FASHION WHUT'S: THE USA

Fashion and beauty is different in every country, but sometimes the things you see abroad can give you a real culture shock. In Japan I was awed by the way women cover up with gloves and jeans as soon as the sun showes her face, having white skin is considered beautiful there. During my stay in the United States I also came a cross a few things that made my jaw drop. It inspired me to start a new series on the blog titled 'FASHION WHUT'S'. In every edition I'll talk about beauty and fashion differences between countries and things that really shocked me as a European girl.

I've working in the fashion industry for over five years taught me a lot about different body shapes, colours and layering. Through this series I also hope to give some tips, not necessarily about the latest trends but more about how to look good, in the right fitting outfit on an every day base. 

The United States will get the honor of kicking of the first ever 'FASHION WHUT'S'. Nearly half my readers are from North America. I hope you guys find it interesting to read about stuff that is perfectly normal to you, but kind of delivered me a culture shock. Please take the pictures with a grain of salt, I know that not everyone walks around like this. 

The thing I got most flabbergasted by is the fact that a lot of American girls wear (T-shirt fabric) leggings as pants. In Europe that's just NOT DONE, you always, always, always wear either a skirt or a long shirt over your leggings. To put it more specific: the front of your shirt should cover your 'private parts' and the back can't end until your butt cheeks do the same. If you wear leggings as pants here in The Netherlands people will most likely stare at you as if your wearing stockings with a skirt, just went to the bathroom and forgot to put your skirt back down.

Picture from thedeclasse.wordpress.com

I do have to say that it seemed like the black leggings most girls wore were made out of a fabric a little thicker then you find it here in Europe. Of course I did see some cases like the picture above, but overall it didn't look that bad. I guess it's just a culture thing. When everyone in your country says something is weird or normal to wear, it's likely that you feel the same. Nobody want's to be stared upon like they're walking outside naked right?

Another thing that surprised me is the high cut, printed, kind of boyish T-shirts girls wear in the USA. Here in Europe it's rare to see a T-shirt that doesn't show your collarbones, and if does cover up those feminine bones, it's done on purpose.

Even more interesting was that most girls wear a full face of make-up and normal pants with this, which indicates to me that this isn't a 'comfortable at home' style. All of this was pretty strange to see, simply because this type of shirt is considered guys wear where I'm from. 

Not everyone pairs this type of shirts with jeans though, another common sight is a boy's shirt with sweatpants. This caused me to think: it's ok to go outside in sweats if your not gonna work out? My boyfriend told me that a lot of Americans wear their sweatpants even to class. I responded by saying that a Dutch professor would most likely crack a joke about you in front of the whole class if you sit in his lecture wearing sweats. 

Picture from bandoffathers.com

Here sweatpants are seen as something you only wear at home or when working out, even then you see a lot of girls change out of their work-out gear before leaving the gym. I think wearing sweatpants outside here can be compared to wearing your pajama's while going shopping. 

This were the three most outstanding 'fashion whut's' for me in the United States. Did you ever encounter something that made your jaw drop when you where abroad? Please tell me about it in the comments below! 

With Love,

Elise Mooijman