Appropriate clothing for teens

European teens are more fashion forward than most American teens but "dressed up" not really in my experience. "Teens" include a range of ages. If there is a difference for both adults and teens I would say it is in fit. Americans' seem to like baggier, Europeans like more fitted. Of course, it also depends on the country. Italy is totally different than Germany, of course, much more "done up". And age makes a big difference. Major European Sports Brands now have multi-colored trainers and athletic wear that your son will simply want to buy, so let him. There are women's styles of similar items so let your daughter sample them a bit too. The "sophisticated" look is much more prominent with girls, with shorter skirts, tighter tops, etc. But MOST kids are kids and bands are bands. They need to be comfortable in their own skins so don't try to change too much, and let them know that if they see something new that they really like the look of it can be one of their "souvenirs." I still gravitate to my Italian brand of hiking shoes a decade later and my daughter seeks out trainers like she wore when she went to school in the UK.

I haven't been anywhere in Europe where teenagers look more sophisticated and dressed up than teenagers in the US. I'd consider if I were going to a very nice upscale restaurant at home would you suggest your daughter dress up a bit or are you fine with her wearing a band tshirt? Packing one upgraded shirt for each kid would suffice without taking up too much space but having something nice to wear at a nicer restaurant.

Thank you both! This was pretty in line with what I was thinking.
And our last name is the name of an Italian hiking boot company - so your response reminded me that it would be a fun souvenir if they could find some they like while we’re there.

I don't remember whether I saw teenagers in Italy. I wore shorts and tee shirts in warm weather when I was a kid. Now I don't own any shorts; my normal travel clothes have been some kind of lace up street shoe, outdoor shoe, or hiking shoe (when I was younger and a fool once I got a burn on my foot once using an open toe shoe) ; lightweight hiking pants (I guess you can wear blue jeans, tight stretch pants, or other pants to most places. Maybe you can wear shorts to many places. Maybe just pack all long pants), a button down long-sleeved shirt with a collar (tee shirts are too casual but at most places they don't mind if you wear one anyway. Maybe pick tee shirts without vocabulary George Carlin observed that you can't say on television); a sun hat (You don't need a hat for the style. A lot of people prefer baseball caps). I am not brand conscious. My shirts are "club room".

Buonasera Catmom.

Italian teenagers wear casual stuff. Maybe not a lot of worn out athletic t-shirts with lots of sport team logos pulled out of the hamper, but they do wear casual t-shirts and Bermuda shorts a lot in summer (or jeans in less hot weather). The only main difference with American teenagers is that young Italians consider it somewhat unfashionable to wear socks with Bermuda shorts. They generally wear footsies or nothing at all. Also Tshirts with no writings at all are more common and can be considered appropriate enough for most occasions, except for maybe the most upscale very formal restaurants. Tell your kids to leave worn out athletic garb with lots of writings for when they come back home. Tshirts without writings and solid colors can serve for both casual and less casual occasions.

See the images below.

https://images.app.goo.gl/y8wUXNv7pjhCH2uk6

Thanks, Roberto. That’s what I was hoping - that solid Ts would suffice for days/evenings we have “nicer” plans or reservations. We won’t be doing anything super upscale. And they aren’t (usually) wearing things that are worn out or pulling things out of the hamper:)

Don’t fret over these things. Italians won’t care. They are used to unfashionable Yankees and won’t even pay attention to your (or your kids’) presence. But they do sometimes make fun of foreigners wearing socks with shorts (other than while doing some sports activity) but only among themselves (especially Germans who wear socks with sandals all the times. Tell your kids not to wear socks with sandals, and they’ll be fine.)

Lots of tshirts here with NASA, Yankees, Chicago Bulls, Lakers.... on the boys. Rare on the girls here and I am in the local high schools. Everyone has a hoodie (plain). Most of the girls I see wear black.

Another thing to note - if your kids decide they want to look more “local” we saw plenty of stores selling inexpensive clothes to Italian teens so it’ll be easy to buy some. We also made a trip to the mall in Pompei in search of a few things for our teenage daughter so we could avoid doing laundry and found great deals at the H&M store. Good luck!

I agree with the comment about the content of the t-shirts. You should definitely screen them for anything potentially offensive, but otherwise, it's a bad idea to try to impose a dress code on a teenager. If the adults want to get dressed up and eat at a nice restaurant, that's a great occasion for the kids to have a little freedom and try the local street foods (or stay in the room being emo). Everyone will enjoy themselves more. You can meet up for gelato after.

I haven't been anywhere in Europe where teenagers look more
sophisticated and dressed up than teenagers in the US.

Agree

I don't live in Italy but the young Italian tourists here (and there are a lot this year) are dressed pretty much the same as the tourists from America, Spain and Denmark. Printed TShirts, everything from beer to US National parks to Chicago Bulls and name brand shirts like The North Face somewhat common.

I find the walking tour YT videos helpful in determining what to wear. Be sure to watch both the day and evening videos (Italians dress to impress after the sun goes down).