Wearing "tennis" shoes in Italy

Wear what's comfortable, be aware and careful, and enjoy yourself!

It is likely there will be more tipoffs that you are a tourist than just the sneakers. The camera around the neck is one :-) As Leslie stated be careful and wear what is comfortable.

We spend a lot of time covering up the fact that we are North American tourists - and then when we open our mouth to speak English its an immediate giveaway. My vote goes with the other suggestions - wear what is comfortable, be aware of your surroundings and have a wonderful time!

Three weeks in Italy is will be a profound travel experience - wonderful culture with a fascinating history and spectacular landscapes, architecture, art and food. You'll be on your feet and on the fly! Wear the New Balance shoes AND a money belt. You'll have happy feet and financial security.

Pickpockets will not target you, unless you allow them to do so.
What you wear doesn't matter to them. They target people who are aware of their belongings, who stop in the middle of the road and flash money etc.
You will not be the only tourist there so wera what's comfortable for you.

I wore white sneakers on my first trip to Europe and I was certainly not alone. I wore black ones the next year to be less obtrusive, but I don't think it really mattered. The main thing to remember (in addition to the good advice to be aware) is that you're going to be on your feet way more than you are at home, so you've really got to take care of your feet.

I was surprised to see so many Italians wearing tennies but they are more like Pumas without the thick soles. Somehow the Italians can even wear tennies more fashionably. Although the teen boys in Orvieto with the gold tennies were a bit much. Flip Flops really give the Americans away. Those cobblestones really get hard too.

It's true that Italians have a stereotype of American tourists that we wear shorts, white tennis shoes and we talk too loud. Like many stereotypes, this one is based in part in fact.

IMHO I think it's worth it to find a comfortable pair of non-white shoes that can multi-task, allowing you to go to a nice restaurant without feeling out of place, as you might with white shoes. That said, you really do need to put comfort first when it comes to footwear. Where you're most likely to stand out in white shoes is if you're in the off-the-beaten path places, rather than in the tourist meccas where you'll blend in with all the other tourists, for better or for worse.

This is almost completely off topic, but this reminds me of a college trip to Florida for Spring Break. We were going to a bar/club one night, and they didn't allow sneakers. A friend only had white sneakers, but we assured him that we could put him in the middle of us while walking in, and it would be fine. Well, we were right; he got in, no problem, and it was nice and dark inside. Well, they had black lights, and, if you know what black lights do to white, you can imagine how well his Size 14 white sneakers were concealed!

Moral of the story: If you really don't want to stand out in your white "tennies", avoid black lights!

I agree, as long as you are comfortable, who cares what you wear, you shouldn't have to change your whole wardrobe for everybody else. Be aware of your surroundings and pickpockets will leave you alone.

Do wear what is comfortable. I have problems with my feet, but I have found really good Dr Scholls walking shoes for less than $50 that work great and look more like they "blend in". We are of the school that tries to blend in as much as possible, although in England one year I did wear my white sneakers. We try to blend in not so much because of pickpockets and such, but because we try to be good guests and dress more like our host country does. Obviously, as soon as someone sees the camera or we speak, it is going to be obvious that we are tourists. However, we like to think that we leave the impression that we want to be good guests by dressing conservatively. So hubby leaves the jeans, t-shirt and ball cap home and I wear pants or medium to long skirts and keep my shoulders covered for admittance to churches. So far, it has worked very well for us.