Clothing: Looking the part
01/04/2009 at 12:32 from (47.683479, -122.266725)
So I already wrote up a quick post about why dresses are great. I covered a few points that highlight why sun dresses are particularly good candidates for travel apparel. I meant to do the same for menswear, but my writing quickly devolved into a rambling screed in which I railed against the evils of clothing.
Whoops.
I'm going to give this another go, and I hope to keep on topic this time. Here follows a synthesis of what I've read about how not to stick out unnecessarily in a foreign land.
Despite the appalling bredth and depth of poverty in Latin America, the people there still put a lot of stock in personal appearance. Perhaps one of the most surprising things about browsing through photos of the slums in Lima or the hovels in Potosi is the striking contrast between the outward appearance of the residents and the place itself. Proud, well-dressed people stride purposefully across a third-world landscape of destitution and despair.
Marijana and I are both from heavily tourist-laden cities. Seattle's fleets of milling Midwesterners and busloads of gawking Japanese closely resemble Dubrovnik's crush of British, German, and Italian visitors. If there's one skill we both share, it's the ability to pick out an unsavvy tourist in a crowd. Anybody not neatly dressed immediately sticks out.
Essentially, there are two major ways by which a visitor might draw attention to themselves based strictly on their appearance:
Dress like a tourist.
Nothing screams "fresh meat" like a meandering stranger in alien, impractical clothes. These people are just begging to be taken advantage of. Whether it's the expensive cameras slung around their necks, their ridiculous safari shirts, the backpacks strapped to their shoulders, the fanny packs fastened tightly around their waists, their cargo shorts pockets bulging with a load of guide books and phrase books, the combination sandal/walking "world traveller" shoes adorning their feet, the maps clutched tightly in their sweaty fists, or the puzzled looks on their faces as they wander aimlessly from one landmark to the next, some tourists practically advertise their vulnerability.
Sure, we're both pale, tall, and hopelessly European in appearance, but there are wily expats and recent immigrants living all over Latin America. The color of our skin and shape of our faces alone might not necessarily make us targets for scammers and pickpockets. One guaranteed way to ensure that we are not mistaken for members of those two groups, however, is to dress as an outsider would.
Dress like a bum.
Being approached by a filthy person is an uncomfortable experience in any culture and people are likely to view an untidy stranger with suspicion and even disgust. People are simply far less likely to help out a stranger who reeks of feet and looks like they crawled out from under a bus.
Locals will be compelled, if they even choose to help a ragged traveler at all, to be curt. They will say or do whatever they can to extricate themselves from the situation quickly, even if it means intentionally misleading the weary trekker.
While less likely to be a direct target for thieves and opportunists, the typical unkempt backpacker can be robbed of a more genuine, enjoyable experience. Instead of making a human connection, travelers dressed poorly are far more likely to be alienated, shunned, or ignored altogether, especially in regions like Latin America, where personal appearances are a matter of pride.
In selecting clothing for our trip, we'll endeavor to walk the line between these two unsavory extremes. We'll never blend in, of course, but with a minimal amount of effort, we can at least make ourselves appear less like newbies.