I’m going to England (Bath, London) with my wife at the end of May and I don’t to look like a tourist. Recommendations please from both men and women are appreciated. We’re both in our 40s.
A nice lightweight tweed suit and newsboy hat will be pretty inconspicuous and will be perfect whether you are bicycling, fishing or taking a sabbatical in the Moors.
Female, mid 30s; my standard uniform is jeans and a nice, fitted, top. For men, a shirt and jeans is pretty common.
In my personal opinion, the things that will make you look most like a tourist would be shorts, white sneakers and a baggy t-shirt, plus a baseball cap (for full marks, with the two of you wearing matching outfits, carrying a selfie stick and repeatedly commenting on how small and quaint everything is 
). Most of those items are pretty much restricted to your own back garden, playing sports or the beach here, unless it’s a ‘heatwave’, and even then not so much in the city centre.
Having said that, both Bath and the centre of London are approximately 80% tourists anyway, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
I’m picturing Lord Gillingham from Downton Abbey. I will say it does looks good on him.
Been to both those destinations fairly recently. Lots to take in and enjoy. In London especially, people do tend to dress quite fashionably.
That said, tourists abound. If you don’t want to be instantly identified as one, avoid wearing the following:
- Sandals
- Hiking shoes or running shoes
- “Comfortable” dad/mom blue jeans
- T-shirts that say things on them
- T-shirts, period
- Shorts
- Sweatshirts
- Hoodies
- Sweatshirts that are hoodies that say thing on them
- Shorts
I know you asked what to wear, but what not to wear is a bit easier to itemize for its notable absence among the well dressed locals of all ages.
T shirts are acceptable if you’re male, they’re relatively fitted, and they have an understated but humorous image, preferably accompanied with a jacket. My brother lives both in such t-shirts and London. They are to be approached with caution, however.
Skechers type shoes are acceptable, especially black or dark grey.
American tourists are usually distinguishable from their wholly-unsuitable-for-the-weather clothing. I would probably echo the comment about “shorts, white sneakers and a baggy t-shirt, plus a baseball cap”, which will, of course, never leave your head. Choose loud plaid shirts for extra emphasis.
If the clothing brands are obvious or visible, that might peg you as a tourist.
My valet would lay out my second-best leisure suit and forego the spats and monocle for the day…cane, as always, is optional.
Don’t wear a baseball cap. If the sun is blazing, buy a Panama hat, otherwise, do without. Think carefully before wearing sunglasses.
Do wear long chinos / slacks. An office shirt is just fine as a disguise, though even in late May you may need to wear a jumper or jacket on top. Sensible shoes, not trainers or walking boots. And definitely not cowboy boots!
Don’t wear a belt pouch or bum bag.
What’s your best option if you legitimately need to carry more stuff than will properly fit in your pockets? Backpack? “Indiana Jones” satchel? Bindle?
Nobody is going to care if you are a tourist in London or Bath, to be honest. Just wear what is comfortable, particularly on your feet. You might find yourself walking a bit more than you are used to.
A backpack is fine. Just remember to take it off your shoulder(s) on the tube.
Could you give some examples? I’m thinking of how different people are acclimatized to different types of weather and wondering if they dress wrong and then bitch about being too hot/cold, or if they’re dressing in a way that a native would feel too hot/cold in, but they feel comfortable.
I am curious as to why someone is worried about looking like a tourist when they are a tourist? My only guess is to avoid being a target for crime?
Besides, even if you manage to look like a local, as soon as you open your mouth, it will be obvious you are not.
Is there really a difference in what casual clothing would be worn in England vs. the US? I’ve never noticed any difference.
Oh, no, it’s a traveler’s dream, to be able to mingle without looking like a foreigner. Or the ultimate goal, be mistaken for a native. Checked that one off my bucket list as a high schooler visiting London in the seventies, jes’ sayin’…
But I’ve come to the conclusion that the indigenous fauna are much more observant than I am. From what they’ve told me, the Brits and the Euro-folk I’ve asked can tell who’s from what country pretty easily. Cuts of clothing and the materials used, haircuts, posture… stuff i’d never even notice, let alone care about.
So, it seems like more work to try to fool them than to embrace my tourist-ism. But I tell myself that my mentality is to be a “guest”, not a tourist. So, yeah, I’ll try not to look like a “yankee yahoo” (I read the above list with an attitude of “OMG, why would anyone wear THAT in the UK?”). But I realize that even if I sported some natty tweeds, they’ll know I’m a “cheeky colonist”.
It depends. When I’m travelling, I seem to look like a native and am always being asked for directions by tourists and locals.
I’ve been taken for a Scot while visiting the Highlands, a Parisian in Paris by Italian tourists, an Englishman in Paris by a group of young English guys there for a weekend, and an American by Americans at Disney World. I’m malleable, I guess. (The English girl working in a pizza joint in Paris was the one who was most puzzled by me. She knew I wasn’t French, English or American, but couldn’t place me.)
The one place I stood out was New York. Brooklynites, Manhattenites and Bronx guys all picked me out as being from away and started volunteering tourist directions.
Remember to buy a Panama hat, folks, and carefully ponder the sunglasses question!