This message board is awesome, all you guys are extremely helpful and friendly, and I've got some questions on this whole clothing topic.
I'm planning on taking a "tour of europe" next summer, and in my excitement I've been trying to prepare one year in adavance! The thing is, I'm going to do the whole "budget travel" thing (only one backpack,staying in youth hostels as much as possible, etc). I'll be starting in spain in June, then visiting france, italy, and greece until august. From reading your posts, I've gathered the following info (tell me if i'm wrong, here!):
1)tank tops over bigger-strapped muscle shirts are okay
2)shorts (which I was planning to wear) are okay if planning to look like tourist, which I am not.
my confusion stems from the fact that since i will be doing a great deal of walking i will more than likely want to take some sort of walking/hiking shoe, yes? well, this lack of foot apparrel options is frustrating. what type of sundress will possibly match with these kinds of shoes? i will not be taking more than two pairs of jeans (i've read jeans are unadvisable to budget travels on account of their slow-drying-ness") so what is a good alternative to shorts? what can i wear that will look good, be comfortable, and not stick out like a sore thumb?

Wow! Nice trip!

If you're not doing heavy duty hiking (heavy pack, rough terrain, several days) you might get by with light hiking shoes (low tops, like the New Balance Country Walkers). I wore them to Pristina and Vienna since I was going to be off-road part of the time and while they don't exactly make a hot fashion statement, they aren't totally ugly either. Then you could take a pair of Tevas for the other walking you might do. These would also work with a sundress.

I use zip off leg nylon pants (my personal preference is exofficio and no, I don't own stock in the company though I should for as much as I mention their stuff :)) They dry overnight, don't look too frumpy even after being slept in, can be dressed up a bit, and allow you to bare your legs or not, depending on climate and culture. A hiking friend of mine wore them almost exclusively on a hiking/nicer hotel trip to Switzerland and said with a white shirt, she felt ok going out to eat in the hotel's restaurant.
If you are planning on being in Italy and Greece in August, plan on heat! Since you are likely to run a wide range in terms of temperatures, layering might help (I assume you're a hiker and know about that anyway! Some of the travel catalogs may be able to give you additional suggestions.

STOP PRESS!!! MALE AND FEMALE SPANIARDS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED WEARING..........SHORTS IN SUMMER!!! Oh No!! Now what do we do???

Tone our bottoms and go for it.



Jo-Anne

You must be kidding. If Spaniards are now wearing shorts, how will the gypsies and thieves know who to target to pickpocket? The Spanish people are starting to get very daring indeed, trading in their black pants and dresses for shorts.

Thank you last three posters for my laugh for the day ... you have made a 'miserable work-laden Wednesday' much better!

Regarding the hiking boots, I once purchased a black hiking sneaker by HiTec and it blended with the leather shoes worn in Spain. It didn't look like an atletic sneaker. I wore them with long spandex dresses and it was comfortable. The dresses rolled up to be very small in the luggage.

On a more recent trip, I opted for white reebok sneakers. I really did not care if I would stick out as a tourist or not. I brought one spandex dress, but wore mostly atletic cloths. I was dressed for maximum comfort. We were "roughing it" in several ways, and I was dressed to haul luggage and hike.

We were in areas loaded with tourist and other areas where we were the only tourist. For some odd reason, I never felt out of place.

Even in New York I surely stand out for my manner of dress, but I say dress as you feel comfortable and confident.
http://www.geocities.com/srasofia/fiesta.html

Anchovy Front, you might want to think this whole shorts thing through carefully! I just now passed a "typical" American male with the body of a Sumo wrestler squished into a too tight red tank top and W....A...A...A..Y too tight,red, mini running shorts! This wasn't at the beach, mind you, but a grocery store!!! You don't want to unleash this sort of thing on the unsuspecting people of Spain!

My blood just ran cold, maestra........I broke into a cold sweat ......I turned nervously in the direction of the window, expecting to see your face, peering through the glass with that mixed expression of nausea and incredulity...........Then I realised, you weren't outside looking in - because I have my BLUE tank top on today!

Phew, what a relief! With our temperature here today, this is the last day of long trousers for work until autumn (dropsy, plummet, fall... whatever you chaps call it!) arrives. The knees are coming out....

I'll be hitting Malaga on June 3... if I should spot anyone looking like a Sumo in spandex, shall I assume it's you,AF?!?!

It hit 104 here yesterday and I sometimes think the heat cooks common sense and good taste right out of people! You see some attire here that you just wouldn't believe! When you say Spaniards wear shorts, I don't think you had these ensembles in mind!