Simple clothing question ...

[jb]

T/G,,, moronic as usual.
Please  pick a topic that you know about and stick with it,,, otherwise you just look stupid.

[Turboguy]

That's ok jb.  They say looks are deceiving anyway.

[Thor]

Go to your closest banana republic.

Some thoughts:



.  No yellow, and GOD FORBID DO NOT WEAR PINK!!!  Nor any color close to pink.

Maxxum,

I sometimes wear a pink t shirt or a pink shirt. My wife insited and love when I wear this colours. Maybe I am wrong here, but it seems to me that the Europeans are more open minded to wear fashion clothes, even pink ones compered to US men. This summer I bougth a awsome pair of pants in Turkey, thew where just super, and all peoples I meet commented this pants. They said that the pants was very cool. BUT my good friend Rick (RK) at this board looked at me when I wear this pants and said if I wear this pants in the US everybody would say I was a gay .

[chivo]

I'm rarely mistaken for a foreigner. I do lean towards darker colors though, and blue is no problem here. I dress pretty much the same way I did in the states.

Just last week I must have had 10 Russians come up to me asking for directions. Most of the time around a crowd of people which lends me to believe that you don't/won't stand out as much as you think, and no, it's not because I'm one of "them" now. It has always been like this for me here since day 1.

I remember my first time here back in '99. I was in Kazan and I decided to bring a pair of cowboy boots with me for some reason (hey they were nice boots ).

I decided to wear them to a restaurant/disco one night, much to the pleasure of my lady at the time. I was very surprised at the reaction from the crowd at the disco. All that noticed them gave me favorable looks and gestures...who knew? Not really sure if they knew I was a foreigner, maybe (probably by the boots), maybe not, but I'm sure it didn't matter to them. The ladies seem to really take notice.

Point is as mentioned wear what you normally wear. You should always take some nice clothes with you for such occasions, and frankly because every man should own at least 1 nice suit. Whether its Russia, America, of Botswana, as ZZ Top so aptly said "girls go crazy for a sharp dressed man". That goes for casual or formal BTW.

Also, I'm not one who thinks that once you step off the plane, everyone will take you as a foreigner (well, unless you open you mouth) just by your look or mannerism. While there are some  semi-subtle differences, most go undetected by the naked eye, be that eye Russian, European or American.

Sometimes, especially in summer, I play "spot the foreigner" either by myself, or with a Russian, just to see if we can. Much to my surprise, I've often thought the person that I spotted was American/Western European, only to eventually find out they were Russian.

I think the main reason people stand out as foreigners is because they think its ok to look like this:

http://flickr.com/photos/lbstone/254325925/

http://flickr.com/photos/objetsmart/415297248/

http://flickr.com/photos/megasoul/221053/

People, stop the insanity!  :selfharm:

The main reason WHY you should try to blend in is not to attract the wrong crowd to you.

Thor,

about pink, you're absolutely right. While you won't catch me dead wearing it, it's worn here without the slightest worry about any negative reaction, or anyone thinking you must drive a convertible Miata . But yes, in the US you would be considered somewhat on the feminine side. Good luck.

chivo

[MaxxumUSA]

Chivo/thor....  funny thing about pink...

I was in Moscow for our last night in Russia, about a week after I met with you Chivo.  I finally saw a man wearing pink.  He had a pink color polo shirt on.  The man was about 270 pounds.  Not a pretty sight.

Just made me think of that reading the last couple comments.

My opinions about pink is that it looks SO much better on woman - why screw with trying to make it work on men?

http://www2.victoriassecret.com/collection/?cgname=OSPNKSPLPSH&cgnbr=OSPNKSPLPSH&rfnbr=3530

[jb]

Gotta agree with "Pink".

I always questioned Elvis Presley's masculinity when I saw him pictured in a pink Cadillac.  There had to be a strong feminine side to the man.

[carraig]

Thor has called it right I think.
I have several different shades of pink shirts, I usually wear them open necked with a dark suit, it is not only acceptable, certainly in UK / Ireland but totally normal.
Olga has seen a picture of me wearing one, and chastised me for not having it with me in Prague 2 weeks ago, she,s Ukranian, and thinks they look great on me.

[jb]

Thank you Chi-vo for amplifying and cementing my comments up thread,  I always dress sort of business casual in Moscow and I've never encountered a problem.  In fact I often have Russians come up and ask the time, or directions, it seems like I look like I know WTF I'm doing even if I don't know the answers.  Note to newbies who think they know better,,, keep your mouth shut.

[Jet]

Note to newbies who think they know better,,, keep your mouth shut.

I just roll my wrist around so they can read the damn watch themselves 

[ScottinCrimea]

I got tired of being constantly asked for the time so I just stopped wearing a watch.  If I need to know the time I look at my cell phone