Everyday Fashion In Spain and the United States, by Ashika Chintalapati

While I have been in Spain, one of the main differences I have noticed all around me is the fashion. The style of clothes people here wear in their daily lives is very different from what I am used to seeing people wear every day back home. I noticed the difference in fashion during the first few days that I arrived in Seville. At first, I thought maybe it was just certain age groups that dressed differently, but after living here for a few months it is very apparent that many people from all different age groups dress nicely here in comparison to the areas of the United States where I have lived. To clarify, the people here tend to look very put together and dress in an elevated manner or more stylishly on a daily basis than what I have previously been exposed to.

Back home, it seems many more people are dressed for comfort rather than style or if they choose to dress for both comfort and style they typically wear athleisure clothing which has recently become very popular in the United States. In Seville, people dress up rather than dress down and also wear many more bright colors and patterns on their clothing as well. This was something I noticed as soon as I walked into the stores in Spain because there was so much more color on the shelves and racks. One of the main places I noticed the difference in the way people dress was while going to school. At many colleges and schools in the United States, it is typical to see students wearing comfy clothes such as sweatpants, leggings, and athleisure clothing to class, sometimes even pajamas. Here in Seville, the students tend to wear more jeans, trousers, skirts, dresses, etc. than I am used to seeing. While casual clothing is seen in Seville sometimes, it is definitely less common. There could be many reasons as to why these differences exist between the everyday fashion of people in these countries, but overall it just comes down to the different cultures. It could possibly be due to how Spain has more of a collectivist culture than the United States whereas the United States has more of an individualistic culture. These factors may impact how people wish for those around them to view them based on the way they present themselves. This would be an interesting thing to study and take a deeper look at.

References

https://www.cultursmag.com/cultural-coexistence-of-dress-and-fashion-in-spain-part-3-of-3/