Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not really good at identifying different nationalities myself but I go to an international school with a lot of German students, and many of them told me there is a very clear difference in the dress style of Dutch people compared to Germans. Since then, I started paying attention to it more and it's true, now I can usually spot a Dutch person in a crowd of Germans and vice versa The difference is that Dutch people, particularly young people, dress a lot more "posh" than Germans. Almost all girls here wear skinny jeans, high-healed shoes, scarves, belts and accessories. T-shirts with (cartoon-ish) print or (inappropriate) texts are considered trashy and low-class. The younger men tend to wear blouses or polo-shirts often. In contrast, Germans are generally dressed a lot more "casual" and are more likely to wear sneakers, vests, wide jeans etc.
This text can simply be copied and pasted into any and every thread no matter how irrelevant, It's easy!
---cut here---
Americans are loud, fat, vacuous, uncouth, uncultured, loudmouthed, obese backslappers with gobs full of half chewed food. They'll shoot you as soon as look at you, and probably eat your children because happy children remind them of Happy Meals, and their ravenous appetite ends only at the white sneakers and boldly printed tents they call clothes. Anything else is fair game and they will chew and chew with fat, round, expressionless faces. Until they break into great, meaningless slavering smiles and babble about something entirely unimportant like American or Americans. Of course they will be talking to themselves and not their chunky, baggy clothed compatriots because Americans are mentally damaged, fat, socially disengaged pyschopaths who don't even recognize their own poorly dressed, vacant eyed mothers after weaning.
---cut here---
Did I miss anything? Feel free to improvise!
Yes. You missed the part about our smiles and friendliness being fake. Can't leave that out! And you also left out the part about no one knowing what a "subway" or a "bicycle" is because we're all used to driving Ford F-250s. And please don't forget that we're in a hurry to get back to our 5000 square foot, cardboard houses where none of us know our neighbors and we drive one quarter of a mile to the edge of our neighborhood to go through the McDonalds drive through for every meal. So of course we're always freaking out when we're in Europe because we don't recognize any of the food - but we tip a lot to make up for our ignorance. Oh, we're all waving little American flags around everywhere we go. And our shorts and jeans are all too baggy.
Ah yes … the culture wars over how clothes fit. When our European friends come here to shop, we under great pressure inevitably succumb to buying clothes that are about one size too small never to again be worn once they depart. Why? Too form-fitting clothes can - depending upon the US location - be considered "trashy." In particular, I don't want my young teen venturing out on her own quite as "tightly" over dressed as her European peers.
Why do I inevitably give in to the unwise purchase? My heavens, but they seem to care and so if only to be polite it's easier to go along (but minimize our purchases).
That said, I wish the courtesy was returned. Even though our clothes are relatively expensive and do not scream "American," the intensity of the scrutiny from strangers (particularly middle-aged women) becomes wearisome at times well past the point of rudeness when we venture away from the protective tourist bubble in certain countries. I almost get the feeling that as "American tourists" we are exhibit A with what some may consider normal interaction patterns not applying.
While I enjoy our long summer trips in Europe for certainly most are very kind, there is inevitably a breath of relief once home at the sheer freedom of being able to wear what one chooses without judgment. (Yes, per my above reference to "trashy" there are guidelines and stereotypes but the range for personal taste seems wider than in parts of Western Europe.)
And here I do rather feel sorry for our friends. For although European by birth and citizenship, a couple of women have brought up the societal pressure felt from having their dress and grooming scrutinized by neighbors even when doing household chores like taking out the garbage.
Too, I tend to giggle at how *quickly* our visitors abandon the properly tight clothing they arrive with for comfort when they come here - even if it means repeatedly wearing one looser fitting and more casual outfit.
Ah yes … the culture wars over how clothes fit. When our European friends come here to shop, we under great pressure inevitably succumb to buying clothes that are about one size too small never to again be worn once they depart. Why? Too form-fitting clothes can - depending upon the US location - be considered "trashy." In particular, I don't want my young teen venturing out on her own quite as "tightly" over dressed as her European peers.
Why do I inevitably give in to the unwise purchase? My heavens, but they seem to care and so if only to be polite it's easier to go along (but minimize our purchases).
That said, I wish the courtesy was returned. Even though our clothes are relatively expensive and do not scream "American," the intensity of the scrutiny from strangers (particularly middle-aged women) becomes wearisome at times well past the point of rudeness when we venture away from the protective tourist bubble in certain countries. I almost get the feeling that as "American tourists" we are exhibit A with what some may consider normal interaction patterns not applying.
While I enjoy our long summer trips in Europe for certainly most are very kind, there is inevitably a breath of relief once home at the sheer freedom of being able to wear what one chooses without judgment. (Yes, per my above reference to "trashy" there are guidelines and stereotypes but the range for personal taste seems wider than in parts of Western Europe.)
And here I do rather feel sorry for our friends. For although European by birth and citizenship, a couple of women have brought up the societal pressure felt from having their dress and grooming scrutinized by neighbors even when doing household chores like taking out the garbage.
Too, I tend to giggle at how *quickly* our visitors abandon the properly tight clothing they arrive with for comfort when they come here - even if it means repeatedly wearing one looser fitting and more casual outfit.
Yes. You missed the part about our smiles and friendliness being fake. Can't leave that out! And you also left out the part about no one knowing what a "subway" or a "bicycle" is because we're all used to driving Ford F-250s. And please don't forget that we're in a hurry to get back to our 5000 square foot, cardboard houses where none of us know our neighbors and we drive one quarter of a mile to the edge of our neighborhood to go through the McDonalds drive through for every meal. So of course we're always freaking out when we're in Europe because we don't recognize any of the food - but we tip a lot to make up for our ignorance. Oh, we're all waving little American flags around everywhere we go. And our shorts and jeans are all too baggy.
In reagards to smiles and friendliness being fake, I think I have some perspective on this.
It's not that they are fake, but to certain cultures it comes across as a bit too large. The restaurant server that acts like they are your best friend they haven't seen in years. I understand that is not what they think they are portraying, but in a lot of places in the world, people don't want to know the servers first name.
The same can be said of other cultures which come across as very friendly and extremely polite, like the Japanese. You could argue that their demeanour is more cultural than sincere.
Ah yes … the culture wars over how clothes fit. When our European friends come here to shop, we under great pressure inevitably succumb to buying clothes that are about one size too small never to again be worn once they depart. Why? Too form-fitting clothes can - depending upon the US location - be considered "trashy." In particular, I don't want my young teen venturing out on her own quite as "tightly" over dressed as her European peers.
Why do I inevitably give in to the unwise purchase? My heavens, but they seem to care and so if only to be polite it's easier to go along (but minimize our purchases).
That said, I wish the courtesy was returned. Even though our clothes are relatively expensive and do not scream "American," the intensity of the scrutiny from strangers (particularly middle-aged women) becomes wearisome at times well past the point of rudeness when we venture away from the protective tourist bubble in certain countries. I almost get the feeling that as "American tourists" we are exhibit A with what some may consider normal interaction patterns not applying.
While I enjoy our long summer trips in Europe for certainly most are very kind, there is inevitably a breath of relief once home at the sheer freedom of being able to wear what one chooses without judgment. (Yes, per my above reference to "trashy" there are guidelines and stereotypes but the range for personal taste seems wider than in parts of Western Europe.)
And here I do rather feel sorry for our friends. For although European by birth and citizenship, a couple of women have brought up the societal pressure felt from having their dress and grooming scrutinized by neighbors even when doing household chores like taking out the garbage.
Too, I tend to giggle at how *quickly* our visitors abandon the properly tight clothing they arrive with for comfort when they come here - even if it means repeatedly wearing one looser fitting and more casual outfit.
If you keep up with current fashion trends, you can usually tell by their shoes.
Ha. When we invaded Iraq in '03, I had a Canadian flag sewn onto my backpack. But I'm not polite enough and square enough to pull it off convincingly. Many can tell you're an American just by your body type and way of walking. Some might call it a subtle swagger.
We are very close to another mother-daughter pair. In exchanging visits over the years, we've come to know some of their friends in Europe. In comparing cultures, this topic has come up a few times and so I've developed an appreciation for the flip side which is the sigh of relief (mine !!!) when it doesn't matter the least what you wear to the grocery store.
My friend is extremely fashion conscious; as admittedly are some of her friends. They look beautiful - and work at it. It's been interesting to see over the years how that attitude has been transmitted to her daughter while mine has taken a more casual "American" path. My friend has lived and worked in both "high-style" European cities, as well as in smaller European towns. And spent a few years in the United States, which is how we met.
Due to the school calendar, we usually see them on annual treks to Europe and so it's been a few years since they've been here. Too, we've taken two extended trips to Asia together.
On the last US trip, my friend completely misjudged the Rehoboth MD style of clothing, thinking that since it was an expensive town the clothing would be more like what she was used to in St. Tropez. Naught. I am still amused at the look of incredulity on my daughter's face as her European teen friend dressed for the beach. It was more a costuming than a swimming exercise. Both were happy to switch to comfie clothes. But I'm told that once they moved on to visiting (very wealthy) friends in an upscale area of LA, they switched back to wearing their "regular" clothing.
Likewise, when visiting with my friends in DC my friend would wear comfortable clothes but she'd pull out different styles for our visits to her friends from Europe who live here. On our trips to Asia, they'd show up with multiple suitcases to our one, but we'd all end up wearing simple clothes suited to the heat.
Too, it's hard to describe the different attitude towards shopping. For many Americans (including us) it's a bit more of a casual activity that ends in a hopefully sensible purchase. Not so there - and we've shopped a lot with some of their friends for its a favored "bonding" activity for the girls. Shopping is taken very seriously with the usual polite Americanism's put aside for very direct critiques. Clothes (and how they look on you) are too important for opinions not to be direct and honest - which is why I've given in a few times on the tightness, even though I know that "style" won't work well once at home.
It's interesting … I just got a tad tired of fashion police this summer (it wasn't a problem other years given locations).
Last edited by EveryLady; 09-08-2014 at 10:19 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The difference is that Dutch people, particularly young people, dress a lot more "posh" than Germans. Almost all girls here wear skinny jeans, high-healed shoes, scarves, belts and accessories. T-shirts with (cartoon-ish) print or (inappropriate) texts are considered trashy and low-class. The younger men tend to wear blouses or polo-shirts often. In contrast, Germans are generally dressed a lot more "casual" and are more likely to wear sneakers, vests, wide jeans etc. 
Many can tell you're an American just by your body type and way of walking. Some might call it a subtle swagger.
