In Italy now - Blue jeans everywhere - Please advise

Michael, thanks for this post! My 15-yo daughter was worried about not being able to bring her favorite pair of jeans! This will help put her mind to rest. :)

Yes, they definitely wear jeans. Especially the younger ones, but as you said even some of the older ones. (That being said, the older Italians will often wear jeans with a tucked in button up shirt, a fashionable belt--it's not jeans and tshirts for that age) They also tend to wear darker jeans, but lighter ones won't necessarily stand out. My Italian cousin even wore long jean shorts sometimes (eww haha, I don't think that's very good looking at all).

Laurie, there's no reason why your daughter shouldn't take her jeans, there's just every reason why she shouldn't expect to launder them. The 2 big reasons why people on this forum object to jeans is that they can be frightfully hot to wear and impossible to get dry once if you wash them in a sink...it's not that they are out of place or unfashionable.

Agree with Jane - of course Italians wear jeans. But not at church. Not at dinner in nice restaurants. Not to work. And why someone would want to wear jeans on a hot summer day in Italy is beyond me. Light, loose khakis or skirts is the way to go. Wearing shorts, now there is a whole nother topic...

I wear jeans when I am in Seattle (from Hawaii) but would not take them to Europe as I go every summer and travel for a month out of a 21" RS roller bag which means I do laundry every 3rd or 4th night in my room sink and hang stuff and it needs to be dry the next morning, not in several days like jeans I took on a fall trip years ago. I also am at the age that I dress for my comfort in traveling, not what the locals may be wearing. Happy travels

I do take jeans. I don't wash them in the sink, but I have washed them in a washer and hung them to dry. Give them AT LEAST 24 hours, but preferably longer to dry. I take a couple of hangers that have the pinch type things on them and hang pants to dry. I have seen jeans of every shade of blue, not just dark wash jeans. If it is hot, jeans will be hot. Even during the warm time of year I would take one pair. Otherwise I take two pair. Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback EVER! As far as I'm concerned, he can wear anything he wants. Long live #16!!!!

I'm with Joe on wearing shorts. I'm in Italy now, it is hot. When I'm home I wear shorts when it is hot, why not here? Many Italian men wearing shorts in Padova, (although mainly 40 and younger). And I am not even counting those awful manpris (either wear shorts or long pants, pick one).

FWIW, we have even seen the owners of pretty nice restaurants wearing jeans while on the job. One guy is the owner of La Palomba in Orvieto. He's a 50-something successful restaurant owner and was wearing blue jeans in the evening while on the job, greeting and seating people and taking orders to help out the classy waitress. This question is pretty much moot for us since we're now in Verona and it's just too toasty to wear jeans. I'm so glad I have my lightweight tan pants. They're much more comfortable. I just wish I had brought two pair so I could wear one while the other is drying.

Ed - I respect your opinion and your travel experience, but I think you've missed my point. I never said one MUST care what they wear. In fact, I said: "So the real questions are: 1) Should you care what you're wearing? 2) Should you care that THEY care what you're wearing? Everyone is going to answer that differently according to their own personallity and priorities." If you answer "no" to both those questions, then good for you. To each their own. As for showing respect to other cultures, I guess the best example would be this: If a tourist were to show up at your church wearing nothing but a speedo, maybe even snapping photos or talking loudly while church was in service, you'd probably be a little offended. Does this mean we need to walk around Europe in designer clothing and/or our best dress shoes? Of course not. But I do think we need to keep in mind that what is a vacation location for us is where others live, work, pray and raise their family. Most churches in Italy are not just museums for us to gawk at - they're living places of worship. When we travel abroad we are guests in their "home". A minimum amount of respect - including, but not limited to non-offensive clothing - should be exepected (just as we would expect the same from them). Is that really too much to ask?

I saw the mayor of Florence (who is in his thirties), at the flower laying ceremony in memory of Savonarola at Piazza della Signoria this week. He was part of the ceremony and was wearing dark jeans, a nice shirt, a belt, nice shoes and a jacket. And, his mayoral sash. So I'm pretty sure you can wear jeans in Italy.

You should wear whatever you are comfortable in. Forget trying to blend in because it's not going to happen. Nobody cares what you are wearing. Next time we will plan on stopping one day at a laundromat (over a two week trip) Our jeans were taking on a life of their own. If you are going in the summer jeans will be to hot and I'd opt for light cotton anything instead.

I know I'm nitpicking here, but I think it's obviously wrong to say "no one cares what you're wearing". Italy - Milan especially - is the fashion capital of the world. The Italians take GREAT pride in looking good and doing everything with style. So OF COURSE THEY CARE WHAT YOU'RE WEARING. So the real questions are: 1) Should you care what you're wearing? 2) Should you care that THEY care what you're wearing? Everyone is going to answer that differently according to their own personallity and priorities. And by the way - you CAN "blend in". I do it all the time. In fact, I have yet to travel anywhere where I was not stopped and asked directions by someone - even by locals who mistook me for one of them. But then, I am someone who cares what he wears, and I do my best to "fit in" to a foreign culture, if for no other reason than out of simple respect for those other cultures.

"But then, I am someone who cares what he wears, and I do my best to "fit in" to a foreign culture, if for no other reason than out of simple respect for those other cultures." I can think of better, less superficial ways to show respect for a culture. I was asked for directions by an Italian today. Yes, I was wearing shorts.

I never claimed that dressing well was the best, or only, way to show respect. But it is the most readily noticable. Like it or not, be it shallow or not (although, really, it is), what you wear does make a statement to those around you. Even if you make no effort in your dress, you will then send the message that you're the type of person who makes no effort in what he looks like. For better or worse, people naturally assume things about you by how you present yourself. It's unavoidable. Put more succinctly, in the immortal words of Frank Zappa: "Don't kid yourself - everyone in this room is wearing a uniform."

Ahem! Well, for something over three thousand posts, I've stayed the heck out of the stupid smart clothing questions, but it's soap box time. I've been to Milan a few times, generally looking about exactly like myself. Nobody has ever shook their finger in my nose on account I wasn't spiffy - - or pointed at whispered behind their hands. And, I've been asked directions by the local folks. And, I've been asked questions by visitors - - chains of them, where I was switching languages so often I was starting to stutter. And, it happens in asia as well - - go figure. The only thing I've come up with is that I don't have a daypack, map, camera, guidebook or any other junk with me. Either that or my Levi 501's with metal buttons instead of a zipper really set me off as a guy in the know. And, when it's hot, I wear shorts.....and boat shoes.......and a floppy hat. And, if I've snagged my jeans climbing through the brambles to get to some remote cairn and wander into a pub soaking wet and badly needing a beer, I've never been refused service. And, how do you know the people you see are really from the area and not from somewhere else - -trying to look like sophisticated locals while they're on their grand vacation? And, about that guy in jeans in Milan - - good grief, what if he's really a German or something? Does the smartly dressed shopkeeper in Milan still have on those clothes when she goes home to clean the chicken coop? Do the Italians dress themselves up when they have to run into town and buy a new lawn mower blade? And, how in the heck can somebody think you're not interested in their culture if you're standing there looking at it - - even if you have on clown glasses and are carrying a seltzer bottle? Sheesh!

And, have you ever looked around to see what the foreign visitors to the U. S. wear? Jeans! Jeans and sneakers, mostly white! How darn disrespectful is that? What I think is that they're making a sarcastic immitation of us rednecks. I've thought about starting to spit at them (behind their backs of course, since I'm sophisticated and polite). On the other hand, what the devil do I know? I only spend half to three-quarters of my life off of the north american continent, so I'll gladly defer to somebody that travels a bit more. Double sheesh!

Good grief! We've gone from looking like a dandy when stomping the bull's balls in the galleria to wearing a speedo in a mosque. And, speaking of which, have you ever noticed the difference between what goes in and what comes out of the changing tents on the beach in Beirut? Those gals are really disresecting their own religious business. Just about every one of them needs a SkimpyTicket. We really need to do something about that while we're at it. I are done.

I'm also in Italy right now and my opinion is Italians dress practically. I'm staying in the beach resort area on the Adriatic this week and I've seen locals wearing jeans, traditional shorts, tiny running shorts, speedos and cycling shorts. It's hot... If your going for a run, cycling or hanging out at the beach, you wear what will be comfortable and appropriate. Spent the day today in the hill town of Penne and didn't see shorts (not at a beach obviously) but saw lots of jeans. I was also spoken to by 3 different locals today, two were asking some sort of bus related questions and another wanted directions (since I only speak limited 'tourist Italian', I wasn't any help to any of them unfortunatly)... and trust me, my red hair, pasty white skin with bright red patches of sun burn ( due to a dreadly neglecful sun screen application this morning) make me look far from local! I just don't happen to walk around with a handful of maps and I ride the local buses with confidence. I don't wear jeans because they're too hot to walk around all day in when it's hot, but if I were a local just out for a quick trip to the grocery store... why not?

I've lived here for 14 months now. I've posted this before.....Italians wear jeans.....all styles, colors (I know one guy who wears yellow,pink and purple jeans) and shapes. I've even seen a few of the high school age kids with the "urban" look of jeans hanging halfway off thier butts. Italians of all ages wear jeans! They also wear shorts....I've seen from toddlers to old men in their 80's wearing shorts (although I do admit it's rare to see an older lady wearing them). What some may not realise is that Italians wait until it's really hot (for the most part) to wear them. For whatever reason most Italians think you can get sick if you dress too lightly for the weather. As of today I still see people wearing light jackets and scarfs to keep the chill away and it's in the 70/80's. They also wear white sneakers. Again, all ages. Sit in a mall or other crowded place and look at what people are wearing and you'll see alot of white sneakers (yes,I've gotten in the habit of doing that). Italians do tend to dress up to go out for dinner or special occasions but for the usual everyday activities most dress pretty much like anyone in the states, practical and comfortable.
And yes, no one really cares what you are wearing...as long as it fits the situation...you wouldn't want to show up to a nice restaurant wearing dirty shorts and a ripped Metallica T shirt.....just the same as in the states.

Can we ban discussing such a contoversial and emotionaly charged subject of pants? I like my pants too and enjoy wearing them as much as the next guy/gal but these threads all end in one camp that says that nobody cares insisting on their opinion as fact, and vice versa. I've had discussions on cruises and all-inclusives less contoversial. Some of us like fancy stuff, others don't. Deal with it....and no nasty PMs please unless they are funny.