I've seen it asked several times on different forums (fora?), so here is the definitive (well, maybe) answer to "How should I dress for Italy?"

http://www.straughan.com/italy/dressing.htm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

I was right with all I've suggested in past threads, especially regarding the Levi's jeans You have a daughter raised in Milan and I had a son that was a Fashion Designer (Haute Couture) graduated from Parsons School and F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology) and used to travel to Europe very often and a daughter graduated from F.I.T. in Fashion Buying and Merchandising and working in one of the most prestigious stores on Fifth Avenue The only problem is that they spoil you...

I thought the answer was 42.

Rar, nobody is asking you for your shoe size

No, my shoe size is 46, but 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

(If you have no idea what I'm talking about, which is likely, click here Funniest series of books ever!)

46! you are a big guy! I have to buy this book and the other two because of these words in one of the reviews: "This series is bizarre comic sarcasm at its best. A smile automatically paints itself on your face as you begin to read." I will look for it tomorrow so I have something to read on the plane.

There are actually 5 total in the series, started by Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Which is the funniest book I have read, ever.

Who says there can only be four books in a trilogy? So he wrote number 5.

In Lazio, in summer 2002, many of the men in Vetralla were wearing track suits. I think it really depends if you are going to the small towns or the big cities. It is much more casual in the small towns.

Steve and I are big Hitchhiker's fans - I think we have the first two series memorized. They started out as radio shows, then he made books from that. The radio shows are the best - and BBC has reissued them on CD. I remember when they first broadcast them on the CBC in Canada in the early 80s.
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Primary and Secondary Phase (BBC Radio) - this is the link on Amazon.co.uk for the cassette, but I got it on CD (but could not find it on Amazon just now)

"In Lazio, in summer 2002, many of the men in Vetralla were wearing track suits. I think it really depends if you are going to the small towns or the big cities. It is much more casual in the small towns. "

That could well be. My perceptions are probably warped towards the high end from 12 years in Milan.

Yep track suits are popular here in Siena and I have seen them a lot in the mall at Prato as well. Didn't pay attention last time I was in Florence. Big clunky athletic shoes as well. And fanny packs are used but only if carried diagonally across the chest. I think every area is different and while I know Milano, especially downtown, is dressy, Siena, unless you are over 60 isn't. I have even seen the contessa who lives around the corner dressed in a track suit .

I haven´t lived in Italy, but I don´t think I would wear a track suit or sweats nearly anywhere in Europe. The link above was pretty accurate, particularly for the classy Italians.

The idea is that people in Europe try to look like they are nobility, even when they aren´t. That´s why everyone and their mother... and I´m talking lower class people, wear that horribly ugly Burberry pattern, mostly in the form of a scarf, but also in jacket linings and on umbrellas. (You know what I´m talking about---the beige with black, white and red plaid) When we were there in '98 we counted 258 pieces in two days alone. The Colosseum was littered with these cheap knockoffs... Impossible to find your party amongst the million ´where´s waldo´ wannabees.

And women in Europe (particularly in Italy) try to look feminine. Clothes that fit, aren´t riske´, and that look like (though probably aren´t) designer wear.

So, some alternatives: You can´t go too wrong with leather; black, white, beige and gray for colors; and, of course, clothes that fit and flatter your body! Leave the white socks and shoes home... if you want sneakers, get the so-called ´retro bowling shoes´ (as I´ve seen them called back home) in not too wild of colors... they are just as comfortable, but far more stylish. And if you don´t like jeans or black pants, ditch the shorts and go for a nice pair of capri pants (peddle pushers). They are cool, but modest. You won´t stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd. Stick to solid colors in mild, classic tones.

A good discussion for unaware Americans...

Since the question of dress comes up frequently, Amy has written a page of the FAQ for it.
How to Dress in Italy This subject is known for getting heated so please, remember, to each his own If it gets too heated I will close this thread.

Cristina

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Originally posted by Deirdre:

[...] answer to "How should I dress for Italy?"

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What happens if I don't agree with most of the your answers (or don't live by them even though I am italian)? ^_^

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No track suits, sweat suits, or the like, and no baggy sweatshirts. Well, really, no baggy anything.

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Thell your "no baggy anything" to the guy I met yesterday ont he subway: his trousers' "cavallo" hung down to his knees! Also, tracksuits (expecually those horRRrible ones in shiny and slick sintetic fabric, are very common for men.

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No clunky white sports shoes.

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Well, the EIGHT Italians I counted while I was waiting for Luca to pick me up at the Prato station last Friday who were wearing the whitest sposts shoes I have ever seen (I was bored, had to think about something to keep me amused ;-P).

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No daypacks or backpacks, unless you're in your 20s or younger.

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Hemmm... I have been using a backpack everyday ever since I returning from Edinburgh this summer...

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No t-shirts, especially not with big pictures or slogans on them, again, unless you're under 30.

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Lua and I are both over 30 (he is LONG over 30 and edging 40). In summer we both wear t-shirts. His last random gift was a t.shir with a big colorful drawing and a quotation from Bukowsky ^_^

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No shorts, especially not for men.

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Than Luca is not Italian. He always wears shorts in Summer.

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Blue jeans are fine, as long as they are well-fitting, clean, and in good condition (or any damage is intentional and fashionable) [...].

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I suppose that my two pairs of Levi's both badly worn out form overuse, one on the insides of the lgs, the other around the edge, sohould not be accounted...

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Men, always wear collared shirts (polos are okay).

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Take a look at the pic below... He is not only not wearing a shirt, not only not wearing anything with a collar... His shirt even lacks sleeves!

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Wear dark or subdued colors, except maybe in summer. Even then, Italians wear white or pastels, not the bright purples and blues that many Americans like.

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Germans wear white. It's one of the way to recognize them. As for pastels, I think I have a pastel T-shirt. I stopped wearing that light blue shirt when I washed it wrong and it lost all color. I am keeping it in case I have to help someone move or paint the house. For the rest, in summer I go for the brightest colors I can find, especially reds and blues.

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As a tourist you'll be walking a lot, so I do recommend very comfortable shoes, even though this seems never to be a consideration for Italians, at least not for women [...]

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Uhm... Doc Martens boots in winter and Birkenstock sandals in summer are to be counted amongst those?

The real meaning of my post is: sure, don't wear all this stuff toghether, but don't be shy about wearing a pair of white sports shose under a pair of well pressed jeans and a blue polo shirt just because you were told not to: you will meet many italians dressed like in Pic n. 2 on the streets. On the other hand, I remeber seeing this very nice and quite proud family of Americans wearing what they thought was disguising: both women were wearing capris, walking shoes and had scarves about their shoulders even outside the churches, while the man (father and husband) was wearing a white collared shirt with no tie and dark blue trousers, carefully pressed, with a hat that reminded my about my late uncle when he went fishing. The stood out so much that they may as well have carried a big placard with "We are well informed American tourists" written on it ^_^

Pic. 2

I guess I can only add
"So long and thanks for all the fish!"

We also have an FAQ about this on the web site:
http://www.slowtrav.com/faq/clothes.htm

My advice - remember you have to dress decently to go into a church - for everything else, dress however you like to dress and if you are extra casual at home (like me), just go up a notch in dressiness (pack the t-shirts that don't have holes in them). If you are someone who loves to dress up, then do it and look fabulous. If, like me, clothes are for comfort and warmth (or coolth) only, dress comfortably but lean towards the slightly more dressed up.

That said, on our September trip, our German friends in Konstanz wore big white running shoes and our Italian friends in Rome sometimes wore running shoes (especially when running).

What you want to avoid is this combination: baseball cap, hawaiian shirt, baggy shorts, teva sandals, camera around the neck, backpack. One year we traveled with a friend who wore that every day and I felt like we had a neon sign pointing to us >>> Americans!! (But he was Canadian.)

My rules for my clothing are simple...
1-Can they be hand washed and dried overnight on a hanger?
2-Do they pack with a minimum of wrinkles?
3-Can I dress something up with a scarf or jewelry enough for dinner in a nice restaurant?
4-Are they comfortable?
It really doesn't matter to Italian's how I dress, as long as it is respectful for the situation. (i.e.- sleeves in churches)
The fact is that I am an American. When I open my mouth I distroy any "blending in" image I may have tried to so carefully construct.

I like Deborah's rules! Two additional rules I start with: 1. Are they pants (trousers/slacks)? (Two skirts max!) 2. Can I wear most everything with most everything else?

Of course there's going to be disagreement and exceptions - hence the repetition at the end of my article that I was attempting to answer the question "How to dress to fit in," which I have seen asked here and there. If you don't care about dressing to fit in (which I don't, always), then anything goes (unless you want to go into a church).

It took me years to act on it, but I have always remembered something my boss said a long time ago: In Italy, dressing well is an act of courtesy towards others. Not every Italian thinks this way, and no one does it all the time, but, as a philosophy, it seems to me a mark of an advanced civilization.

Plus, I am permanently scarred from the vision, 20 years ago, of an American woman in a supermarket in Jakarta, wearing sloppy clothes, with her hair in curlers. Maybe going shopping in curlers was normal where she came from, but I cringed at her doing it in a country where she was a guest, and, by shared nationality, implicated me in her rudeness.