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Wearing black clothes
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Posted by: wavetossed

In another thread someone recommended that you should wear all black clothes. That's a bit of an exageration but it is true that Americans are easy to identify by their clothes. I live in Europe and I can generally tell American tourists purely from what they are wearing.

Here in Europe, we tend to wear more black than you do in America. For instance many men will have only black shoes and black trousers in their wardrobe, an assortment of blue or green or white shirts and a black leather jacket. This style of clothing is pretty similar to what Russian wear except they won't wear a jacket in the summer. The main difference I noticed between the UK and Russia was that in the UK we tend to wear shirts outside the belt, i.e. hanging down covering the belt. That's why Simon Cowell got teased for having trousers to his armpits; he was wearing his shirts American style tucked into his trousers. When I was in Russia, this tucked in style seemed more common.

Also, men don't usually wear trainers or running shoes. They wear shiny black leather pumps like a business man might wear, sometimes in more fashionable Italian styles and sometimes in more casual moccasin styles.

You can get away with blue jeans because these are quite popular in Russia but I think dockers style trousers or tan/khaki colours will stand out too much. And wear conservative shirt colours, no pastels. Younger men can get away with more because young Russians also have a wider fashion repertoire.

I took along a black sheepskin jacket because it was lighter than cow leather. But it was so hot I only got to wear it one rainy day. I did carry it with me a couple of evenings.

I also visited some Russian shops in London and observed the men's dress style and tried to emulate them. And in Russia, I also observed what the locals wore and tried to match that in the evenings. In the daytime I just wore my Hawaiian print sports shirt and my rainbow tie-dye T-shirt because it was the height of summer. I also observed the expressions on the men's faces in public and practiced this expression in the mirror. When moving through dodgy places or when I saw police up ahead, I would adopt this stern expression with head held high and a rather military posture. At these times I kept my mouth shut and let my girlfriend hang on my arm to complete the illusion of a tough Russian biznesmen out with his girlfriend. Nobody ever bothered us.

Blending in like this helps you to understand the people and their culture better because you have to get inside their heads and see their world as they see it.

And carry several kinds of money spread out in several places, i.e. leave some hidden in the suitcase, wallet in back pocket, wallet in front pocket, hidden body wallet, etc... You probably have some US dollars, some rubles, a Mastercard, a Visa, a debit card or two, maybe some travellers cheques if you are in a really big city. Even if you get robbed, nobody will be able to clean you out entirely if you spread the risk.

I did all this and had zero problems, not even a close call.

Posted by: wavetossed

If you've been watching the 24hr news channel coverage of the events in Beslan in North Ossetia then you'll have a good idea of how Russian men dress in the summertime.

Posted by: ArtursIrbe

I will be in Odessa in two weeks myself. Based upon reading this thread I should stink to jeans and black trousers? Do Ukrainian men not wear khakis at all?

Posted by: wavetossed

Never say never.

I strongly suggest that you watch some of the news coverage of the Beslan incident. For instance during the funerals today it was raining so everyone was wearing jackets. These were not special funeral clothes or sunday best, just everyday clothes. If you dress like the men that you saw on TV then you will blend in better in Russia. Notice how many were wearing black coats. This is normal in much of Europe.

But it also helps to have a stern look on your face when you are in public. If you look on the men's faces during the hostage incident, i.e. not the funeral, then you see the normal everyday stern expressions of Russian men, almost angry looking. And did you notice the uncommon patterns of stripes on the men's shirts? Horizontal stripes or striped sleeves? Paradoxically if you show up with a T-shirt with the stars and stripes or a Coca-Cola logo you will blend right in. And did you notice some guys wearing what you would describe as a Hawaiian shirt? This is normal in South Russia or anywhere else during the heat of summer.

And haircuts are another thing. These guys are all ex military because of the 2 years national service that all Russian men must do. They mostly maintain the habit of conservative hairstyles. And they walk with a tough confident posture like you would expect from an ex soldier.

And wristwatches. Americans prefer different styles and brands. Maybe you should just not wear one and get your girlfriend to help you buy one in Russia. Women always like to choose clothes etc. for their men.