Has your clothing ever got you into trouble overseas?

[ozbeachbabe]

You read in travel blogs never to wear military clothing you might purchase in an Army disposal store particularly if going to certain overseas countries but I was curious to know if anyone has worn what they thought was an 'innocent' piece of clothing which may have had an adverse reaction somewhere along the line.

I was wearing a baseball style long sleeved shirt with New York Jets on it however it was not as in the American Football New York Jets but a souvenir from the musical West Side Story which we'd seen on Broadway. I was going through the TSA screening point in San Juan when one of the staff mumbled semi-sarcastically "woo - go jets".

It suddenly dawned on me that I was wearing a shirt that wasn't a sporting team but in fact was that of the American gang featured in WSS. The long and the short of it was that I was standing on enemy turf in San Juan as in Puerto Rico - home of the rival gang the Sharks.

 

[Warks]

Not wearing clothes would probably get one into more trouble.

 

[dk4]

I was wearing a baseball style long sleeved shirt...

I've worn a Red Sox cap in NYC, without any issues or thought about it, but would never want to be anywhere near someone wearing a Yankees cap in Boston, I doubt the reception would be pleasant! :shock:

 

[JohnK]

Can't go wrong wearing conservative clothing.

Oh and I try to avoid yellow and red in Thailand just in case someone misinterprets my intentions.

 

[harvyk]

Not wearing clothes would probably get one into more trouble.

Depends on where you choose not to wear clothes. There are quite a few beaches and resorts out there where the not wearing of clothes is the norm.

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

My son, aged 14 at the time, wore his Australian Cricket ODI guernsey in Delhi. He actually got a lot of funny, but good comments. Everyone loves Gilly and Brett Lee we found out!

Cheers
BF

 

[Denali]

My husband got some stick on the weekend but that's because he was wearing a wallabies shirt in the All Blacks dressing room and coaches box. It gets worse the more South you go.

 

[OzEire]

Few years back I visited the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Amazing place, a true melting pot of different cultures.

Anyway, it was uncanny to see the vendors and hawkers pick nationalities by, one would guess, a quick glance at what they wore (and features). Impressively, they would also engage passers-by in a few words of their own language and, really amazing, 'guess' where in that country the person came from. All in an attempt to start their sales pitch for a carpet or some such.

Well TK had lost my luggage so, unlike my traveling companion friends, I was wearing a jumble of whatever I could get my hands on from local shops near my hotel. This was like camouflage to the Bazaar hawkers who variously shouted German, Russian, French and even Afrikaans! to seek my attention. (Feeling cheeky at one point I answered in Bahasa, but the guy continued without skipping a beat like a Sumatra native and quickly discovered I only have a few words in that language, oops).

Alone in my odd getup I was a mystery to them, any time I was with my friends we would hear a chorus of "G'day mate", presumably as they knew the subtle signs of how an Aussie tourist dresses in Turkey.

So, to the OP, clothing that didn't lead to trouble but an interesting result nonetheless.

 

[Pushka]

This guy was wearing this in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. People had to cover shoulders and knees, and women their hair. Apparently this passed muster.....

 

[craven morehead]

This guy was wearing this in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. People had to cover shoulders and knees, and women their hair. Apparently this passed muster.....

View attachment 34619

At least he put his Thongs in a plastic bag !! :mrgreen:

 

[burmans]

Can't go wrong wearing conservative clothing.

As in wear a blue tie?

 

[Foreigner]

Not me but I've seen fellow travellers on airplane in various stages of undressing over seas, long haul.

 

[OzEire]

This guy was wearing this in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. People had to cover shoulders and knees, and women their hair. Apparently this passed muster.....

View attachment 34619

Yeah, how do they spot the Aussies overseas ? Its a mystery

 

[get me outta here]

Yeah, they picked me in the Grand Bazaar too and I'm careful not to wear any Kathmandu or Kangas or any brand names at all when I think of it. It's disappointing and a little worrying as a lone woman traveller to be so obvious. You can see the traders sizing you up as you walk toward them. Of course, a lot of nationalities speak plain old English.

Yeah, how do they spot the Aussies overseas ? Its a mystery

 

[Pushka]

I like to claim to be Russian with a Niet response. No one picks on a Russian.

 

[Foreigner]

I like to claim to be Russian with a Niet response. No one picks on a Russian.

Hmm...the Ukrainians may.

 

[Pushka]

Hmm...the Ukrainians may.

Yeah. Well I promise I won't intrude into someone else's territory then.

 

[CMak]

Not clothing as such - but our family was on the overnight train from St Petersburg to Moscow and the only bag inspected was one (that belonged to our daughter) that could be vaguely interpreted as camouflage colouring.
The inspection was particularly thorough.
CMak

 

[Fantic125]

My wife is 1 of 7 daughters.

In 2010 my wife and I headed over to the US, along with another sister and her husband (both from ADL) to attend the wedding of her niece (daughter of an older sister). They live in Omaha, Nebraska and the entire family are mad keen College Football fans of the local Omaha 'Cornhuskers' team.

Their college stadium has a capacity of 135,000 people, and their games are regularly sell-out's. Omaha love the 'Huskers'!

In typical Aussie style, the first thing Tony (BIL from ADL) & I did was to go out and buy T-shirts of all the "Cornhuskers' competitors to wear around the house and out and about.

That did not go down well. :-(

 

[Zampari]

I wore a Holden Racing Team(red & black with logos) jumper on the train back from Long Beach to Studio City in LA. When we got back to our hotel room that evening a friend who lives in LA nearly had a pink fit that I'd worn a jumper through that area that was apparently the colours of the Bloods Gang. She apparently always wears neutral colours when in that area.