European Vs. American Fashion

It is really true that European men have more fashion sense than American men? We are not so sure when it comes to the Brits. How about Parisians or Italians? One thing is certain there are different cultural styles in the world. There are people that are archetypes of those styles and dress in a way that makes the style concept perpetuate.

Italian designers are known for making fashionable men's suits that are of high quality (think Armani) and also for being able to do that and simultaneously be outrageous as well (think Versace). The French have always considered themselves slightly superior to the Americans. If you look carefully at the Statue of Liberty, her middle finger is raised behind the holding of the torch. Paris is still the fashion capital of the world, no matter what New York may think.

European men just seem to instinctively know how to dress better than their American counterparts. Maybe it is because they are allowed to drink wine from an early age that makes them a bit more sophisticated. Americans on the other hand can express their individuality, which has now degraded to wearing anything that anyone pleases to anywhere.

Upon observing the crowd leaving the opening night of a popular Broadway play in New York, you see all types - men dressed in tuxedos, men in suits and men in torn jeans and t-shirts. You may even see the classic stereotype of the American tourist, which is a man dressed in shorts (never mind the knobby knees and the fact that it is cold at night in New York) and a shirt that looks like Disneyland threw up.

Top it all off with a camera and a I "heart" NY baseball cap with some white tennis shoes and you have the classic American tourist look for a man. Some American men feel like they can wear this outfit everywhere, including to Europe on vacation, or a night at the opera as equal to a visit to the Grand Canyon to ride burros.

Most fashionable European men (except the modern Brits) would not be caught dead looking like that. Why do I exclude the modern day Brits? Well they have their own versions of fashion faux pas that rival the American men. Not to be outdone with looking most stupidly, the Brits can be seen on the beaches of Southern Europe where they have escaped the colder climes of England dressed in Speedos and letting it all hang out, literally.

Two days after they arrive to their beach vacation, they have converted their pastel white skin to a nice color of glowing red lobster. As opposed to this the traditional British man is one of elegance and class distinction. After all they invented class. They starched and pressed their shirts before they went onto the battlefields with African Zulu warriors for goodness sakes. But the modern day British man has allowed himself to be as slovenly as the Americans, especially when on vacation.

Take a walk on the Champs de Elysees on any Sunday afternoon in Paris and you will see the difference or go out for a long dinner with Italian friends in Roma. In the men's fashion arena, the French and the Italian men have beaten the Americans and the Brits, hands down.