European holiday dressing - unwritten rules?

[Hollygoheavenly]

What are the rules for European resort dressing please folks?

At a resort in Mallorca with the family and Wednesday and Thursday everyone was dressed incredibly smartly (linen shirts, smart dresses, polo shirts, Louboutins(!)), and Friday, when we had the opportunity to dress up nicely, everyone else was much more casual 😅

I didn’t grow up in an European household and have only ever done one resort holiday before, which was VERY casual in the evenings, despite it being a very upmarket chain. We took an entire weeks worth of nice clothes to the previous resort and wore them but looked very overdressed. I thought this time I’d save on time, effort and luggage allowance by bringing just 3 days worth of nice outfits for the evening but appear to have gotten it wrong. I’m wondering if I’m missing something? Are there unwritten rules to resort evening attire? Grateful for any input!

Yes, I guess I should have said that I don't care!! I'm Irish, we are pretty casual. I can see other counties are more formal, but my view is, they go do them. When they are in Ireland and dress or act differently to us, that doesn't bother me either.

We've just come back from a Greek island which is predominantly visited by Greeks. The women were dressed up (as was I), the men were the casual end of smart casual. My DH wore a nice shirt but refused to be parted from his favourite very faded blue shorts. Turns out he has three pairs of the bastard things.

No heels apart from on a few younger Athenians who came over for the w/e.

We just spent 1 week in a 5* hotel near Lisbon, plenty of women wearing trainers with a dress. No adidas/nike/puma but high end ones who were never designed to be active or play sports in them though.

Plenty of women wearing heels or smart flat shoes as well though.

Where is this resort?? I live in Mallorca and I'd say most people are very casual dressers, including the tourists. I never see anyone in heels (apart from in Palma) and that includes around the hotels. I live in shorts, linen vests and flip-flops, even when I'm going out!!

@Abc43 I hate to admit it but I do agree with some of what you’re saying! I always admire Europeans when on holiday as they seem to look so effortlessly stylish (compared to me anyway) Just out of interest what details do you notice that gives us away as Irish/British and if you were in that position what would you change to improve (asking for myself lol)

day time for me is in the sea or pool so I only wear a costume during the day, put on a coverup to go eat lunch. Back to room in late afternoon for a shower and rest and then put on a linen dress and sandals, do hair and makeup and go out to eat and round the pubs, Dh wears smart shorts and shirt

Yes, I tend to agree with @Abc43 too. I’m a little sad to admit it but quite a lot of Brits do seem to dress not particularly well.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I don’t think it’s attractive or stylish to flash lots of flesh. I stick to the old adage of boobs or legs but not both. Although these days a lot of people are way beyond both. 🤦‍♀️😂 Sometimes less really is more but I often feel like I’m the only one who believes that. 😛

By contrast, the French / Spanish / Italians sometimes take their more classic dressing tendencies so far past conservative that their clothes become very boring indeed. And rigid. An Italian friend of mine really enjoyed living in England as she said she found the pressure to always look perfect in Italy just too stressful. I’ve lived in Paris twice and it definitely influenced how I dress, especially when I was working there (as the only non-French person in my office). I’m back in London now but work with a lot of continental Europeans (and people from further afield) and I was very flattered when an Italian senior director I work with told everyone that I “always look elegant”. Somehow it meant more coming from an Italian man. I guess that makes me shallow. 😂

Profuse apologies to everyone who commented and offered advice - I checked a handful of times for responses in the first hour and thought it wasn’t of interest as a topic to anyone 😅 clearly I was wrong!

Thank you for all the responses, loved reading them and the length and breadth of holiday attire people choose to wear. I love looking at everyone’s outfits and getting inspo while on holiday.

I wouldn’t be able to get away with wearing the same outfit from the day into evening. Too much of a sweaty betty, particularly in mid-30s temps! I managed to style myself out as my daytime wear could pass for smart casual evening wear). I have some smart co-ords, embroidered cotton dresses, linen striped play suits that I’ve worn with tan wedges in the evening and then a day or two later during the day.

It’s more my little ones I’ve done a disservice to with limited linen shirt/smart shorts options. My two (almost 3) year old is a big lad (tall as well as broad) and in 4-5 clothing and hasn’t fit into the couple of outfits I bought him, and DH has been in flip flops, t-shirt and shorts (😱) which is unlike him as he normally brings smart options and sandals. I guess we’ve looked a bit of a mish mash as we’ve all been dressed in various styles/types of clothes (boys in jersey shorts and t shirts some nights, shirt and tailored shorts on only one). It’s not the end of the world, but would be nice to be a bit more organised and on it for the next holiday. Also sad I ‘wasted’ the good outfits on the day everyone else was casual. Also the lady who wore the Loubs (German speaking, mum of 2 young boys, very preppy stylish) has not worn them the rest of the evenings - perhaps that was their first night and she has dialled it down since.

I like us getting dressed up as we rarely have the opportunity in the UK, so I think will err on the side of caution next time and just bring the nice outfits for all of us.

Also to those asking location, nowhere near Mandarin Oriental budget or style! Iberostar in /Playa de Muro. VERY young children oriented chain but lots of Loewe beach bags, Cartier bracelets in the pool, maybe loud luxury over MO style quiet luxury? In any case we’ve had a lovely family holiday despite me overthinking the clothes, and I’m much better informed around what to bring and not bring for next time.

Your outfits sound lovely.

@AvidJadeShaker thank you 🫶🏽

I think a pp was right in that I was comparing us to much more smartly dressed people previous nights and more casual ones the following ones. Real mixed bag upon closer inspection (and looking through the eyes of the thread!)

I always aim for the middle now, there will always be people with really lovely perfect clothes and some who have got it a bit wrong. I have 7 dresses I pack with various accessories, bags, shoes etc and vary how I do my hair.

My DC used to wear chino shorts, short sleeve shirts, polo shirts, sometimes more comfy shorts but with nice new trainers or sandals when they were young.

How incredibly snobby, rude and offensive especially using the word “slutty”.

How patronising.

judging people on how they dress, so open minded. And so kind that you forgive us for not following your unknown rules.

They have a 200m² suite for €7000 per night, although that does include breakfast.

Only if full of brits

We don’t dress up on holiday, and we tend to do a lot of 5* hotels in Egypt.
i put on a strappy dress for breakfast, then I get changed in a tankini for during the day and then I will wear a strapless dress or strappy dress in the evening. I usually take 3/4 dresses to wear to breakfast and 3/4 dresses to wear in the evenings.
i wear flip flops all week unless I’m in the sea and then I wear my beach shoes
My husband wears swimmers all day and then in the evening he’ll have on shorts and t-shirt, he wears sliders all the time unless he’s in the sea and he’s got beach shoes too.
I really can’t be wearing anything too fancy as it’s too hot, so it’s very lightweight and comfortable clothes for me, I don’t take a blind bit of notice whatsoever to what others are wearing!

It’s coz you’rup north luv.

It all sounds like the seventh circle of hell.

Last week was Virgin del Carmen in Spain

@AvidJadeShaker we are off to Mallorca in September staying in a couple of higher end hotels. I’ve just googled La Residencia to see if we might stay there too. Maybe not- the price for even a couple of nights would stretch my credit card and beyond 🤣

La Residencia clearly attracted interest but the ££££ with no beach access 🤔:) Deia (where La Residencia is) is super nice, I loved it for a day-trip.

I wore linen trousers & a nice top or a loose midi/maxi dress in the evening unless we were just going to the bar across the road from where we stayed, never wore heels, just Birkenstocks or Fitflops. Dp & ds both wore smart shorts, polo or short sleeved shirts & smart trainers.

You are totally right it is shallow. I have not said it is right or I stand behind it, I have just described how it is in Italy. Loads of ppl hate it but that’s the reality. I am also sure loads of British ppl do not agree with many of their country ppl judging others based on accent or school/uni they went to, but it happens a lot. Is it fair? Is it correct? No. But it happens a lot. So yes Italians are fashion conscious because they know they are judged. There are also ppl who don’t care, ofc, I am just generalising based on the average Italian.
someone wrote it is very rigid and I agree. Like the rules of food (no cappuccino after 11, no parmusan of fish pasta) it is alll very rigid and coded and loads of ppl get very stressed about it. If you speak with Italians in the uk many comment the freedom to dress how they want without being judged is liberating!