We are taking our 16 years old nephew to England and France in June. My husband wants him to take golf shirts and oxford button down shirts, but friends say that t-shirts are okay at his age.
Posted by
London, UK
356 posts
Re: the UK. Teenage boys in the UK just seem to wear t-shirts and jeans or tracksuits. They are not generally a smart bunch! I would just let him take his normal clothes and one smarter outfit incase you go to a posh restaurant.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Unless he's invited to a royal ball, whatever he feels most comfortable in is appropriate. He's a tourist, and anyone who cares to notice (most people won't) will know that.
Posted by
OP
Wilmington, DE, USA
712 posts
Thanks for the replys. What if we are going out to dinner at a nice place or a show?
Also he is so attached to his cell phone, but I heard he should leave it home and use the internet. Is that correct? If so, I'll have to break it to him now.
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2083 posts
We were in Paris last Spring and every kid I saw was wearing jeans and T shirts and really and truly looked like our very own 16 year olds back home. Styles were all over the place and many did indeed wear expensive variations on the above. Clothing with English on it seemed to be popular. Have a great time with your lucky nephew and don't worry about shirts...you and his uncle will be making a lifetime memory for him.
Posted by
Boise, ID, United States
158 posts
RE: the cell phone...Unless you want to come home to a HUGE phone bill, definitely leave his cell phone at home. Not only will he get overcharged for calls he makes, but also incoming calls, even if they just go to voicemail. And text messages are around $0.50 each overseas. Internet is a much better option and there are internet cafes all over he can use.
Posted by
OP
Wilmington, DE, USA
712 posts
Looks like t-shirts and jeans are okay and the norm.
We will be in London, Paris, and the counrtyside both areas. I had my husband read your replys. Thanks. I had told our nephew no t shirts with writing also - does that matter? Like I said, the cell phone is the other issue. Maybe I should ask about his cell phone in another question.
Posted by
Atlanta
800 posts
Marie - how nice that you are taking your nephew to Europe - nice for all of you! Couple of comments: agree that jeans will be fine for him (though hopefully not all are completely worn & tattered). If you do intend do to any "nicer" dinners I'd ask him to bring a button down shirt - he can even wear it with his (nicer) jeans and he'll look fine. Boys really don't seem to care as much about their clothes as girls do but we had no problem asking our son to dress it up just a bit when we went out at night and he didn't mind either, but he pretty well wore what he wanted during the day.
Cell phone - you really need to have his parents check into their plan. From my understanding, whether or not the phone "works" it will be quite expensive as I don't think that international roaming/texts are covered under unlimited plans (which may be what he has if he texts all the time). Hopefully they will find that it easy to use the excuse, real or not, that it is MUCH too expensive and will request that he leave it at home. You should be able to build in a little time every few days or so to let him go to an Internet cafe and use email - would be a good excuse to have some down time away from each other as well.
It is always a little different to travel with someone who is not your child, regardless of how long/how well you know them. Talking about these kind of things (cellphone use, time out for Internet, expected dress code for certain things) ahead of time should help you all. Hope you have a great trip!
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1266 posts
My wife took our 14 yr old daughter last year to London & Paris, and the dress was jeans and t-shirts.
Posted by
Norfolk, USA
255 posts
Marie....
Writing on your nephew's t-shirts should not be a problem unless it is profanity (not appropriate for a teenager any where in my opinion) or something that would be considered derogatory by the population of England and France.
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Marie, we have taken both our sons to London and Paris, seperately, both when 14..
Tell your husband clean jeans and t shirts are NORMAL,, the kids all wear that stuff. I would say the baggy silky basketball type shorts are not seen much,, and a few nice golf shirts for dinner are not a bad idea.. but for sightseeing, let him be comfy. PS,, of course some writing on shirts is OK,, you can't find tshirts that don't have NIKE, Reebok, or Addiass on them can you,,,LOL let the kid be a kid.