When I moved from Europe to the United States, I experienced a lot of culture shocks while in this country. One of the biggest shocks was how students prefer to dress in school. What immediately catches your eye as soon as you step into any American school is pajamas, sportswear, and generally, what people usually wear at home when no one is looking. Seeing this, almost every European student will fall into a deathly shock.
As someone from Eastern Europe, where people like to dress up even more than in the West, I was no exception. Western Europe is considered more elegant than the East, but people dress comfortably yet beautifully. The East is not like that because dressing up is a must. No matter where you go, no matter who you go with, you always have to look great. It can be a little confusing to be used to this “European lifestyle” and then see people in public places dressed as if they just got out of bed.
Pajamas at school seem too much, as if children do not come to school, the place where they receive knowledge, but instead, it’s as if they go to their homes. Pajamas immediately evoke associations with bed, sleep, and everything else, which may well lead to children falling asleep or just feeling sleepy.
Children should start to differentiate between what they should wear at home and what they should wear in public, such as school. I am not saying that they should dress as if for the red carpet, but there should be some formality. It is worth noting that most European schools have a stricter dress code. Therefore, people also often look more dressy and classy, and when you dress up for school, your inner feelings change, as all the “muddy” feelings about wearing pajamas will disappear.
What is also worth adding is that you will rarely see a European student wearing athletic/sportswear to school; as for us, it is strictly for gym class or any other training. On the other hand, Americans love sportswear, and they wear it everywhere, including girls wearing Lululemon or guys in Nike tech suits, because it is both comfortable and provides a sense of “sportiness.”
There is no immediate explanation for this phenomenon. Although a person can dress elegantly and still look elegant, fashion is always a personal matter. In Eastern Europe, people used to dress up to appear better than they were. Still, nowadays, it’s more of a habit and part of the social framework, as many people around always silently judge how another person is dressed. In America, on the contrary, it’s much easier, and people don’t seem to care as much about their appearance. Still, from personal observation, I can say that in America, comfort always seems to come first.
