Need Italian's Advice for trip!!?

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Jennifer V

When we lived there (husband was working there) we did quite a bit of travelling & walking as you plan to do.
If you have easy-care dresses or skirts that are modest (in order to get into many churches, museums, etc they have a dress code) you will be fine. Think of things that you can wash and hang to dry easily. Most rayon clothing washes easily and dries quickly. I say this because if you only have a few things, then you can wash and re-wear to save on packing. I found simple sundresses to be very comfortable. (I wore a pair of bike shorts under them, to avoid chaffing from all the walking in the heat) Just keep them at or below your knees, again, for the museums and churches. Bring a light sweater or shrug to put around your shoulders in case your dress's sleeves are too short.
As for shoes, I wore Birkenstocks the whole time and had no trouble. They are comfortable for walking and as they are sandals, don't look out of place with a sundress.
We lived there a year and a half total, and visited many of the larger cities as far south as Rome. (We lived in the Ligurian region) We were never looked down on as being tacky, nor did we ever find ourselves to be targets for theft. For the most part, it was my overall impression that the Italians were generous and gracious overall, and found it to be very complimenting when we tried to speak Italian as best we could.
If you carry a bag, make sure you keep the zipper under your arm or in front of you, not on your back (like a back pack).
You are going to have an amazing time. :) Enjoy!!

federica

I'm Federica and I'm Italian.
I think it would be recommended not to wear flip flops ( specially if you are going to visit churches or buildings like that ), but you can certainly wear white tennis shoes. Revealing clothes are not in good taste but some italian people wear it, so why can't you do it?
Wear what you want, according to your pleasure, and without exaggerating.
Enjoy your trip!
xxx

Kindofblue

Lol Jessica it's all up to you. Italy is not a puritan country. In summer many italian women go on the beach top-less, even on beaches frequented by families with children and nobody gets scandalized. So revealing clothes are ok, I don't agree that they are vulgar, it depends...satin in example is very elegant and then vulgarity is in the person not in the clothes. The worst it could happen is that some of our guys could wink at you :D. Most of our girls show their belly buttons even in winter. ALL (with no exception) show knees in summer during the day (coz it's warm and staying with long skirts or panths is just impossible), but often also in winter and spring and almost all show shoulders. For flip flops and tennis shoes then, that's not about offending anyone lol, it's just that italians are obsessed with the look(I hate that) and so they always try to wear as elegant as possible (lack of confidence I think). YOU JUST DON'T CARE!!! LOL...you have to walk a lot, so if I was in ur shoes I'd choose very comfortable clothes and wouldn't care less of the italian obsession for fashion. Just enjoy ur staying here, for a student of art coming in Italy is like for a child being alone in a sweets shop ;). Have fun.

Crogiolo dei Mondi

Hi, yes, I agree with the people who say not to use flip flops, also the tennis shoes are not a good idea, or maybe only some types...

However, in this site you can find a lot of shoes quite comfortable very used among Italian young people ( they are ok for a 21-year-old girl):

http://www.athletesworld.it/pages/products.aspx?sc=womensfootwear

(In the list avoid nike air max '90, that is not a very Italian type)

Moreover a lot of Italian girls use tight jeans

Stan

Are you fluent in Italian? If not, you aren't going to fool anyone. If you don't want to be a target for theft carry as little as possible and leave everything in your room. You will be walking a lot so get comfortable shoes with ankle support because there are a lot of cobblestone (uneven) surfaces.

If your knees, belly button and shoulders are covered you won't offend anyone in Italy. Talk about offensive, indeed, if you're even average looking you will be grabbed by Italian men.

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