Dressing Down

[Mr Lee]

The topic Traveler brought up about good expat bad expat and many of the comments in it HERE brought to mind how we dress, so does how we dress influence what people think of us? I feel it does, and it seems others feel that way as well based on their comments, so while out in the provinces I dress down but while in the malls I try to look presentable, yet I see many of us who look like bums and I never try to judge a book by its cover, yet I wonder what the locals must think of many of us just based on the way we dress, keep our hair, and how many let their facial hair grow because facial hair is not all that common in the PHL. I used to have a beard but my wife does not like the way it feels so I am clean shaven now. Is it hot in the Philippines, you bet it is in most places but does that mean we have to look like bums while out in the malls? I continually read about how expats say they want to fit in, so I look at how the locals dress while in the malls and I rarely see the men dressed like bums and most often see them dressed nicely, so I try to dress in a similar fashion, yet that seems to make the foreigners feel I dress inappropriately. I guess we cannot please everyone and the only ones I am really interested in pleasing are my wife and my self, so we might wish to think about how we are seen, but at the same time we also need to be happy with ourselves. So where am I going with this, what do you think the proper dress for us is while out in the malls?

[Old55]

I think I dress kinda like you do Lee. We live in a very temperate climate and anything over 20deg C is uncomfortable to me.I only wear long pants to church or other formal occasions and I ask when invited to someone’s home if I should wear long pants. While in the provinces or around the house in Cebu I will wear a tank top and swim trunks or lightweight shorts. Any time I go out I wear knee length cargo pants and a polo shirt.A few years ago I found on sale at Fried Myers some lightweight wrinkle proof Nike polo golf shirts and workout pullover tops designed to wick sweat away keeping me dry and comfortable in the hot weather there. On sale they can be found reasonably priced it works well for me. http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-313776/pgid-277317

[ekimswish]

Yeah, where I live it's mostly rural tough guys, working in ripped up shorts and shirts and sandals, if they have a shirt at all. So when we make the 30 minute trip to the city to go to the Robinson's mall - where I am right now as my wife Christmas shops - I'm surrounded by the local elite it feels like. I almost came to town today in a pair of cheap sandals a size too small, but my wife insisted I wear shoes. I wasn't aware I still had more than one pair of socks! But there's a huge difference in wealth between people in a shopping mall and the man on the street or in the countryside. I definitely feel like I'll be judged more in a shopping mall, where most of the people probably have more money than I do, and maybe have experience in America or someplace abroad. Somehow I feel like these types - maybe I'm being hard on them - may look down on me for not living up to their expectations of a foreigner, but it doesn't bother me if they do. I like my basketball jerseys and shorts, even if I lack the big muscles necessary to make them look "cool". I'm actually noticing the foreigners in the mall today mostly look quite clean-cut and "respectable" with nice clothes on. One old-timer has long pony-tailed hair with a long scraggly beard, but his wife (middle-aged herself) and who I assume is her adult son, both look happy and in nice clothes. I said "hey" to the guy the third time passing by. My problem with clothes is that I'm such a cheap SOB, I haven't bought new ones in 5 years. That means the clothes I'm wearing are still from my early 20's, when I was still striving to replicate the style of my late teens. In my late 20's, it's embarrassing, but what can I do? I'm too cheap to buy new ones. Maybe I'll do some shopping before I look for a job next month. God knows I need it.

[Art2ro]

Dressing up or down, is just a common sense type of thing! No real problem if one can't match up the alligator trade marks! Thrift shops are all over the Philippines, they're called UKAY-UKAY!

[Jim Sibbick]

Yes, definitely, Filipinos are influenced by how we dress.My experience is that the richer a person is, the more respect a Filipino will have for them and will give them right of way. IE the Filipina dripping with jewellery will be allowed to go ahead of everyone else.So, when I dress down, I am thought of as a pooreigner and sometimes pushed aside but if I am dressed in my business Barong, black pants and shoes, the result is completely different. You can see it in the looks on their faces. I have been asked if I am the mayor where I come from or told I look like the mayor. However, since you can't please everyone, you might as well just please yourself. So, I dress as I please most of the time. IE shorts and thongs (slippers). I don't have any Filipinos I need to impress and if a Filipina needs me to be dressed up, I don't need her. I am in fact happy to be thought of as a pooreigner.I will wear long pants and shoes for important meetings where respect is warranted. I have noticed that sometimes when Filipinos who come to see me on business, knowing that I wear shorts, will come dressed in shorts.. Yes, Filipinos who always wear long pants look funny in shorts too!Regards: JIm Sibbick

[Jake]

Yes, definitely, Filipinos are influenced by how we dress.My experience is that the richer a person is, the more respect a Filipino will have for them and will give them right of way. IE the Filipina dripping with jewellery will be allowed to go ahead of everyone else.So, when I dress down, I am thought of as a pooreigner and sometimes pushed aside but if I am dressed in my business Barong, black pants and shoes, the result is completely different. You can see it in the looks on their faces. I have been asked if I am the mayor where I come from or told I look like the mayor. However, since you can't please everyone, you might as well just please yourself. So, I dress as I please most of the time. IE shorts and thongs (slippers). I don't have any Filipinos I need to impress and if a Filipina needs me to be dressed up, I don't need her. I am in fact happy to be thought of as a pooreigner.I will wear long pants and shoes for important meetings where respect is warranted. I have noticed that sometimes when Filipinos who come to see me on business, knowing that I wear shorts, will come dressed in shorts.. Yes, Filipinos who always wear long pants look funny in shorts too!Regards: JIm Sibbick

Hey Jim,I like that term "pooreigner" -- may I borrow it? I'm with you 100% on your dressing up/down comments. No need to try toplease anyone because one of them is bound to be dissatisfied anyway. In most cases, I generally try to keep a low profile which includes keeping my mouth shut. Otherwise they will detect my Tagalog with an American accent. Go figure......Respectfully -- Jake

[Jim Sibbick]

Yes, definitely, Filipinos are influenced by how we dress.Regards: JIm Sibbick

Hey Jim,I like that term "pooreigner" -- may I borrow it? Respectfully -- Jake

Hello JakeGo for it!I didn't invent the term. I first saw it in a newspaper about 8 years ago,Reagrds; Jim

[Art2ro]

It's not just all about dressing down or up! It's because most of you are obviously of a different nationality, but Filipinos will still judge you by your looks, expressions and attitude in person or out in public! Haven't you guys realized by now even though you're a pooreigner, most of you are millionaires in a sense in this country, because most of you probably have an income of at least $25,000 a year and then some, which comes out to at least P1.1 million pesos a year! So in the eyes of your local Filipinos, you are rich by Filipino standards!

Edited December 28, 2010 by Fil/AmArt

[Jim Sibbick]

I receive regular requests from foreigners, asking about living in the Philippines on usd $600 per month or usd $800 per month or usd $1000 per month. And, have met some of these people in real life as they get by on these amounts. Usually happily! I personally could get by on usd $300 per month but would prefer the lifestyle I can achieve on usd $800 per month.The original pooreigner article, about 8 years ago, was about foreigners living in the Philippines, surviving on next to nothing. Sometimes begging to get by. I have met some of these people too!.I am also aware of foreigners who work for Filipino wages as they have no means to get back home and no means to survive in the Philippines. One was a dishwasher in a restaurant.Regards: Jim

[Art2ro]

I receive regular requests from foreigners, asking about living in the Philippines on usd $600 per month or usd $800 per month or usd $1000 per month. And, have met some of these people in real life as they get by on these amounts. Usually happily! I personally could get by on usd $300 per month but would prefer the lifestyle I can achieve on usd $800 per month.The original pooreigner article, about 8 years ago, was about foreigners living in the Philippines, surviving on next to nothing. Sometimes begging to get by. I have met some of these people too!.I am also aware of foreigners who work for Filipino wages as they have no means to get back home and no means to survive in the Philippines. One was a dishwasher in a restaurant.Regards: Jim

I bet you, if Traveler read your post, he would be knocking your statement big time, because he couldn't live on $1,000 a month the way he was accustomed to living a westernized lifestyle, so he recently returned to the U.S. to regroup, but will eventually return with a nest egg and a new approach to living here and be a little more wiser and appreciative what the Philippines has to offer! With an income of $300 to $800 a month is still pushing it to the minimum limit living in the Philippines or anywhere else for a would be pooreigner! Too many things can go wrong and with a minimum source income just won't do your average unprepared young or old tourist and or retiree "pooreigner" as you call them as they will just be barely surviving to make ends meet! Maybe that's the reason why the topic of dressing down came about because of the appearance of a pooreigner that are usually dressed down most of the time due to their financial hard luck situation and not by their choosing! That's just the hard facts of life sometimes what one has to make do with the resource or income one has in these trying times during a world wide recession! Some people planned wisely for their future and some young adventurous types just haphazardly took the plunge on their gut instincts or just on faith alone to try living in a 3rd world country knowing that the cost of living is cheaper overseas than in their home country and hope to survive some how! Well, "different strokes for different folks" as I always say! Edited December 29, 2010 by Fil/AmArt