It's been since 1992 that I lived in Spain and since 1998 that I was last there. What are people typically wearing these days, especially in December/January? When I was living there, earth tones were a sure bet -- blacks, tans, olive, etc. -- and bright colors were less common. Jeans were rare, sweatshirts were more rare, and baseball caps would get you laughed at. Leather was big -- jackets, shoes, etc. Can anyone shed any light so that my family and I don't get gauked at this year? ;-)

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Well, the classics never die!
You can expect the same for the most part, Jeans are more common (but darker ones) and Sweatshirts still strange, and the baseball caps LEAVE THEM AT HOME!

Aside from colors, the styles are all the latest. Pick up a fashion mag or a place like Structure, or Express/Limited can give you a trendy look... if you have a Zara near where you live, go check it out!

I've been reading about a lot of leather on this site, so I mentioned to my daughter that she ought to bring her black leather pants with her when we go next month (Madrid, Alicante, and Malaga). She laughed at me! Here she only wears her leather pants when she is going to a bar, and NEVER when she's just going to a normal place. They are slightly loose-fitting, they fit like slacks, so they do look respectable. What is the rule on leather pants in Spain?

I had planned to buy leather pants in Spain and was surprised that they seemed in short supply. Basically no one seems to wear them and they are hard to find in the stores. Lots of jackets, boots, handbags etc but very little leather pants. Perhaps its a north american affectation...as certainly the Spanish women are stylish but in a very elegant fashion...and maybe leather pants are not quite the boon to female beauty we think they are. (I didnt visit any bars in the hip evening hours so perhaps they may be full of chic Spanish women in leather pants) I

Short supply of leather pants. Boy you hit the nail on the head. The styles are way behind, or just plain cheap looking and cheap material in most of the stores. Alot of Target-styled stores. Any Express store in USA carries the latest styles that you will see here. If you wear your bell bottoms, skin tight and have a great ass you´ll fit right in with most of the young women here!
The shopping in Barcelona blew away the shopping in Madrid. But the beers were way cheaper in Madrid. It all evens out i guess. As far as leather in general. Good buys in barcelona on pocketbooks only. NO good buys anywhere in Madrid on any leather goods. In fact, the styles are stuck in the 80´s. The nicest shoes and jackets, pants we saw were from Italy and Israel. So save your shopping $$ for the USA! Its cheaper and better quality. If you know where to shop.
My dad got some great deals on shoes, watches and more but that was then and this is now! (he was here in the late 60´s!)
Alot of plastico boots here! Good buys on Suede though! Hope this helps. also the dollar is down to 91 cents! So you lose money right off the bat. You walk alot so wear warm clothes if you´ll be here in the winter.

Quote:

"....If you know where to shop....".

There you go!

As far as leather pants are concerned for women...they are still in, but usually sported by the 40+ crowd and paired with color coordinated leather boots or pumps and sweater, topped off with a huge fur coat or long leather coat.

I am not yet 40, so don´t own leather pants, but I have spied these women shopping in the centros comerciales of Las Rozas, San Sebastian de Los Reyes and Majadahonda....all suburban neighborhoods of Madrid.

If you are looking for good buys on leather products, I suggest a road trip to Llombay (or Llombai) in the Valencian region. This small town is corner to corner leather shops. Any imaginable article of clothing is fashioned in leather and sold in the stores there. The prices are decent too and the clothing is not made in China or Indonesia. Very excellent quality and good leather...particularly in the larger boutiques.

Happy shopping!

Chica,
I have a question, I noticed on my last trip to Madrid, that a lot of the mature women and many of the younger women wore Mink stoles or coats. Is mink inexpensive in Spain that it is so popular? I noticed this while I was staying at the HUSA Princesa and the streets around the Princesa.

Well, folks, my family's three-week jaunt through Granada, Sevilla, Madrid, Barcelona and Olite has concluded, and as for fashion, I can tell you this...

We saw about a half-dozen women wearing leather pants, mostly in Sevilla and Barcelona, and their ages ranged anywhere from 25-40ish. In general, leather is still VERY MUCH a desirable fashion in all other respects, especially regarding coats and jackets. Colors of clothes: black, black, black! As well as dark colors, like browns. Not much has changed in these regards... BUT...

Nowadays, there are jeans everywhere. We noted this in every city we visited. In Sevilla, at a cafe' one day, we even counted and found that about exactly half the people we watched walking by (out of 60-some people) were wearing jeans! Another big surprise: some people have been bold enough to start wearing sweatshirts. This seems to be a growing trend. But the biggest shock was that during our 3-week stay, we saw 2 young guys wearing baseball caps!! Now, most of you may not appreciate this, but this is a big deal. Baseball caps were the source of major ridicule when I lived in Spain in '92 -- an absolute no-no. Could be that this, too, is changing.

I'm not sure why people would think there's no good shopping in Spain. A trip down Calle Sierpes is enough to throw any credit card-wielding shoppaholic into a frenzy. But since my family likes more authentic Spanish flavors, we hit the rastros (fleamarkets), where you can find some great stuff. My wife bought several nice scarves. Anyway, for what it's worth, there's my impression of the latest trends...

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I really enjoyed your observations. Tomorrow I am having a meeting with students who will be travelling with me to Spain in March and I KNOW that clothing will be a major topic. Any other thoughts about how american teens will "fit in" and not "stand out" is most appreciated!