Originally Posted by
oneworld82
As a European living in a major Texan city, I feel I had to start "dressing down" even at work because local co-workers would poke fun at my "trying too hard". Here wearing Dockers and a sport Texas Rangers polo is considered business casual. I adapted to the place because each part of the World has its ways of doing things, and NYC is certainly very different than DFW, but I do agree with what OP stated for the most part. 9/10 men even in their mid-to-late 30's still wear t-shirts and baseball caps when going out at night, while women are always impeccably dressed up.
This is an accurate statement. I now live in Houston, but I grew up on the beaches of southern california (moved from Newport to Houston 5 years ago). The first 3 years of being in Houston, I traveled the country and for the last 2 I've been traveling the world.
I am a "flip flops and shorts" type of person as that is what we do in California. You can walk into one of the nicest restaurants around dressed this way and it is acceptable (for the most part). My father is from the east coast, so he has a slightly different view.
When I travel abroad, i wear shorts and a tshirt. I travel in F 90%+ of the time as well on UA, LH, EK etc. I am the most "poorly" dressed person on the plane. But I don't care because I prefer to be comfortable and stay cool on flights where the temp can often be very warm!
Calling it Homophobia or metrophobia is off base.... It just depends on where you are from. When I want to be comfortable, I dress to be comfortable. When I want to impress, it's Tom Ford, Varvatos, etc.