Beach clothing is fine,at the beach.Credit:Glenn Hunt
Are we a nation of slobs?
You might think so if you were following the conversations on Traveller's Letters page lately. First up,on August 29,Chris Grigsby wrote about visiting executive club lounges in Asia,noting"my fellow Australian middle-aged males seemed oblivious to the dress standard required at such lounges."He went on to comment,"the good old Aussie ...still thinks he is back at a Pattaya Beach bar."
"The truth is,"replied David Gerber on September 3,"that if you cast your gaze across the crowds in just about any hotel lobby or airport concourse,pretty much anywhere on the planet,you can always reliably spot an Aussie male ...they are the ones dressed like a five-year-old on a school picnic or zoo visit."
Is this Australia's national uniform?Credit:iStock
This outraged Richard Friend,who calledany talk of dress codes "pretentiousness",arguing"how does it affect them if I'm wearing what is comfortable to me?"
In defence of Australian men,they're not the only national group in love with shorts. American male tourists love showing their knees;the Scandinavians and Germans have a fondness for shorts,socks and sandals. The American also has an inexplicable attachment to baseball and trucker caps,which he wears in every conceivable social situation. Like lice,this non-fashion statement has spread to the heads of men worldwide.
Australian women don't get away scot-free. The micro-mini skirt never went out of style in Australia and it finds itself in airport lounges and in sacred places like Cambodia's Angkor Wat before the Cambodian government announced a recent ban on revealing clothing.
I've noted before how easy it is to spot a young Australian female traveller at an airport. She's the one wearing pastel flannel pyjamas with her pillow slung around her neck. It's cute,but is it suitable travel attire?
Well,in many ways,it is,if comfort is the benchmark. This is the point that Richard Friend is making. Is it anybody's business if I choose to wear Disney pyjamas outside a Grade 5 sleepover? If I choose not to pack a suit when I'm going on holiday? Should what I look like be of concern to anyone else,as long as I'm clean and adhere to certain behavioural rules?