To believe that Brits stand out a mile when abroad?

[ChickenSkin]

And I don't know why!

When we were in Florida we were walking through a mall and people definitely look twice at us. Little kids especially stared at our kids like they KNEW they were different.

So what is it about Brits that make us stand out so much?

it is funny, isn't it? We were coming down the hill from the acropolis in Athens when it suddenly poured down. A man came out of a shop with an armful of umbrellas and started shoving them towards tourists caught in the downpour and for everyone he used different words. He seemed to just be able to guess nationality. So he said "umbrella?" to us and the same in other languages to the people behind us. I asked him how he knew and he said he could almost always tell.

Two things for me, boys and men wearing football shirts and socks with shoes/sandals/trainers and for women.... the constant wearing of swimwear under their clothes no matter where they are.

My Mum lived in Spain and if you went round the supermarket, apart for the obvious colouration the Brits on holiday always had swimwear on. The locals would wear bras under their clothes

British men think an interest in clothing will make them appear sexually suspect. They claim to like the t-shirt and shorts they've worn for the past 10 summer holidays because they are comfortable and still serviceable.

They are in fact worried that a shirt with a collar and without the faded logo of a band they idolised aged 16, half of whose members have succumbed to drink and drugs, will make them look like a poof.

They are terrified that if they go to buy new clothes they will be trapped in a changing room by a poofy sales assistant. To you the Suits You men from The Fast Show was a sketch that outlived its welcome on the third outing. To them it was a documentary.

Their favourite t-shirt will be that shade of green that cheap black cotton fades to. Whether faded or not, black is not flattering to middle-aged necks. Their shorts will be knee-length, of some sort of putty-coloured drill material, with roomy pockets on the outside thighs that give them a womanly silhouette. There will be loops and toggles.

British men are inexplicably proud of their legs so wear shorts whenever the temperature soars to 19 degrees. Trimming leg or any other kind of body hair is also the hallmark of a poof. So is dealing with toenails or corns.

Posh youngish British men wear cheap deck shoes that they think make them look like they are round-the-world yachtsmen. Ordinary youngish British men wear black flip flops that accessorise with their toenails.

Unlike their wives and girlfriends British men think they look rather good on the beach. They have a form of body dysmorphia that means that when they look in the mirror they see themselves as the 21 year old who played football in the park every Sunday and talked about the trial for Arsenal that HAPPENED ONLY IN HIS HEAD.

This is a delusion with distressing consequences for you if you have to be seen in public with them.

That said, British men are excellent company for drinking games on European beaches. Pick a group of Italian, Spanish or Greek men standing at the shoreline, hands-on hips, backs to the sea. Each player selects his or her colour of swimming panties. Take a drink every time your choice touches his winkle. Stagger back to the hotel.

Older Korean women have their hair permed and wear hats - so look as if they are still wearing 50s fashion. They are usually not tall but shortish and stocky. The men dress a bit 50ish too for some reason.

To be fair to British men, many British women have a misplaced but unbudging conviction about what men look good in and British men will put up with wearing twee clothes for the sake of a quiet life and a pint on a Saturday afternoon.

Older Canadians are like fit, outdoorsy Americans (backpack, shorts etc) with bad teeth.

Older Australians look like fit, outdoorsy (see previous), healthy Brits.

I think British tourists look different dependant on where you're holidaying.

Maybe Brits in Benidorm look different to Brits holdaying on the Amalfi Coast. Brits are far from the worst offenders in terms of holiday sartorial choices. At least on the beach British men tend not to wear budgie smugglers.

mayisout I bought my mother a hat, bit like a cricket umpire's hat but honestly really nice, to wear in Florence because her skin is delicate.

She took one look at all the Korean ladies and point-blank refused. It was like we'd gone back in time and I was the mum and she was my daughter.

Only British women buy those straw hats from Accessorise and such that get squashed before they get off the plane.

They do it every year.

I am guilty of wearing a bikini under my clothes, desperate to grab any sunshine time at all.
I think British women dress especially for sunbathing/swimming hence the lacl of day time jewellery/make-up.

Limited-you don't have to go abroard to see a sea of ancient, no longer black, t shirts with pictures of old rock bands on. I see this whenever I go to dh's friends bbqs!!! To be fair they are all ageing musos.

The poor posture is an interesting give-away. I've noticed that when abroad.

I usually get asked for directions everywhere we go.

lunamoon I saw a real life ageing muso in a Nirvana t-shirt at Rome airport - Paul Young. He looked ridiculous. Paul McCartney school of home hair dye too. His wife looked great - not over the top, just attractive and expensive yet casual.

Paul Weller looked really good too. Even the feathery haircut looked right and was naturally greying that I wouldn't believe would work unless I'd seen it. I don't think he owns a tour t-shirt, his tour or anyone else's.

I have a Canadian friend here in Qatar, and we were having conversation about dentists one day, and I said that British people, in general, do not tend to take great care of their teeth, in a cosmetic sense. She gave me a look, and said 'You don't need to tell me that - you are kinda famous for it.'

You can always spot German men on the beach - there will be several with giant beer bellies that spill over their budgie smugglers so they look naked from the front and it only becomes obvious that they are wearing trunks when they turn around. They also seem to be having a "who brought the ugliest flip flops" competition.

heck, we need a national campaign to improve our teeth.

I fancy a straw hat.

Hilly we have an Italian friend who came to London 22 years ago to dodge national service by claiming to be studying English while 'working' in his dad's friend's shop.

Give it a couple more years and he'll be growing into his clothes

limitedperiod only-very astute. Particularly about the winkle fiddling..

I used to work in the U.S and could spot a Brit at twenty paces.
It's the hair-both men and women. The young ones especially would have more complicated haircuts. Sideburns and longer than the usual Euro or U.S haircut on men.
British women have much scruffier hair day to day than American women. Even out TV presenters have scruffier hair.
(Having said that, hip young french women seem to favour really scruffy hair, sort of half scrunched up in a laggy band, with an expression of "I am soo insoucient and gamine" all over their faces.)

Brit men tend to wear those half mast trousers OR, the hipster-ish ones wear things like Sixties suede jackets, and Chelsea boots, which would be considered a bit gay for American men.
Also, body language. Brits move their faces a lot when they speak, smile and laugh a lot more than other Europeans, and exlaim loudly and exitedly if an item in a shop is "cheap". Cheap is generally an insult for an American!

On the plus side, Brit style can be way more interesting and funky than any other, and cool Americans and Euros love us for that.

Abroad in Europe I generally get spoken to in French first (its the laggy band in my hair and the blank stare).

Body language within groups is part of it. If I see gangs of lads in the shopping centre or the street, I can tell if they are Brit or Eastern European by the way they move as a group. Eastern Europeans will stand closer together and gesticulate less.

If I see a group of teenage girls all holding each others' arms in a slightly anxious way, they are normally not British - either European or East Asian.

Black British and black African people have very different body language, but I can't explain it.

Brit men tend to wear those half mast trousers

Do you mean the 'mankle' NowThen, which was very modish last year with those in the know?

I asked DH, who is big in menswear if they would get an outing this year for the less fashion-forward man, or as most of us know him: the-man-who-is-terrified-of-looking-gay.

Unfortunately, I not only used the unforgiveable term 'mankle' but asked whether his cabin-boy trousers would be putting in another appearance and said: 'Arggh! Jim Lad' probably more than a wiser wife would.

Therefore he went into a sulk and I will be unable to tell you what the fashionable man will be wearing for SS12.

Last time I was on holiday a restaurant owner insisted we were Spanish.

DH looks a bit Spanish / French at a push but I look about as British as you can get being half Welsh and as pale as it gets. The sun goes around me. I have seen more Spanish looking Yorkshire puddings.

Ooh, no, Limited. I mean those cargo type pants that are usually beige or light grey, and have too many pockets.Worn with "sports" sandals
Are mankles those almost to the ankle jobbies, worn with deck shoes?
Gosh, your husband is a brave sort! and so are you!

In fact, I think the things you mentioned that give the aforementioned womanly silhouette, are what I mean.
What is it with those monstrosities?

Whole families in brand new bhs combos are a dead give away and the kids are always bloody crying