When I lived in Japan, I had many arguments with fellow Western women on this subject. The argument was usually, “well, I do this in America/UK/Australia…” or “whatever, no one’s ever said anything to me about it,” which was infuriating because just because no one in Japan ever said anything directly didn’t mean that they weren’t thinking things. Comments like, “aren’t you cold?” are as obvious  statements of protest to Japanese people as, “put some damn clothes on, woman!” One of my friends suffered a humiliation when a coworker finally got fed up with her hip-hugging pants that showed the tops of her underwear that the woman marched over to my friend and HIKED UP my friend’s pants, while my friends were still in it.

In many non-Western countries around the world, the people have an unfair stereotype of Western women being easy or promiscuos that isn’t aided by how a stereotypical Western tourists dress. Imagine in your head a “slutty” or “inappropriate” woman, the kind that would make you gasp or leer and say, “oh my god, what is that woman doing?! Avert your eyes, children!” If you’re a Westerner, it’s probably something super tight, skimpy, possibly see-through–showing side-boob at the mall, perhaps? Okay, now let’s take some steps back on the conservative scale and imagine yourself as a person in a country where women (and men) typically wear long sleeves and cover their legs: what’s your image of provocative dress? Mini shorts and a tank top? Probably. Not so long ago in most Western countries this stuff would have been considered taboo. In many churches in America people would never dream of wearing things like that, so why on earth would anyone try and visit a mosque or a temple that way?

A woman might have feminist or political reasons for not wanting to dress conservatively in a country, especially one’s with a mandated dress code, but remember: you are a guest in someone’s home. All guests should be respectful to their hosts, or else their hosts find passive aggressive ways of trying to tell their guests they’ve overstayed their welcome. Showing respect goes a very long way in having those wonderful travel experiences we all want. If you’re content to be merely a tourist, then fine–dress however you want. If you want to meet people, to be invited into homes, to have fun while haggling while shopping–dress like the locals. On a practical note, it’s usually more appropriate for the weather (yes, long sleeves are more protecting in hot sun than burning your skin in a tank top) and you’ll be less of a target if you look a little savvier than the average tour bus tourist.

For women who want to know what to wear in each country, Journeywoman
has a great guide from real travelers called, “What Should I Wear?”

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by j.o.h.n. walker

5 types of tourist in NYC. Funny because it's true. (Jon Keegan)

So in my research about traveling in Barcelona, I came across a somewhat funny article called Barcelona Clothes and Dress Code: Tips on How to Blend in With the Locals. The primary reason for this article is to keep tourists safe from scam-artists and pickpockets, but I would argue that those people would be targets anyways no matter how you dressed them up simply because they obviously lack something vital as a traveler: common sense.

People spend all this money buying money-belts and fancy traveling gear when you could simply just dress and act like a local, as much as possible. Obviously this isn’t possible everywhere in the world, but it’s certainly possible in a worldly cosmopolitan city like Barcelona that’s full of foreign expats. For example, I live in New York City — a city that tourist guides will tell you is dangerous. Don’t do this, don’t talk to these people, don’t stop here, etc. Yet somehow millions of people live in this city without ever getting pickpocketed their entire life, yet a tourist manages to in the few days they’re here. Amazing odds, really. Like most of these tourist women do in their hometowns, I carry a purse every day, and like they probably are back home, I’m very careful with it. Yet somehow these visiting ladies come here wearing a fannypack because they’re suddenly a tourist. If you wouldn’t be caught dead in something at home, why would you wear it in a cosmopolitan world city suddenly because you’re a visitor?

Being a tourist is a state of mind! We’ve found that if you don’t act like one then most people won’t treat you like one, especially not thieves — cause really, why bother with the person who MIGHT be a savvy local expat when you could harass the tour-package couple with their map hanging out of their back pocket?

It took me awhile to really warm up to leggings in Japan, but several years of seeing it and one will break.  I never really thought that the look would make it to America, but then I saw this blog post about what Carrie was supposed to be wearing in the Sex And the City Movie and she looked like a Japanese teenager. Oh, and of course the Olsen Twins and Lindsay Lohan (who are apparently style icons, meh) just wear Japanese fashion 2 years later, so it was bound to happen.

Now, when America starts wearing colorful tights…then I’ll be really happy.