Dressing Etiquette

Although dress rules are quickly fading, you should still avoid wearing white shoes, baseball caps, tracksuit trousers, shorts, and flip-flops to avoid appearing touristy (except at the beach). Generally speaking, business casual attire is appropriate for all but the most formal occasions in cities. When entering churches, common politeness should be observed. Although you might not be asked to leave, it is preferable to refrain from wearing shorts and halter tops.

Few restaurants will require a jacket and tie, although some will frown if you enter in hiking gear. It might surprise you how many French twenty-somethings arrive at a dive bar wearing a suit and a tie, even if they are blatantly secondhand. Shorts and exercise shirts are inappropriate attire for meetings and festivities because etiquette demands that you dress conservatively for every occasion.

Never leave the house in your velvet pajamas. Everyone who sees you will do so with disdain since you will be breaking a procedure and etiquette norm.