what to wear in Moscow
 

Mid-June, will visit Moscow and St. Petersburg. Would rather not look like the typical American tourist. How should my wife and I dress for long, busy days with lots of walking?
THanks

ekellyga wrote: "Would rather not look like the typical American tourist."

What does a typical American tourist look like?

I don't mean this to sound sarcastic so please don't be offended but here are my thoughts on this.

If I were going to Moscow or St Petersburg I would wear the same clothes that I would wear to New York, Boston, Chicago, Paris, London, Buenos Aires or any other major city and bring very comfortable shoes for long walks.

I would also check for typical temperatures at that time and bring raincoat or jacket/sweater if the temp warrants. If I had plans to attend a concert or ballet, I'd bring something a bit dressier light jacket or shawl for a woman, shirt, tie and jacket for a man.

Some Europeans on this board answer this question with "We don't notice what you wear and we don't care what you wear." and I think it's true. They have a lot of other things to deal with than the wardrobe choices of American tourists.

No matter what you wear you will look like and American tourist. Russian clothing (except for teens) is nothing like American - no matter how much they try.

Well, if it's mid June, leave your fur hat and down jacket at home. I've heard of tourists driving across the Canadian border in July or August with loaded ski racks just becuase this was Canada ;-)

Eli, that was us with the ski racks at the border! We skied at Whistler/Blackcomb last July!!

D&G will keep you unnoticed in the crowd. I'm serious.

Jean, touché ! :-)

I agree w/ nytraveler. The Russian sense of fashion is quite jarring (to a US eye). I am in a heavily touristed area here in the US and see hundreds of tourists from around the world on a daily basis.

The Russians are the most easily identified with their boldly patterned and uniquely cut clothing. I would loosely describe the look as being the OPPOSITE of the LL Bean look. No solids, no khakis, not a conservative look.

I would say your only hope of looking like a local is to buy some clothes at a department store when you hit Moscow.