Dressing to your environment

[Estate]

Guys,
I'm usually pretty in tune with styles and when I go anywhere I grew up with my Dad telling me: "Always look your best, where-ever you are going!"
I usually take the stance of dress according to the venue but then maybe slightly better.
So if I'm going to a game, I'm not going to go in a 3 piece suit but you get the idea.

Since I moved to the US, I always find it odd though. For 6 months of the year, literally EVERYONE in the city wears their black Northface bubble jacket.
The other six months, guys wear the "frat boy outfit" - cut offs, XXL tee and cap backwards. Girls SOMETIMES might don a dress but only some, and heels are almost unheard of.
I'm in Boston if that makes any difference.

When friends/family visit, it was the first thing they noticed too.... NOBODY dresses up for ANYTHING.
An Irish girl I know even said last week, she was excited to wear a new sundress she bought that day on a night out, but in the end she felt self conscious going on the subway so dressed up, like everyone would be looking at her.

I don't mind, I go my own way but I find it very strange. Last weekend I was going to a club, so I wore my new best jeans, rocking shoes, crisp shirt and fitted black blazer... I felt a million bucks going out the door.
I get a lot of looks when I dress up, but sometimes I can't tell if they are the right type.
As I walked to the subway a couple got on the escalator behind me... the girl wasn't too shy about saying "Look at THAT guy..." and the guy sort of chuckled and replied "I know... must be from out of town wearing that".
I turned, gave a wink and walked on...
Sure enough, the guy was with a really nice girl, sporting his best khaki shorts, flip flops and oversized Tee.

Got me thinking though. People NOTICE when I dress well... but sometimes it seems like a negative attention, like I'm overdressed, when in reality, I'm not wearing anything outlandish and would probably just "fit in" on a night out where I grew up. I see guys wearing "the uniform" and they wouldn't be allowed set foot in a bar or club back home, the bouncers would turn them away on the spot, even for a dive bar... yet here they are pulling chicks in high end nightclubs, the girls dig it...

It just got me thinking, not sure if it's a positive or negative thing but I was just wondering... to the US guys here... what is the "norm"?

 

[Illflyers28]

Hey estate,

I live in the Philadelphia area so it is very similar to Boston, around here in the suburbs(where I live) I rarely ever see people dress well. College kids wear sandals shorts and a collar short that's 2 sizes to big or in winter they have a big puffy coat or oversized hoodie usually of their favorite sports team or the current team in season. Basically Around here dress up means baggy jeans or shorts a collard shirt that's too big and untucked and usually brand name, and then they will put on there nicest pair of basketball shoes(Jordans) or nike air max. That is for almost all ages, older guys will just have different shoes. I do not go to the city to often so I'm sure there are people that dress well but the few times I've been there I haven't seen much. most girls around my town though definitely dress up. They wear nice snug dresses high heels stockings you name it they wear it and I feel bad for them because mostly ever guy looks like a slob. However there are girls who dress plainly.

Like you said dress for the occasion but a little bit better is always my goal. The problem I would run into is that sometimes people will hold me in higher value or put me on a pedestal. Higher value was from what I thought a form of auto rejection. If a girl was in auto rejection or if it seemed that way I would usually persist in conversation and sometimes it would kick them out of it sometimes it wouldn't. With people putting me on a pedestal I would just use it to my advantage since they already thought I was cool.

I was born and raised in the U.S and I wear exactly what you wore the one night. Best jeans, fitted crisp shirt, fitted blazer. Personally that's my norm. However since you are from elsewhere our styles may be completely different. Your style could be throwing people off. So where are you from?