I have a friend who travelled to Europe last March, and brought her white running shoes. She says that everywhere she went, people would stare at her like she had lobsters coming out of her ears. Well, more like she had lobsters coming out of ears on her feet. When she asked some of her European friends about it, they told her she shouldn’t have brought white shoes.
So to the question: Did she commit a cultural faux pas by wearing white shoes? Can you explain the, er, problem with white shoes? Thanks!
As an aside, I had another friend once who took her fanny pack to London. Didn’t that make for some interesting conversation!
White running shoes? If you mean like Nikes or Adidas (we would call them trainers) then there would be nothing strange in them at all. If you mean white proper shoes, however (like white leather smart shoes) then that may be more unusual, but it shouldn’t have caused people to stare at all. London is pretty diverse.
Are you sure they weren’t staring at something else? She was wearing more than just the shoes, right?
Of course, on reflection, white running shoes may have looked out of place in some nightclubs or smart bars if that’s what you mean, (many ban them), but in everyday life they are commonplace.
Well, to the best of my knowledge - I thought maybe the whole “No white shoes after labor day” thing might be more strictly observed there than here. But then again, I can’t remember if March is sufficiently “spring” to wear them or not.
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She said it was out on the street on a Saturday, and she was so uncomfortable about people staring at her feet that she had get different shoes.
There’s no rule about it, and I’m surprised they elicited as much reaction as she says they did. However, they do fall into the stereotypical dress code of the ‘typical’ American tourist.
Fanny pack = bum bag in the UK. Only toursists or time-travellers from the 1980s carry these.
I’ve lived in London all my life and often wear white running shoes out and about. In fact, most of the people I know wear them almost as often as they wear normal shoes (work and smart dress occasions notwithstanding).
Perhaps they were a style or brand we don’t have over here and people were just interested? Or maybe they had blinding bright green laces?
Of course, she may just have stumbled into the middle of the once-a-century-Outer-Hebrides-old-folks-club trip to London and they were staring at everything post-1903?
How old is your friend, and how old are her friends in Europe? It’s possible that she, her friends, and the people staring at her were all in some highly fashion-conscious niche that wasn’t wearing white trainers that month.
As American tourists in London two years ago, we noticed the lack of white shoes. Admittedly, we were in the city and riding the tube alot, so we saw lots of business types. But the only white shoes we saw in ten days there were on American tourists. Maybe that was just a perception, but the natives seemed to dress very dark (this was in March).
Nah, wearing a clear plastic camping poncho with sleeves big enough to accommodate a small watermelon will also weird out Londoners. Trust me, I tried it once.
It’s a trend rather than tradition, but the prevailing fashion for work clothes in London is particularly heavily skewed towards grey/black these days. Quite like it myself.
But I really don’t think that white trainers, in and of themselves, would remotely phase the typical Londoner. Not unless she was wearing black trousers/jeans - ugh.
As for “no white shoes after Labor Day”, we don’t have Labor Day (never mind an annual dose of Jerry Lewis) in the UK and the first place I ever came across this rule was via Patty Hearst’s demise at the end of Serial Mom.
I’m with bonzer on this one - if she was also wearing smart trousers, a skirt or jeans, this would be a little unusual and maybe warrant a stare - especially if a skirt. However, if she was wearing track pants or shorts, it would be more acceptable to wear trainers.
work clothes + trainers = not so weird. It’s a comination that those working to work might wear (changing into smart shoes at the office). Trainers & skirt depends on the skirt.
I think the subject of the OP misinterpreted the reluctance of Londoners on the tube to look anyone in the eye. Only tourists and mad folk look atpeople, you know.
I once encountered a man on a London street in a dress with his head in a birdcage, and people were ignoring him (admittedly, this was Soho). I can’t imagine white sneakers getting much of a reaction, although my own are black so I wouldn’t necessarily know.
On a similar note, however, I was in Prague on New Year’s Eve 1999 and, it being the middle of winter, was wearing earmuffs. I was actually pointed and laughed at by people in a cafe wearing sillier hats than I would ever contemplate being seen in public in. What’s the deal with earmuffs? Are only women allowed to wear them? It’s not like they were pink or teddy bear-shaped or anything…
It may be that it was because they were new - new white trainers are very white, as my brother-in-law discovered once - for about a week, people kept staring at his bright white trainers, and commenting on them. (they look particualrly bright as he tends to wear dark clothes) Took about a week for the grime and muck to take effect, and then people stopped noticing
One good reason for not wearing white shoes (or other light clothing) in England in March is purely practical: the high likelyhood of foul weather which would get them dirty. Not very smart-looking.
I gave up on trying to be “cool” when I was about 15. OTOH, I’m very fond of my ears and would hate to lose them to frostbite. Plus, hats make my head itch (not to mention the inevitability of “hat head”, which isn’t cool either).
