...and he also said that she found the character to be funny. <BR> <BR>Last weekend SNL had a "Best of Mike Myers" show and they replayed the "Coffee Tawk" skit where Barbara Streisand unexpectedly showed up on the set, surprising Myers and his guest, Madonna.

Actually, Mike Myers' mother-in-law's name IS Linda Richman.

OMG!! I wonder if that was Mike's mother-in-law that I saw????

Just saw this in Ireland (Fermanagh) the other day: English guy in his 50s, with his wife (she was nicely dressed). He's wearing a nice enough short-sleeve linen shirt, brogues and tan socks, and (get ready)... <BR> <BR>Red polyester running shorts, circa 1975, with a white border. <BR> <BR>At least he didn't have a hanky on his head.

This wasn't Europe, but years ago I saw a man sauntering down the street in gold satin hot pants and matching vest with bare chest. I believe he wore matching pumps. Guess where it was? Yup, Provincetown. I will NEVER forget it.

About nine years ago we were walking along the Grand Canyon and we could see people reacting to something.AS we got to the spot we too reacted,my son then 12 years old,was never the same again-the something was a well-endowed German tourist wearing asilver thong bikini!Enough said!

A transvestite, I think in Amsterdam the summer of 2000. Whatever he or she was it looked like Howard Stern, hair and height with a G string very high heels and a short midriff T shirt! I got a picture, but from behind, cause I was too shocked to react at first. This was on the street, not in the red light district. I bet some of you have seen him too. My son did, the year before.

4 star hotel in AMS and almost all males at least wearing jacket, except for one of my fellow citizens in baseball cap (AT THE TABLE!) and jeans. As they say on SNL, OH!MY!GOD! I laugh now, but not then.

Barcelona, summer 2000. There was a Spanish guy on the metro, must have been in his late sixties, quite short and stocky wearing a rather nasty black toupee with the odd grey hair sticking out from underneath. He was wearing a bright yellow John Travolta flared leg Saturday Night Fever Disco suit with a red large collared shirt open to the naval. Completed with medallions in his grey chest hair. I have the evidence on video. And it was 5pm in the afternoon.

Not clothing, but I was in Stirling in Scotland when I saw an American couple getting out of an extremely stretchy stretch limo. A group of bystanders were awestruck but it was probably not the sort of awe the couple expected. The gist of the remarks was, "They're never going further North in that thing?!" <BR>If you've ever driven in the Highlands you'd know what means.

Does anyone want to hear about the time I saw one of the world's most famous women looking like crap in NYC???

Go ahead John. let's hear it :0) Just hoping it wasn't me!

<BR>Do tell, John G! <BR>And you absolutely MUST name names . . . . .

I hope you aren't going to say it was Madonna. That's no scoop. Doesn't matter if she's in NYC, LA or wherever, IMO she always looks like crap.

In March of 1999, I was in Saks in Manhattan because this is when alot of their winter merchanise is marked down. I was in the Men's Dept. on the ground floor looking at dress shirts that were piled on a table. Even though these shirts were on sale they were still expensive: this is Saks afterall. I was picking shirts up and talking to myself out loud (people think Im crazy). I would pick one up and say, "Too big," or "Ugly color." As I was doing this I was thowing them back down on the table and a woman next to me was picking them up and looking at them herself. She said, "You don't like this one?" I replied, "Look at that color. What tie would possibly go with that?" I never really looked at her face because she was along side me. But, she reaked of jasmine. I hate the smell of jasmine because it is very cloying, so I walk to the opposite side of the table to get away from this woman. When I got to the other side I looked up to get a good look at her. I thought, Gee this woman looks so familiar. She was Asian. I couldn't place her, though. First I thought, Connie Chung, but that wasn't it. I searched my brain then it finally hit me: It was IMELDA MARCOS. When I realized I almost fell over. It was then that I noticed 4 Phillipino bodyguards stationed at various points in the department. Yes, it was her! Well, she looked like crap. She was wearing a red jogging suit!!!!!! It was one of those cotton ones with the waxy coating on them--to make them rain repellent. She looked like she was sitting around all day playing mah-jongg and then decided to go shopping at the last minute. He hair was also a mess, like she was leaning against a pillow for a couple of hours. Her makeup was flawless, however. She has obviously had much plastic surgery. Know what the funny part about all of this is? I couldn't see her shoes!!

Thank you, JohnG, I always enjoy your expressive way of telling a story. I think you are probably one of those unusual people who writes exactly the same way you talk. <BR>LMAO over the one yesterday where you thought the statue in front of the Louvre was Karl Lagerfeld.

John---we were in the same Saks on the same day---I saw her too!!!!! <BR>My hubs thought I was kidding--but she acutally is very pretty up close-- As I was reading your post,I was dying because I KNEW who you saw before I got to the end of your post=== I saw her in the men's dept next to the expensive ties--maybe she has a new man in her life?!

I saw a middle-aged, crewcut guy with a huge paunch at Sagra Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, wearing spandex bike shorts that had been CUT OFF to shorten them to upper thigh length, and they were VERY binding around the crotch and rear, if ya know what I mean.

Not tacky, but very sad. I was walking towards our town hall square and saw that the people coming in the opposite direction had seen something startling. The children were grinning and most adults were looking disapproving. Then I saw two American children about 12 and 14 probably brother and sister. The sad thing was that they were wearing regular teenage gear, sleeveless tops and shorts but they were enormous, not just fat but enormous and eating from McDonalds bags. You just felt that their parents should have been prosecuted for child abuse.

While on the ferry between Sweden and Denmark in 1998, my friend and I saw this man... <BR> <BR>He was wearing a ladie's fur hat, full makeup, nail polish, plaid knickers like they wear for golf that are tight at the knees, and women's shoes. <BR> <BR>I tried so hard to get a photo of him as we got off the boat, but only got a back shot of him. We still snicker about his choice of attire today.

I live in New York and I see the wife of one of the world's most famous film directors near my job all the time. The terrible thing is she has been wearing the same winter coat for the past 3 years running. The rag is threadbare already. This guy makes millions and she looks like a bag lady. I think this is EXTREMELY TACKY.

Believe it or not, there are MANY Europeans (men and women) who love to wear cowboy outfits. I mean the whole gear from 10-gallon hats to ridiculous boots WITH SPURS. Just right for strolling through the Grand'Place! <BR>Americans have a hard enough time pulling off the cowboy look; with Europeans it's just hopeless. But good for a giggle. So next time you see somebody strolling through a European capital dressed like extras from a bad Western movie, don't assume they're clueless Americans--more likely than not, they're Belgian, British or German.

Has anyone else every seen an Italian construction crew in the summer? The ones that I saw consisted of several men in various states of undress. My favorite was a very well-fed middle-aged man wearing what appeared to be a red Speedo bathing suit with no shirt and hiking boots with no socks. My manners prevented me from snapping his photo as I walked by, but I have regretted that every since. He probably would have been flattered, anyway. Anyone who could parade around in that outfit must be quite proud of what he's got. <BR> <BR>Audrey