Comments on: Sartorial Munich

By: Another Damned Medievalist

Another Damned Medievalist — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 22:36:55 +0000

I’m not sure Munich is representative. I lived in Germany for several years, and noted huge differences in taste between the regions (Bayern and Schwaben tend to more colourful clothing than Hessen, for example). Another thing is that the really nice clothing is also very expensive. But it is really nice. But all clothing tends to be expensive, so people buy very generic, “classic” clothes for the most part, with a few prized pieces that they can use to dress them up. In comparison with most of the USAmericans and Brits I know, the size of the average German wardrobe is quite small.

By: glenn

glenn — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 12:52:19 +0000

You didn’t mention the music? Far worse than the “fashion sense” of most Germans, I have found the worst pop music imaginable in EVERY German taxi cab I’ve had the displeasure of entering. I live in Italy, and the German bar I frequent plays the same awful music. Remember, David Hasselhoff was a pop icon in Germany….and only in Germany.

By: Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 14:35:30 +0000

Assume that Dr Bertram, like all timberites, will be leading by example. When can we expect to see the photos?

By: MQ

MQ — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 19:34:49 +0000

Are you f’in kidding me? Germans worse dressers than Americans? Forget it. Remember now, New York City and LA are not America.

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 05:57:22 +0000

This is useful news. I too am planning a trip to Central Europe this fall, and it’s gratifying to find that my most comfortable clothes will fit right in. (The original idea was an Austro-Hungarian tour, Vienna, Prague & Budapest, but Berlin seems more interesting than Budapest).

I too am mystified by the news that tucking one’s shirt into belted jeans comprises two faux pas. Without a belt, half my jeans tend to slide earthwards, and most of them require as well the tension and friction the tucked shirt-tail provides.

As to how this crowd would view the unflattering flowered shirts, shorts and flip-flops favored in Southern California beach resorts, I hardly dare think.

By: serial catowner

serial catowner — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 19:15:42 +0000

You guys are not even in the same galaxy with ‘poorly dressed’. I went to the county fair yesterday and the best dressers were the animals.

Even the memory makes me shudder- scenes too chilling to serve as a backdrop in a horror movie. Clothing adding new dimensions to the phrase ‘off the rack’. Untastefully showcasing bodies that would frighten space aliens.

If the Germans choose to dress that way, and continue to hold Oktoberfests, more power to them.

By: Jackmormon

Jackmormon — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 18:36:40 +0000

I spent a year near Frankfurt recently and ended up having to buy some clothes. The clothes I ended up buying are alright in terms of quality-price ratio, but the cuts are just awful, so I don’t wear them much. The shirts are too blocky, the jeans just wrong. They were the best I could find in my price-range, though—and I looked all year.

By: abb1

abb1 — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 17:20:24 +0000

Yeah, I too feel that Munich is being singled out unfairly here. Just a few weeks ago I drove thru Western Germany from Basel to Hanover to Bremen. It was, indeed, kinda depressing; originally I attributed it to weather and flatness of the scenery, but I suppose the dress code must’ve contributed to it too. However, I’ve never felt depressed like this in Munich; Munich certainly is much livelier than, say, Hanover.

By: ab

ab — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 17:02:07 +0000

Yes, Germans tend to dress rather boringly, mostly with an emphasis on solid-looking standard clothes.

There’s definitively greater variety in America and Britain (where I, as a German, have been living for the past couple of years).

Also, you’re right that Americans and Britons, especially in the 14-35 years bracket, tend to go for sexier outfits.

One more thing: Curiously, Berliners are among the worst-dressed people in Germany. In other countries, it’s normal that people in New York, London or Paris are better dressed than folks in [I don’t want to offend anybody; insert your rural region here].

The opposite is true in Germany. (Within Germany, Munich is much more fashion-conscious than Berlin, partly because Munich is Germany’s richest city, whereas Berlin is poor).

Oh, where’s a book like The Sociology of Fashion Sense: A Comparative Study of 34 Nations, 1960-2000 when you really need it…

By: nick

nick — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:54:38 +0000

I’d have to suggest the Dutch as more sartorially-challenged. Unless there’s been a mass abandonment of the shellsuit recently.

By: c++guy

c++guy — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:45:18 +0000

Hmm, that’s strange. I agree that Germans may be among the worst dressed but I can’t agree with the sneaker-denim-denim uniform. I just spend four weeks in Stuttgart and there the dress code is more like this: sensible brown leather shoes, jeans and shirts in mismatched, muddy colors and flamboyant eyeglasses.

By: rea

rea — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 15:08:51 +0000

“his shirts tucked into his belted jeans—two fashion errors for the price of one”

Okay. Into whose belted jeans should he be tucking his shirt, if not his?

By: otto

otto — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 14:28:41 +0000

This post cries out for some allegation about links between visiting Munich and appeasing Islamofascism.

By: jacob

jacob — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 12:38:19 +0000

The last time I was in Germany (in Berlin), was for a weekend after I had just spent four months in France. I must say that it was a relief to have all those poorly dressed Germans around after four months of well-dressed Parisians. As an American, I felt constantly underdressed in Paris, and going to Berlin felt like a good prelude to home.

By: Clark

Clark — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 11:54:43 +0000

I can’t help wondering whether the Germans aren’t in line for some British or American clothing-and-lifestlye fascism TV: Trinny and Susannah or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy perhaps.

They already had a “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”: (Gay makes you cool – the fabulous Four). If you follow the link (and just as important, if you can read German) it appears that the show was not renewed.

Oh, where are you now, Clifford, Peter, Jan and Tobias???