Warmth vs Elegance in Europe - a Mother-Daughter debate
 

Hello all.
DH and I are traveling to Europe in their winter, landing in Rome on Boxing Day and spending the next three weeks in Rome, Florence, Venice, Interlaken and Paris. I am fully expecting it to be cold, so I was all ready to wear my warm, layered, red and white ski jacket. My mother, however, having travelled in Europe a few times over recent years, is HORRIFIED, that I would be so inelegant. She says I MUST wear a smart, preferably long, dark winter coat of some kind eg wool/cashmere etc, because everyone in Europe is SOOO elegant and it would be just too scruffy for me to wear a ski jacket (horror of horrors). Now, I'm not sure that the word "elegant" has ever appeared in a sentence associated with me, so my argument is why would I try to be elegant in Europe, when I'm never elegant at home?? I live in Brisbane, Australia, where the dresscode is shorts and T-shirt, and a dark woollen winter coat would spend its life in my wardrobe never seeing the light of day. We are also trying to travel light, with a small suitcase each, to make train travel easier, so having to carry two jackets would probably take up half my luggage space ( I really think I'll need a ski jacket in the mountains of Switzerland).
So, fodorites, who is right? Do I spend more money on a coat I will never wear again, or do I take my skijacket as planned. Will I stick out like a sore thumb, and be embarassed to leave my hotel? Will I be shunned, pitied, or spat on??? Or can I just be warm and happy?
Cheers!

Well, Last time I was in Italy in winter, we hit some exceptionally cold days. Funny how many Italians own ski jackets!!!

Wear the ski jacket. The vast majority of people in Europe are not particularly elegant in terms of having to have a fashionable, long winter coat. And a nice ski jacket isn't exactly like wearing a ragged, surplus army field jacket from the Korean War.

Sorry, I am with you Mom. Been warm and elegant takes been warm and frompy any day....

I've been in Europe in winter. Seems like they had the full range going on. Dress coats and ski jackets. Wear what makes you comfortable. Some people like to dress so they have a lightweight jacket indoors, others like to bundle it down to the calves, some want a dress coat for when they go to restaurants/theater.

It won't ruin your trip.

A few thoughts:

You don't say your age range, but I think the younger you are the easier it is to pull of a red ski jacket! (IF you care, which you clearly don't but your mother seems to care for you or care how your appearance reflects on her?)

If you ski jacket is down, it can scrunch up really small and you can wear the wool coat for the plane/travel days, etc.

My girls are now in their 20's and they usually travel with a wool coat, which is nice for blending in a bit. On the other hand, they usually throw in their down puffer jackets, and wear those also, especially when they are not in the big cities.

You could buy the wool coat in Europe if you feel the need to have it once you get there. You'll hit the sales - my girls and I have always shopped great sales on our Christmas trips to Europe. A nice looking wool coat at a shop like H&M won't set you back all that much.

One thing we have seen a LOT in the cities in Europe in the winter is a long - usually dark - down coat. Chic and warm, and could be your only coat.

I would want to be in the middle of these coat choices, myself. A ski jacket is probably fine in Interlaken which is nothing but tourists, mostly.

I have a down ski jacket which I wear skiing and it does NOT scrunch up into almost nothing. It depends how thick the down is. Even when I take it skiing, I won't wear it around town and that's a ski resort, it isn't what I would feel comfortable wearing around any more than I'd wear my nylon ski pants around town in the evening. However, it depends on the style of this ski jacket you are talking about. Partly, ski jackets are not that warm for just wearing around, not skiing, if they are short. Many of them are, and stop around hip length. That works when you are skiing as you need to ability to move your legs a lot and are exercising, but it is not particularly warm for regular wear as your butt can freeze off. I don't know what you mean by a "layered" ski jacket exactly, and the red and white part is probably part of the problem, also, depending what that looks like. Just too casual and sporty for wearing around a city. If it were a fur-lined hood black ski parka, okay (I saw a Russian wearing one like that when I went skiing last March).

I would personally want some kind of coat other than a ski jacket described like that. But something cheaper and more versatile than a full-length wool or cashmere coat. If you never wear a coat at all, I can see why you don't want to buy one at all. Is there someone you can borrow one from or something? I'd go for something at least hip-length with some kind of zipout liner to be most versatile, in a more classic cut and color.

There is no "dress code" in Europe...your MOTHER ISN'T GOING on this trip, is she?

Now, your question was?????

How about a wool pea-jacket type coat.

Get something practical that is water resistant and warm. The last thing at least to me to care about is how fashionable I appear.

A nice ski jacket in Interlaken?? Yikes mammamia!! Don't worry. If anyone cares enough to look at what you are wearing they will simply think you are either a tourist or a local NOT going off to your job or a meeting in your heeled boots and your long coat. Clean, neat and polite is always the key. Have a great trip!

drjem wrote: "everyone in Europe is SOOO elegant"

Has your mother been to Europe? Has she met me?

Certainly nobody will care in Paris. We put on whatever will keep us warm during the winter. That's all that counts.

I would generally wear a long, padded wool mix jacket or a long down jacket. These are very popular in most of Europe, and very warm. I think it would be scruffy to wear a ski jacket and would feel uncomfortable, but I like to dress up a little bit.

I am sorry, what is the question?

Will a red and white( I sort of think the red and white part is the real sticking point, I am imagining something quite bright, I may be wrong though, , LOL ) ski jacket look out of place in Rome and Paris, ,, yes,

do you need to care about this?
No.

I have never seen so many lovely long fitted wool coats as I saw a few years ago in London, I thought most people ( including the younger set) looked very smart in the wool coats, not at all like we dress here at home in the winter, where we are all about gore tex, fleece, down, etc etc,, LOL

So basically your mom is NOT totally off base, BUT, there will be others dressed like you ( may be not red and white, LOL )and frankly what do you care if you are warm and happy.

PS Down ski jackets are not good in rain, and many of places you mentioned are likely to be very wet, hope you bring an umbrella or have a gore tex shell.

I was just about to post when Mariposa did and she is spot on with here advice.

Since you asked the question, you DO care about 'doing as the Roman's do' and as your Mum suggested, so you should. You will feel more comfortable and, frankly, you will get better service in stores, restaurants etc.

Yes, it does matter: the Italians are wonderful, welcoming people but their national obsession with judging people by how they present themselves is not exagerrated.

She is from Australia, not Italy. She won't be judged in the same manner.

Bring your ski jacket and if you feel underdressed, buy a coat in Europe. It will be a great souvenir.

I agree with a few others that the problem is not the <i>ski jacket</i> itself, but the <i>red and white</i> part of it.

Can you buy a new ski jacket with more subdued color? Preferably one that is water-repellent.

That way, you'll still get to use it in the future, yet it won't stick out like a sore thumb since your RED and WHITE one will.

Being part Italian myself, I can tell you that the Italians DO look down on scruffily dressed people, wherever they come from. They consider it a bit disrespectful to be underdressed at restaurants and the like, and you are more likely to get a better reception being well dressed. I think the best thing would be to wear a long padded coat and be stylish AND warm - that would be doing as the Romans do. Of course, you can wear whatever you want, but most people in Europe don't walk around in ski jackets so it depends how much you want to stick out. You won't be shunned or pitied or spat on though, haha.

Who cares, wear what is warm and comfortable. I think it is your demeanor that counts. Being in our fifties and still receiving offers from strangers in Europe to come for dinner or even spend the night (Amboise), I do not think they cared about my ski jacket that I always wear.

People in Europe seem to go out of their way to be kind, helpful and friendly when one shows some interest in their culture and if you are able to laugh and enjoy the moment, they are not interested in my coat or lack of one. Just my opinion.