What should my teen boys wear in Paris?

[Anonymous]

My teen boys dress really casually (think athletic shorts and tshirt/hoodie + crocs in any weather >20 gegrees). We have a trip to France and Germany coming up. Do I need to force them to step up their wardrobes? We’ll be doing the typical museum tourist thing plus visiting some distant relatives. What should they wear?

[Anonymous]

Beret.

[Anonymous]

Teens need to learn some things the hard way through embarrassment and shaming, not through parents telling them what to do. The most important thing to focus on is making sure they aren't loud. The other important things are making sure they don't put their feet up on seats, teaching them a few phrases, and reminding them that they should assume everyone understands english so they need to refrain from insulting a person or the country they are in.

[Anonymous]

I’d leave the shorts at home, but otherwise teenagers in Europe wear the same things as teenagers here. Somehow they look a little less sloppy in Europe though. Jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sneakers are all fine, but they should be clean, fit well, and not be rumpled…and go easy on the logos. You also don’t see a lot of baseball hats on non-Americans.

Lululemon’s “ABC” pants are a nice step up for nicer dinners out. They are totally comfortable and travel well. If it’s too big of a fight, once you are there for a few days, they might want to pick up a new item or two based on what they see other guys wearing.

[Anonymous]

No shorts and no crocs, but otherwise the same thing they were here. Some nicer restaurants have more formal dress codes, but nice jeans and a sweatshirt are fine. And yes, everyone understands English.

[Anonymous]

Black joggers work just as well as jeans. Khakis in case you go to a dressy restaurant. Shorts are fine if the weather is warm. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

We were in Italy this summer.

I made him bring one pair of "nice pants" and a button-down shirt for church visits (as a tourist, not a worshipper), worn with sneakers.

[Anonymous]

No advertising that you are an American. Keep your sports hoodies and hats at home.

[Anonymous]

It depends when you go. Who are these weird posters who think that teens in Germany and France do not wear shorts? Sure, going to a nice restaurant in the evening would need to wear pants, but for sightseeing shorts are acceptable attire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beret.

Ha, ha! Maybe they can go on a shopping spree in Italy as well.

[Anonymous]

please don't wear crocs anywhere- the French hate us enough as it is

[Anonymous]

Clothing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:please don't wear crocs anywhere- the French hate us enough as it is

I don’t wear crocs, but why do we care if the French hate us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beret.

Yes, beret is the answer. To complete the cosplay euro fashionista, you must also accessorize with a murse (male purse) and designer sunglasses.

[Anonymous]

I have to admit when I watch the kids walking to school I'm always struck by how casual kids look today compared to when I was a teen in the 1990s. And we thought we were casual back then! Today's kids really do look like they just rolled out of bed and are going to school in whatever they slept in. At least in my day the boys would throw on a polo and khaki or jeans.

Anyway, from what I've seen/picked up from friends living in Europe, wearing athletic clothes as everyday clothes is very "working class" while the middle class kids wear jeans. Beyond that I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as you are well behaved and put in a bit of effort if going out to dinner.