RnR

For guys ... this works for me: light weight 100% wool (black) pants 2-3 pr., for nice daytime events and evenings. One pr. jeans! Black silk jacket I had made in Bangkok - it never wrinkles, and hides the grime. Silk tees, plus silk sweaters, maybe one all cotton. Shirts: 100% cotton, of course - greys (light, dark), black, and forget the whites, blues, stripes. A few ties - solid colors to match everything. Shoes - 3 pr. - black It. loafers, tassels, anything semi-dressy. And some polish, pelase! One pr. sand-coloured linens. In cool weather, light-weight leather coat or lined DB raincoat. You are good to go ... have fun.

xxx

RnR you are my kind of guy! That's the vacation I take as you obviously are going to some nice restaurants and such. You are going to be slammed because the people here shop at WalMart and dress like they are going to a hockey game.

FartPolice

Glad to see so many responses from other FARTers out there ! Keep up the good work !<BR><BR> Fodors Apparel Request Team.

John

I would echo Beth's advice - be comfortable. We were in the west med last June and it was hot. I wore shorts and tee shirts and my wife and daughters wore shorts and tank tops. We invested in comfortable walking shoes that looked very much like tennis shoes but we were certainly glad we had them given the distances we walked.<BR><BR>Face it, we were tourists and I'm sure we looked the part. But we were amongst hundreds of other tourists with cameras around our necks and backpacks on to carry a days supply of the things we needed or bought. We were gauking at all the tourist sites - Colesseum, David, Pompeii, etc. - you really can't disguise it and still see it the way you want to.

ttt

glad to see this thread take off like all the other fashion threads!

mimi

I went to Italy for 2 weeks in October (temps in the 80s in Rome) and brought no luggage other than a small rolling duffle bag. I was mistaken for a native italian more than once. I wore a nice crisp white or black tshirt, and thin grey cotton pants. They are cool bc they look dressy (ive worn them to work) yet are in the 'cargo' style w. a pocket on each thigh. I also wore swedish style funky black sneakers w. grey soles w. cleat-like nubbins on the soles, a godsend for my tired feet, and large black ralph lauren sunglasses. At night i wore black pants, a dressier shirt,dressier flats and simple black cardigan.<BR><BR>Many people including italians were wearing DARK jeans but i wouldnt wear anything but very dark blue. I also wouldnt wear traditional style American athletic shoes, esp the white ones.

oneotherthing

I just want to add how ridiculous the 'ugly american' stereotype is. I cant tell you how many NON american tourists I saw who were dressed so grossly I (being brainwashes as well) automatically assumed they were American (they looked like trailor trash) onlyto hear them speak in a foreign language or w. an accent. And some of the young italian women on the subway could share clothing tips w. NYC hookers!

bettyk

Anybody ever notice in Hawaii, how the Japanese, Germans, etc., dress? Aloha shirts with plaid pants??? Give me a break! I should be worried about how I look in Europe when the Europeans, etc., don't seem to care how goofy they look over here!!

elaine

sorry, but "the" Europeans and "the" Americans and "the" Martians for all I know don't ALL dress alike. There are people who are clothes-conscious and people who aren't in all cities and towns everywhere. The big cities in Europe and the US I think tend to have more people who are clothes-conscious, but that's a generalization that of course doesn't apply to every single citizen. There are unfortunately also stereotypes that some people don't want to be an example of, and yet others couldn't care less, which is fine too.<BR>But if someone asks the clothes question (maybe we should call it the "C" word) in the first place, they must have some interest in the issue.

lee

I'm leaving for Rome in 20 days for a great 12 day stay and can't wait. I've read several posts and guidebooks stating that you could not wear shorts or sleeveless shirts into many of the churches, however a post early in this thread said that you could not wear "sneakers" into many churches. Is that true? I'm trying to pack light and don't really want to bring 3-4 pairs of footwear with me. I also do not have a comfortable pair of shoes that I can walk all day in. Please advise.

Dr. Scholl

&lt;&lt;I also do not have a comfortable pair of shoes that I can walk all day in.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>This is a problem for any trip to Rome. You need to remedy this right away. The more time you have to break in any newly purchased shoes, the better.<BR>

tall traveler

I wore (white) tennis shoes (even with a skirt one day) into all of the churches I saw in Italy and was never stopped once. There's usually someone at the door stopping those who are inappropriately dressed. No one in our group of 50 was ever stopped for wearing tennies. Wear what is comfortable and don't worry about it.<BR>

lilly

Lots of cobblestone streets. Find the best pair of shoes!

mark

All advice was appreciated as I plan to go to Itaky soon but... <BR><BR>I can't believe somebody actually used Tony Soprano as a dressing role model.

Sue

That was me. You got a problem with that? ;-)<BR><BR>Actually if you watch the show, the polo shirts that Tony wears are very nice.

Anna

Just returned from 3 weeks in Italy. I felt a little frazzled reading all these posts on how to dress, but you know what? Wear whatever you like because no one will notice or care anyway (unless you're visitng a church of course)! Here's my take on the fashion scene in Milan, CT, Tuscany, Rome and Campodimele (a small town situated on a mountain south of Rome): Italian men and women DO wear shorts, running shoes and t-shirts. The big thing for teen girls and women is VISIBLE bra straps (clear or fabric), belly tops with thin straps (so those bra straps can be seen - body size and shape does not matter) (pierced belly buttons quite common), tight jeans and very high heels with very pointed toes. Someone posted a while back that Italian women dress better than Americans. In my opinion, Italian women do not dress any better than Canadian women. When I was in Rome in '91 the women seemed to be more dressed up, very classy looking. This time in '02 I told my husband about the well-dressed Roman women. First thing he asked: "where are all the well-dressed women?" A lot were wearing what I described above. Linen is popular for both men & women. The shoes were a BIG disappointment, unless you like those spikes with pointed toes. My advice: wear what you like but make sure you bring some very comfortable walking shoes. I wore my Rockports everyday and never had sore feet. All in all, it was a great trip.

judy

Even though I was in the fashion business for twenty years, it becomes tiresome trying to keep up to the latest all the time. The men and women are generally outstanding in their appearance so relax and do whats most comfortable and classic to you. The most important thing I learnt on my last trip, is the comfort of linen in hot weather. I gave up all my t-shirts for breezy linen shirts. Linen dosen't stick to you when you are sweating and we did alot of that. That is my tip!

Nekkid

The way people dress depends much more on age and class than upon nationality (or regionality, in the case of the nonexistant monolith “Europe”.) The advent of places like Zara and Mango and H&M hasn’t done any favors for the dress sense of budget-conscious young women in any of the coutries where these places are popular – but I’d say the same for Wet Seal, Contempo Casuals, The Limited and the like in the USA. I get the feeling that most women who post on this board for clothing advice aren’t in the 13 – 23 age range, so I’m not sure these women in strappy tops with navel rings are fitting role models. If you want to make comparisons, better to focus on what people in your demographic are wearing, not on the moust outragous things you see on the subway or street.<BR><BR>Also, midummer heat does play a role in Southern Europe. Consider NYC in the middle of the long, hot, humid summer – you see people wearing things then that they’d never wear outside the house (or admit to owning) the other 10 months of the year!<BR>