Shorts or no shorts--Inquiring Minds want to know.

I copied so many lines from that article to paste to this post and comment on until I realized it's all good from start to finish. When I was there 3 weeks ago, shorts or not I was still a white guy from Canada and it became clear right away that nobody was going to mistake me for anything but a tourist.

This topic came up a while ago from someone living in Vienna. That post got a bit strange. But this guy hit it right on the head. I would point out that the article is speaking about Paris and not Europe. Spain might be a bit more liberal on the subject while Romania a bit less liberal ... dont know, just guessing. I just got back from Hungary and there it seemed to be very generational. Young Hungarians in very stylish shorts. Oh, and the Brits at every age in sloppy shorts.

Except for someone's comments about running shorts(which I don't wear), the recommendations in this article basically describe my shorts-wearing behavior at home. Of course, 90 is an everyday occurrence where I live, as are buildings that have freezing cold AC.

I watch the BBC and Sky News. In both, as they cover the Saharan heat wave with their focus on Paris, they show many, many people in shorts doing what they can to keep cool including walking through pop-up fountains and the like. Are they all tourists? 😂

I haven't clicked through - but just FYI, I'm a local not a tourist in England and I've had shorts on every day - even in the freeze-up of yesterday - since the 20th of June. It is summer now and when I can I will be wearing shorts. British shorts, from Chums.

That's here in the hinterland but also in London and Birmingham (so far).

For the safety of the eyes of the general public, I don't wear shorts above my knees.
Anywhere.
;))

I feel badly for anyone who isn’t “stylish”!🤭
Respectful attire, being stylish or not, is what is important!

I'm 6 foot 8, almost 300 pounds with a size 17 shoe. I'm going to stick out in a crowd no matter what I do or wear, so I'm going for comfort.
Nice shorts (below the knee)
New balance tennis shoes (I don't have the luxury of being fashionable)

If anyone has a problem with that, they can come talk to me when I'm there

hehe this article reminds me of what I tell my husband (though it drives him nuts). He's several years younger than me, still fit and trim (curse him and his hummingbird metabolism!). So when he asks me if a certain outfit works for him or not, I just point out he can wear whatever the heck he darn well pleases. Even in some outlandish, outrageous assembly of sartorial excess, people would probably just look at him and assume he was setting a new trend, or is "creative" and "has his own style".

Me, on the other hand? I'd earn either ire or pity. I'm only half-joking when I say one of the reasons I love traveling to Europe late fall to early spring is it gives me the chance to cover myself in heavy coats. Even winter at home is a welcome opportunity to hide myself under a nice, thick, heavy, dark jacket.

I'd suspect that's one reason people always seem to look so dapper and distinguished in certain cities with chillier weather - stylish jackets, scarves, cute knitted hats, nice leather boots! You're well set up to look good, compared to folks sweating along in shorts and flip flops because it's 100 degrees out during most of the days they encounter!

Great article. I try to travel in the off season so I can comfortably wear long pants in Europe.

I have found the Chinos by Bluffworks are extremely lightweight, don't look like "travel pants" with visible cargo pockets and zippers, & look good through multiple days of wearing. Be sure to get the Chinos, not the Original pants. The Chinos don't look or feel artificial, but the Originals look and feel like plastic travel pants.

And when it gets super hot my "go to" shorts are the Prana Furrow hemp blend shorts. Super light and cool, and stylish enough to possibly wear in Paris.

I never wear shorts in Europe, never have either, regardless if it's 45F as it was in April 2018 in London or 95 F in the summer, be it in France, Austria, and so on, ....simply not part of my traveling wardrobe

Heather's article is pretty good, but I'll quibble with two things:

1. Her focus on style and being stylish. Perhaps that's a Paris versus countryside matter, but people who obsess over what's in style or considered stylish are tiresome at best. Get over it. Wear what makes you feel comfortable and good about yourself. Don't shoehorn yourself into something just because you're under the impression, or have been told, that it's "stylish," or, better yet, "fabulously stylish."

2. Shorts at the office -- more common than she suggests, especially among younger workers. Long pants, skirts, and dresses still are more common, but shorts in the modern French office environment are by no means as rare as she suggests, based on my experience and observation.

We were walking behind a young woman (tourist) in Brugge yesterday whose butt cheeks were showing below her shorts - not a pretty sight.

A few hours in Paris on a hot day in long pants, and soon you will be wearing shorts. No, I didn't wear cargo shorts with a John Deere hat and a wife-beater t-shirt with mustard and ketchup stains.

I chaperoned a school trip to a water park yesterday, and my fellow-chaperone, John, wore corduroy pants with wool socks and crocs. It was 91F. I was sweating just looking at him, but he seemed comfortable. Some people have different thermostats than others. My dad is 83 and keeps his house at 80F while wearing long sleeves and long pants.

As far as short-shorts on women and what it shows, honestly, doesn't it depend on whether she can pull it off or not? It's like yoga pants or a skin-tight cycling outfit -- doesn't work for everyone. For some, however, wow.

As an American that lived in Germany from 87-91 and prior to that traveled a lot in Europe, I found Europeans tended not to dress as casual as Americans.

It varied by country, with Mediterranean countries like Italy and Spain, I found the people tended to dress up more than Northern Europeans. Also, I would say more stylish dress.

Today, I find that Europeans tend to dress down more than 35 years ago. This was true more in the UK and Germany.

When it is hot, we noticed more Europeans wearing shorts. Still, I think there is still a difference.

When touring in Europe and visiting its medieval churches, shorts can be a problem.

It is ironic, when we visited India in April and the temperature was in the mid to upper 90s that shorts were not so common. You could not go in the Hindu Temples wearing shorts.

One thing that I found about travel in Europe, tourist stand out very easily. Just having a camera and tote bag with a travel guide will give you away. When I lived in Germany and had some nice Norwegian sweaters that I wore, people on the street frequently mistook me for a local.

Back in the 80s few Europeans wore athletic shoes. Americans on tour tended to wear athletic shoes. Now, I notice more Europeans wearing athletic shoes.

Europeans do not have the hang-ups that Americans tend to have when it comes to covering areas or being ashamed of your body. Women in Europe, in particular, are very comfortable with their bodies. Several body shaming comments in this thread make me uncomfortable and sad.

We saw people dressed in a variety of ways in Vienna and Salzburg this past week. It’s very hot and many people were wearing shorts-it’s hard to tell sometimes who are the tourists and who are the locals so I’m not sure! Many women were wearing long flowy skirts and dresses which are what I tend to wear because they make me feel cooler than shorts/pants. Many many people were wearing hats, baseball hats and all types of summer hats.

Women in Europe, in particular, are very comfortable with their bodies

Well, I for one don't care how comfortable you are with your body, showing half your butt or half your boobs is not appropriate in all situations in all places. There is a time and place to display your comfort with your own body. And that goes not just for women but for men also - just because it's hot does not mean it's ok to go bare chested anywhere at any time. It's not just a matter of comfort, it's a matter of common sense (or lack thereof).

As for the article, it's pretty much the same old same old but I liked the last sentence.

Nancy - Well, fortunately, many don’t share your opinion. What someone chooses to wear is their own business. Butt cheeks and boobs don’t phase folks over here in the same way. Americans should drop their prudish ways at immigration check.

Comments alluding that larger women cannot carry off a certain look is very offensive no matter how you spin it.

Nancy and Emily,
I can attest to the difference in modesty, male and female in Europe vs. the US.

My first time in Germany in 1982, I remember seeing a guy urinating beside his car that he had pulled over on the autobahn. In the USA, you might very well get arrested for exposure.

Then go into a Sauna in Germany, the saunas are coed and no one wears any clothes. After a while, it is no big deal.

Go to the beach in France, Greece or elsewhere and you find some women sunbathing with their tops off. We have nude beaches in the USA, but that doesn't happen at non-nude beaches in the US.
What I remember about the Italian commercial (we turned the TV on while in our hotel near Venice in 1990 and a model in a fur coat, too the coat off and had nothing on at all. My 16 year old Stepson loved that.

Give me a break people. I'm not a prude. I have enjoyed nude beaches myself in the past (I wouldn't inflict my 70+ flab on anyone these days) and it certainly doesn't bother me to see people sunbathing in the nude in parks or enjoying the spas and baths in Europe (or anywhere). I do draw the line at public urinating in the city where it's smelly and unsanitary. Out in the country or along side a deserted road, I've sometimes found the need too great to put off and indulged myself. I'm just saying that I don't appreciate seeing somebodies body parts bouncing by me when I'm enjoying an outdoor meal in a cafe or when visiting public venues like museums, ruins, or churches.

And, believe it or not Emily, I don't think I'm in the minority on this.

Among Europeans you are in the minority. I also was swimming yesterday amongst the locals and loved that every woman there, but especially the 70+ crowd were either nude or in bikinis. So refreshing.

You will find in Europe we are not such Quakers as in the States ;) nudity, vulgarity, even staying up later... I'm surprised by how much of that is still censored on the TV in the US and that many towns are dead by 10:00pm!

I don't think this mysterious beast "Europeans" are any different from their North American counterparts. Some like to go tackle out, many don't. Some see it as quite normal in others, but many are quite happy to pass the day without seeing a strangers bits and pieces. There is no "European" attitude and it's daft to suggest there is - after all there is a nudist beach in Vancouver, but try to enter the Vatican in the nuddy and you'll raise eyebrows, if nothing else.

My point is that European women are more comfortable with their bodies, which I love.

There is no "European" attitude and it's daft to suggest there is - after all there is a nudist beach in Vancouver, but try to enter the Vatican in the nuddy and you'll raise eyebrows, if nothing else.

Thank you Nick, that's exactly what I'm saying. We have nude beaches here in Oregon too, and in Minnesota where I spent most of my life. We are not all puritanical prudes here in the hinterlands. And, since I know a few, I'll say that Europeans are not all exhibitionists either and it's silly to suggest that they are. I'm completely comfortable with my body (naked and clothed), probably more than most of my family or friends are. All I'm saying is that there are limits.

Emily, do you or your kids or your friends go to school or church or out to eat nude, or in their underwear, or in their bathing suits? Do most of the Europeans you are referring to who are so comfortable with their bodies? I kind of doubt it.

Nancy, your comparison is absurd and I believe you’ve missed my point.

That said, my kids can wear what they like, as do I. Again, the my point is that European women are not embarrassed about their bodies like American women tend to be. Also, showing a little boob and butt cheek here isn’t a big deal.

My only point is if one is going to "show something" it should be "something" that is not revolting to other people, particularly if a meal is being served. My wife and me dress comfortably yet modestly in consideration of others, not our own self-interests. Maybe if we were 25 years old and fit it would be different. Trust me in that NOBODY wants to see us in bikinis.

It's like a cowboy hat in that some folks look good in one, and others look goofy.

NOBODY wants to see us in bikinis.

Oh I don't know - back in the day when we had Ed from Pensacola among the rabble-rousers around here we all got to see him (not a young man) in his Speedos running through the airport (there's more to the story). In our mind's eye, but nevertheless the whole description painted quite a picture.

So never say never, and not nobody neither.

What is "revolting" to me or you might be a thing of beauty to others. Don't they always say the people you see at a nude beach are the ones you don't ever want to see at a nude beach? Probably means I need to quit going to those places.

I don't care for most of the current "style" that represents what many people wear. A lot of it just looks uncomfortable. But it is not for me to dictate what anyone can or cannot wear.

Wow this topic sure has veered off on a tangent, hasn't it?

I do wonder if Europe's more relaxed culture will change with increasing numbers of Muslims. There is a culture clash.

This article addresses the question quite well with the answer of "maybe". There seems to be a lot of situational awareness, subtlety and judgment that comes into play - the difference between "can" and "should" for example - that makes the question of wearing shorts not one you can answer with a simple yes or no. There won't be any agreement on where the line is between "comfortable" and "slob" based on the discussion here, and yes, people will judge you based on your appearance, they just wont say anything to you. That's human nature. Just my opinion.

I live near the beach and shorts are the norm. The other day it was warm and I had reason to go to Beverly Hills, I felt a little self conscious in shorts. I remember thinking most were either in business or trendy clothing and the only ones in shorts looked like tourists to me. Everything is relative.
There were several restaurants with sidewalk tables and I figured I'd have lunch and pretend I was in Paris. The view was great until people on either side of me got on their phones and nothing seemed to epitomize more the worst of L.A. behavior. In the past I would have pretended to talk on my phone and loudly explain how I can't talk because I am at a restaurant, but I just let it go. I know, another discussion.

These conversations are ridiculous sometimes .

Let me explain something / in Paris - as in all big cities - locals are going to work or school mostly -so of course they dress differently than tourists on vacation .

I get tired of tourists asking about how to “ look like locals “ - the tourists in my own city look like tourists - they aren’t going to pick up kids at daycare , or to meet their mortgage broker , they aren’t looking at every building and going for long lunches lol

Just got back from 5 weeks in Europe and we saw the whole gamut of styles - and we didn’t see anyone being arrested by the fashion police .

Emily your statements are sweeping - as you’ve pointed out yourself “ Europe “ is made of many countries and there are differences .

“ good “ Greek or Italian girls do not go topless - in fact many locals do not appreciate that some tourists do .

It’s fine in Germany , France , but it is not as acceptable in other places / never saw any toplessness on Brighton Beach last month .

As for “ European women not being as body conscious “ - baloney - I’ve never seen a city that doesn’t have tons of skin treatment centres , salons - and ads for weight control products . They may not have the same standards of modesty but they care just as much !

Pat - so glad you agree. Modesty and caring about one’s appearance are two very different things.