Job Discussion Forums

[El Gallo]

Hey Guys (not THE ONE from Canada),

If you come to Chiapas, please don't wear kakhi shorts with your skinny white knees showing. It's hard enough being a gringo here without this culturally inappropriate display here. I guess its a regional thing but the American and Canadian tourists evoke howls of laughter with their safari look. Jeans, sandals and a baseball caps are OK but please leave your knickers at home.

PS: don't go off topic and p*ss off the censor again, OK?
(big brother is watching)

[Samantha]

el gallo said:

[MELEE]

I don't think he meant knickers in the British usage!!!

[MikeySaid]

I have to know.... since you aimed this at "OLD" guys in your subject line... do you think it is inappropriate for a 25 year old with shapely man legs to wear shorts? Do keep in mind that most of us tend to wear our shorts a little longer than the previous two generations. And also that we don't tend to have as knobby or pale a knee-region.

What made you post about wearing shorts? Was it some random tourist? Or a teacher? Or.... the mirror?

[ls650]

I have news for you: the locals point and laugh at you behind your back no matter what you wear, so you might as well be comfortable while they do so.

If it's hot, wear shorts. If it's not, wear trousers.

[Walkerman]

PPPPPFFFFFFFFF

[Phil_K]

A gentleman never wears shorts or a brown suit in the city
(Phil_K book of etiquette)

[eclectic]

once again, Mr Kalqushi may want to closely monitor this thread, as it touches once more on the juxtaposition of western-style skin-bearing dress and other more sensible, conservative styles representative of most other countries in this world not pervaded by rampant promiscuity or atleast the audacious suggestion of such.

[Phil_K]

(I'm looking above!)

[Samantha]

Just so there is no confusion; in the beach areas of Mexico men wear shorts whether old or young, local or tourist. As ls650 mentions, it's really hot in the summers and some companies have uniforms which include dressy shorts including some schools. Even lawyers and doctors here dress way casual compared to their city counterparts or those inland in Mexico. They don't wear shorts to work but they have defined "business casual" nicely.

The cities have a much different dress code and when we go to Culiacan (our state's capital and business center) we get stared at for wearing shorts while shopping or doing business. My husband is Mexican and it doesn't bother him at all to be stared at because he prefers to be comfortable...I am a little more self-conscious about it. It is scorching hot there, yet you don't see shorts being worn out and about. They save them for the beach or the backyard. What a difference a 2 1/2 hour drive makes. So each area is different and this country is not a "one size fits all" kind of place. Please keep that in mind when reading the forum.

As ls650 mentions, locals will comment on foreigners no matter what, but it's not usually in front of them. In my experience, they find those over-stuffed fanny packs much more amusing than shorts. So don't get your knickers in a twist, stay cool!

[jillford64]

I've noticed a big difference in the number of mexicans wearing shorts here in Morelia between last summer and this summer. Mostly they are younger (girls: short and tight with heals and believe me they get stared at ; boys: knee length surfer dude shorts), but occassionally I see an older man wearing bermuda shorts. If your legs were tan and the shorts were modest you wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb just for the shorts; you'd still be easily pegged as tourist for other reasons.

[El Gallo]

reminds me of the time I wore a three piece business suit in downtown Honolulu

[MELEE]

Times and styles are changing.
When out at the market this weekend I kept my eyes peeled and saw at least 6 Mexican guys wearing shorts in my town. All were under 35 and all the shorts were long enough to cover their kneecaps--the big baggy cholo look. They were all wearing black rockgroup t-shirts(or similar) as well. Either with Chuck Taylor's or tire sole huaraches.
There were also three gingo tourists! two men and a women all late-thirties or early forties, all in shorts, all above the knee and they stuck out, (but I didn't notice anyone laughing at them) and would have stuck out no matter what they were wearing.

I agree, that you can wear shorts as a tourist-traveller in Mexico, in some areas it's very hot and you should dress comfortably. But I also think you should be respectful and keep the shorts long and your shirt on when off the beach. Two negative incidences stick out in my mind. First a European tourist in running shorts sitting on his ruck sack in a very over crowed ADO station in Oaxaca City during Semana Santa one year. He had his knees pulled up to his chest and those shorts were just barely covering what they should!! Many mothers were hastily pullling their gaped-mouth children to the other end of the waiting area. The other was at Monte Alban, some tourists, Americans I think, had taken their shirts off and were up on top of one of the pryamids, from the ground you could just see them from the waist up. A little middle class Mexican girls screams "�Mam�, mam� hay gente desnudo ah�!" --moma, there are naked people up there!-- they weren't actually naked, but it was an inapropriate place for them to have removed their shirts-- besides the fact that at that elevation they probably got a nasty sunburn as their repayment! I think that sort of behavior is what Gallo was referring to.