Ahhhh! Confusion!

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!

I have family in Spain and when I go there and they take me for daytrips they wear jeans, shorts, t-shirts... I don't know what's the big deal with the clothes. Spain, and specially Madrid, is used to see different styles. I've seen so many different groups (rock, punks, "pijos",rappers...) and all of them dress different. Older people dress more "serious" clothes but young and middle-age people dress just the same that here in USA. They dress business clothes during the week and then sport clothes for the weekend. And the most important thing is that you want to be comfortable in your clothes and wear nice, comfortable shoes because you are going to walk a lot. If you look like a turist, so what? At least you are a comfortable turist

Well, the summer has arrived with a vengeance, with higher than usual temperatures. I thought it was time to take to the streets and obtain the latest up to date information as to who is actually wearing the shorts and so I have been studying bare legs very closely in recent days - some more closely than others, it must be said.

I have devised a cunning plan in order to ascertain whether the legs belong to a born and bred Spaniard, or a tourist. I bought a cheap curtain ring and put it on a finger and go up to a shorts wearer and ask them on which of my hands they think it would look better. If they answer LA derecha I put them down as Spanish, but if they say EL derecho, then they have fallen into my trap and I know immediately that they are tourists, as you must be born here, or alternatively take many years to study and remember that hand in Spanish is LA mano, therefore feminine, even though you would not think so.

Up to know I have encountered 127 tourists wearing shorts, 4 Spaniards, been punched three times and propositioned once. Don't know if this info helps.......??

Once again AF - your humour (or is it humor) has made my day!! I'm heading home giggling with questionably fond memories of possible attire - and the bodies therein - that tourists acquire while on holiday.

Thanks again for my AF laugh of the day!

Anchovy,

How many times did you point at a fat one and yell out; "Harpoon that whale!"?

I haven't done that in years. In fact, since I ended up getting whacked over the head by a 400# woman with her beach bag which I swear contained a ham, leg of lamb, several loaves of bread, wine, and a couple of pineapples for a snack while she lay on the beach.

For two days I thought Waikiki was two beaches, and I had married twins, since I was seeing double.

Wolf (Who respects women with big handbags)

Fashion in Spain is simple for men: All you need to do in order to pass undetected in ANY urban area in ANY city is buy a blue one-piece jumper. Don't get the name patch, just the jumper. It also aids your invisibility if you leave the top four buttons unbuttoned (sumo frame notwithstanding). If you "bottom" off the ensemble with some brown plaid zapatillas, you're set. Prado here I come!

Or version 2 for those under 20:

Fellas: Barça/Real Madrid sweatpants (note: do not mix these up) depending on your location. An adidas/kappa/alpha industries top. 'Tough guy' gold chain. Also popular: the button-up the side warmup pants.

Girls: the ubiquitous 'spain pants', which need no description, and the thin little belt-thingy straight out of 'Miami Vice'. Top from Zara, always.

Just back from Madrid where the temperature was in the 90's, just about everyone from tots to middle-aged wore shorts of the cargo style or walking type shorts. And YES jeans were worn by all ages too! I did not see any type of clothing that was not acceptable day or night. (The only 2 "sights" I saw were a group of US teenage girls wearing "Short shorts" and a rather large US man flaunting a huge camera aroung his neck.) A visit to the public swimming pool revealed a most humouros sight of male and female wearing thongs!


[ 06-08-2001: Message edited by: SuePycroft ]

I've never dropped in on this thread before, and I still fail to understand the confusion. Of course people wear jeans. Both men and women wear shorts too.

Sue- When you post on touchy topics like "thongs", please warn me...I'm eating lunch here!

CaliBasco sorry to have spoiled your lunch, but if you had seen the "sights" you would not have eaten for a week! Imagine seeing an elderly man, around 80, with a huge stomach dropping to the knees, wearing a thong and diving into the pool! Also 4 young males posing their physiques on 2foot tall pedestals and taking photo's of each other like they were in the Mister Universe competition. If anything it was a laugh and an experience. This all took place at the Casa de Campo. Worth going for the "entertainment"

For an "extra-extra-large" person, a thong would be made out a 3" diameter rope I would assume

Wolf

Okay, so i've spent the last several weeks trying to get my legs in viewing shape just to almost be scared out of wearing shorts. Now that this has been found to be acceptable, are cut-offs okay or will they result in my cruxifictio. Also what about surrongs?

Hey CanCanGirl, sarongs whoaaaaaa, ok if you are at the pool or beach, but otherwise Noooooo! Keep to shorts and cut-offs!

Let me see that thong....Is it any wonder that thong and wrong rhyme?

[6-14-01: Message edited by: Cisqo]

thongs and surrongs are two very different things, my good sir. One is a wrap around skirt (and an much admired summer accessory here in Canada) and one is just nasty. :p But good to know that cut-offs are okay.

Anchovy.... Help me here.

How does that song go???

"It sarong way from Tipperary... It sarong way to go...."

Wolf (Whose singing voice reminds people of a Mrs. Miller & Tiny Tim duet.)

Hi,

I haven't been to Spain in a while, but here in Portugal we dress similarly, not only from a cultural similarity, but because we are being "invaded" by Spanish chain stores like Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti et al.

For summer, jeans are OK. Right now smart, one-colour, leather tennis shoes are very IN, both with jeans and smarter pants or long linen skirts. T-shirts are OK, but smart, non-printed ones are better. At Zara, tiny, bright-coloured tops are very cheap and acceptable even at work. Personally, I love long skirts and find them more comfortable and fresher than pants or shorts.
Of course, I could be mistaken and stand out once I get there!!!
Hope this will help,

Guida

You can be dressed the way you want.

As a tourist - shorts and T-shirt
Some spaniards wear nearly always blue jeans.
Nylon pants are also used (my favourites)
Cotton pants called "Chinos" are also popular.
"Polo" T-shirts are often used when you walk around a resort.
Those are for both man and woman.
Women also use short skirts.

If you go to the beach:
Men many times use just the bathing-costume (word taken from dictionary, sorry), if it is a longer one, or shorts and a t-shirt.

Nobody herelikes gold chains but for gypsies, some central and south americans, and our lower cultural level people , the so called "macarras cutres". In fact, only a marriage gold ring is the maximum people usually wear.

Girls sometimes wear "pareos", which we use to consider very pleasant to our eyes.

Guida, your comment about fashion chains, did you know that a lot of Zara's clothes are made in Portugal?

Sue,

Yes I did know, and so are the clothes and shoes for many English and International chains like M&S, Next, Gant, Hugo Boss... Actually, the Zara group is based in Galicia, right next to Portugal and very close to where I live... This is why I commented on Spanish fashion. You know, there are even many Shopping excursions from Porto to Vigo.

I can't wait to get to Madrid (only 4 days to go!...) and the Rebajas at El Corte Inglés!

Guida