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Anonymous wrote:I own a few sets like these from Lululemon, Athletica, Target, would I stand out like a sore thumb in London, Geneva, Zurich, and Paris?

You will look like a tourist because you are a tourist. You won’t really blend in at all. Has nothing to do with Lululemon.

You’re a tourist, just embrace that. Trying to pretend as if you are not is silly.

When I was in Europe, only the American tourists were in athletic wear.

Who cares? As a tourist nobody is planning to live there or make friends. There's no reason to blend in. Tourists have a lot of walking and sightseeing to do and it's about function over form. I'm not going to wear heels and tights running around all day to look like a local who isn't walking far or doing the same things. When they come to the US I won't notice or care how they dress either.

True. And if you are the kind of person who doesn’t know whether Yoga pants are acceptable in Paris or Rome, you will give yourself away in a thousand other ways anyway, eg talking inane nonsense super loudly, your group stopping in the middle of a busy pavement to gawp at something etc.

It is sad how utterly unaware of just how stupid you sound.

Population of Paris: 2 million
Annual visitors to Paris: ~50 million

Population of Rome: 2.76 million
Annual visitors to Rome: ~30 million

Sigh. Americans are not the world.
Annual *US* visitors to Paris, ~2 million. So that’s 48 million tourists who know better!

Sigh. Sorry you’re fat.

Haha, completely the opposite. But try harder

Haha, perhaps you’re not American fat, but you’re certainly Parisian fat. You can dress to impress there, but they’ll still be able to immediately identify you as an American. Sorry!

This is like the third time I've seen a random commenter on these boards insist an anonymous stranger is fat without evidence.

It's totally bizarre. Do they think the other person is secret fatty lying about their weight on a message board?

Fat people know they're fat. Thin people know they are thin. It's quantitative measurement. Any idiot can calculate their BMI or measure their waist. Everyone I know owns a body fat measuring scale.

Before the random "you're fat!!!" lady turns her attentions towards me, I'm not fat. Objectively, measurably.

Anonymous wrote:No, only time I wear stuff like this in Europe is at the hotel gym or on runs in the park. Otherwise, no!

This.

I was in Japan for a week last year, and Paris for a month. I’m pretty fashionable but one thing I’ve embraced in the last few years is leggings during air travel. If I’m flying 14 hours on one flight, I’ll enjoy my leggings. So I’ve found myself in all these destinations with one or two pairs of leggings. And I’ve really enjoyed it. First, they are so easy and small to pack, compared to a pair of pants. I don’t wear them most days, but they are in my choices if I want to.

And ultimately? Both are completely fine in both cities. Both cities are filled with millions of tourists, people coming home from the gym, people who are bad dressers….. that no one cares if I go out for a day in leggings. Maybe they will know I’m a tourist - shocking! But they probably got that sense regardless by my crappy French accent. I also used to go running every morning in Paris, usually in my leggings, and get pastries on the way home. No one gave me side eye lol. Nor are leggings indecent in a big city like Tokyo. Point is that these are fine, albeit not the most fashionable choices, and a perfectly fine thing to travel with.

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Anonymous wrote:In Europe we white people want everyone to think we live there. I don't know why.
Meanwhile if you travel in Japan the whole point is to look like a tourist. You don't want to be mistaken for a military wife (who can be identified by this exact outfit.) Bonus points if a Japanese person thinks you are a tourist from Europe.

Well also in Europe this outfit is sloppy pajamas, but in Japan it would be pretty indecent

Yeah, it would be considered very indecent in Japan.

Indeed, but the military wives spend so little time off base that they don't even pick up on this.

So while procrastinating on the thing I am supposed to be doing today, I decided to see what Reddit thinks about this question - and they're as mixed as DCUM.

The TL;DR seems to be that plenty of tourists, anyway, wear leggings as pants all over Europe. So if you, too, wear leggings as pants, you won't be alone.

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Anonymous wrote:I own a few sets like these from Lululemon, Athletica, Target, would I stand out like a sore thumb in London, Geneva, Zurich, and Paris?

You will look like a tourist because you are a tourist. You won’t really blend in at all. Has nothing to do with Lululemon.

You’re a tourist, just embrace that. Trying to pretend as if you are not is silly.

When I was in Europe, only the American tourists were in athletic wear.

Who cares? As a tourist nobody is planning to live there or make friends. There's no reason to blend in. Tourists have a lot of walking and sightseeing to do and it's about function over form. I'm not going to wear heels and tights running around all day to look like a local who isn't walking far or doing the same things. When they come to the US I won't notice or care how they dress either.

True. And if you are the kind of person who doesn’t know whether Yoga pants are acceptable in Paris or Rome, you will give yourself away in a thousand other ways anyway, eg talking inane nonsense super loudly, your group stopping in the middle of a busy pavement to gawp at something etc.

It is sad how utterly unaware of just how stupid you sound.

Population of Paris: 2 million
Annual visitors to Paris: ~50 million

Population of Rome: 2.76 million
Annual visitors to Rome: ~30 million

Sigh. Americans are not the world.
Annual *US* visitors to Paris, ~2 million. So that’s 48 million tourists who know better!

Sigh. Sorry you’re fat.

Haha, completely the opposite. But try harder

Haha, perhaps you’re not American fat, but you’re certainly Parisian fat. You can dress to impress there, but they’ll still be able to immediately identify you as an American. Sorry!

So?

Anonymous wrote:Y'all are going on such old, outdated boomer travel advice from the 80s that Europeans dress to impress 100% of the time and turn their noses up at Americans for wearing a t-shirt.

Wear whatever you want. Lululemon has stores in Europe, and they wear it over there too, and they wear it out on the street.

It absolutely does appear to be outdated advice this is a recent video taken in Paris

https://youtu.be/5hqYrecv7Dc?si=HMralkUg7s2uZWAQ

Jeans, leggings, sweatpants, swish pants, very casual

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Anonymous wrote:I own a few sets like these from Lululemon, Athletica, Target, would I stand out like a sore thumb in London, Geneva, Zurich, and Paris?

You will look like a tourist because you are a tourist. You won’t really blend in at all. Has nothing to do with Lululemon.

You’re a tourist, just embrace that. Trying to pretend as if you are not is silly.

When I was in Europe, only the American tourists were in athletic wear.

Who cares? As a tourist nobody is planning to live there or make friends. There's no reason to blend in. Tourists have a lot of walking and sightseeing to do and it's about function over form. I'm not going to wear heels and tights running around all day to look like a local who isn't walking far or doing the same things. When they come to the US I won't notice or care how they dress either.

True. And if you are the kind of person who doesn’t know whether Yoga pants are acceptable in Paris or Rome, you will give yourself away in a thousand other ways anyway, eg talking inane nonsense super loudly, your group stopping in the middle of a busy pavement to gawp at something etc.

It is sad how utterly unaware of just how stupid you sound.

Population of Paris: 2 million
Annual visitors to Paris: ~50 million

Population of Rome: 2.76 million
Annual visitors to Rome: ~30 million

Sigh. Americans are not the world.
Annual *US* visitors to Paris, ~2 million. So that’s 48 million tourists who know better!

Sigh. Sorry you’re fat.

Haha, completely the opposite. But try harder

Haha, perhaps you’re not American fat, but you’re certainly Parisian fat. You can dress to impress there, but they’ll still be able to immediately identify you as an American. Sorry!

Athleisure is all over London. There’s even a relatively new Lululemon in Covent Garden.

Y'all are going on such old, outdated boomer travel advice from the 80s that Europeans dress to impress 100% of the time and turn their noses up at Americans for wearing a t-shirt.

Wear whatever you want. Lululemon has stores in Europe, and they wear it over there too, and they wear it out on the street.

I was in Paris last year. True they don’t wear a lot of “leisure” clothing like this. But it was not as “chic” as I thought it would be. Lots of denim and t shirts. and very dressed down. I was surprised.

Yes you will stand out like a sore thumb. Those clothing items are for the gym only.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks PPs! I am not the hiking PP. I don’t find jeans very comfortable fwiw. I was born in the 80s and part of the low-rise stretch jeans fads of the early 00s. I’m interested in comfort and tend to do more castle and museum visits than outdoor hiking trips.

I’d wear pants like the Lululemon Swift wide legged pants (Athleta makes similar pants) which are very comfortable but look nicer than leggings for european travel. Ime these pants look cute with sneakers, flats, etc.

Great advice

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Anonymous wrote:I own a few sets like these from Lululemon, Athletica, Target, would I stand out like a sore thumb in London, Geneva, Zurich, and Paris?

You will look like a tourist because you are a tourist. You won’t really blend in at all. Has nothing to do with Lululemon.

You’re a tourist, just embrace that. Trying to pretend as if you are not is silly.

When I was in Europe, only the American tourists were in athletic wear.

Who cares? As a tourist nobody is planning to live there or make friends. There's no reason to blend in. Tourists have a lot of walking and sightseeing to do and it's about function over form. I'm not going to wear heels and tights running around all day to look like a local who isn't walking far or doing the same things. When they come to the US I won't notice or care how they dress either.

OP obviously cares or she wouldn't be here asking!

I do like making friends when I travel. It's often one of my favorite parts of going someplace new - chatting with and kibbitzing with new people. Often I get good recs of things to see and do that way. But yeah, we're tourists! We're not going to look otherwise. But do you want to look good as a tourist or, in the words of David Sedaris, look like you're there to mow the lawn?

I don't go around thinking everyone is looking at me. Because they aren't. I'm going to walk a lot, it might rain, or the sun might be blazing and I need to be comfortable all day.. If my new "friends" will judge me then they aren't friends I'm interested in.

In Paris, everyone is actually looking at you.If your attire is unacceptable, the Parisian will use nonverbal cues to let you know.

Who cares. I’m there to see the sights, not impress anyone.

Anonymous wrote:I own a few sets like these from Lululemon, Athletica, Target, would I stand out like a sore thumb in London, Geneva, Zurich, and Paris?

is she not in Europe? Venice or Amsterdam? looks to me