greenery

I am currently traveling on a round the world trip. I have been traveling for a few months now. My first stop was in Buenos Aires, then on to Sydney, then on to Singapore, them on to Europe. I am currently in Vienna, Austria.

One of the things that has hit me since the start of the trip is how much sharper the kids and adults look than Americans. Keeping up appearances seem to be more important overseas than in America.

In America, while many people are concerned with how they look, an increasing number DO NOT. I am seeing more and more Americans who look just plain sloppy. They need to lose weight, get some clothes that fit them, get an haircut, shave and wash their face. While overseas I have been doing alot of "people watching" and it seems like keeping up appearances is far more important.

In Buenos Aires, many people were struggling financially, but I saw almost no-one that looked rough, tacky or overweight. People looked more like America in the 1950s. In Sydney, people looked much more fit and sharp looking. In Singapore, I saw so many beautiful women and everyone was so hardworking. Finally here in Vienna, I am just so impressed with the look of the people.

This is not a troll posting. I am very interested in hearing from other world travelers think about the "look of Americans" vs the people overseas.

magexpect

Well, yes, they do in some cases.
I tend to observe the following: Americans coming to Europe on business have a tendency to dress very well for their appointments as they would when going to the office at home, but while they travel and as soon as they have some "free time", they have a tendency to overdo on the word "casual wear". Shirts seem not to find their ways into pants and sneakers pop up everywhere. A word of advice: if you are over 25, please, no matter how sporty you are, leave the sneakers at home. There are very comfortable shoes on the market...
As for the tourists, the way they dress has nothing to do with casual wear any more. But here again, there are two groups: The wealthy or well to do who overdress on every occasion: you meet them mostly at the Georges V in Paris, the Excelsior in Rome etc. Then you have the run of the mill tourist... There I agree with you... sloppiness galore. Ghastly.

dd992emo

Maybe Americans aren't hung up on impressing other people. One man's sloppy is another man's comfortable. Are people in Social Circle, Georgia more sloppy than people in San Francisco? And, of course, the ultimate question....who cares?

BigLar

I wore sneakers in Paris, and didn't care who saw me. I noticed a lot of people wearing sneakers. I'm sure they were very educated American tourists, because they all seemed to speak flawless French.

KMHT FF

I think what the OP is saying is that Americans in general don't look well put together - they are fat, slovenly, and wear "relax fit" clothes that make them even fatter and more slovenly.

So it's not a matter of sneakers, it's a matter of the rest of package which just isn't there.

civicmon

and why should I?

greenery

I was not talking about tennis shoes or casual clothes sloppy but:

Huge Pot Belly, huge tee shirt, oversized pants, overdue haircut, gressy face, unshaved, frumpy SLOPPY. (This look is becoming more and more common in America (especially with "working class" Americans), but far less common overseas regardless of social class or economic situation.

civicmon

really.. who cares? Who are you to dictate how people should dress and groom themselves? As long as they don't stink and disrupt my life in a negative way, I could care less how they dress or how often someone shaves.

if you're so disgusted, move to Buenos Aires and Paris and let 'working class' people live as they like.

Nobbi

OMNI topic?

magexpect

I have to admit that I could not resist to provoke a little bit, so plesae, accept my apologies.
To return to the subject, I receive quite a large amount of PM's or emails from FTers who specifically ask how they should dress when coming to Europe as many, it seems, do not want to stand out as Americans while here. This is why I said leave the sneakers at home, at least the obvious ones that you can buy only in the US as well as the nurse shoes that so many ladies love to wear for comfort. As far as I am concerned, I don`t care very much as long as people are clean, and here Americans ARE the cleanest by a long shot. They m,ight be sloppy in appearance but they are clean. Much clöeaner than the average European at least.

KMHT FF

The only dictating that I've seen thus far in this thread is from you.

Take it easy.

Whatever value judgement you want to assign to the observations is up to you, but the fundamental observations remain valid.

magexpect

Definitely not.
civicmon are you touchy today?

party_boy

I don't want to get too much into this since I'm still @ work, but I have noticed that Americans in general have gotten to be quite lazy about damn near everything. Relaxed education standards results in relaxed work standards...which then turns into relaxed appearences. From there it all goes downhill. We used to at least go outside and enjoy ourselves, but now instead we watch TV to see other people going outside and enjoying themselves. Intresting, no?

We in America are now a glutton of instant gratification mongers suffering from the "me first and only" syndrome. It is quite disappointing to say the least.

*disclaimer* I am an American and I'm wearing my asbestos undies....flame away!

DeafFlyer

Another thread that is basically about overweight people. Don't we have enough of those?

amarain

He (she?) never actually said that Americans SHOULDN'T look sloppy, only that they do.

Personally, I think dressing up is good because it indicates a certain degree of pride and self-respect, but hey, just my opinion. I think people should attempt to look presentable, but I'm not about to lobby Congress for it.

I don't think this is about overweight people. In fact, one of the biggest complaints I have with the way Americans dress is the way that girls/young women wear jeans that are at least one size too small for them, ensuring that even the thinnest girl has a roll of fat hanging over her pants. Not attractive.