Personal Appearance

Spanish Clothing Sense

Spaniards take great pride in their appearance and follow global fashion trends. However, there are distinctions in their attention to clothing that result in a more carefully coordinated ensemble that looks nice even if it is casual.

American brands are popular and much more expensive in Spain, however stores like H&M and Spain’s own Zara and Mango are considerably less expensive.

When cool weather arrives, Spaniards of all ages, regardless of sex, wear scarfs nestled tightly around their necks. Fur is also popular during the winter months in Madrid, where I have never seen a demonstration or any animosity toward the use of fur. When Spaniards attend weddings or other formal occasions, they get very dressed up.

Teenage Girls

Wardrobe
I was most surprised to find that pants are much more popular than dresses. I went to a fairly formal holiday party at a private home where the guys wore jackets and ties and all the girls wore pants except for myself and another girl. However, their pants were chic, and their tops beautiful, making their outfits very stylish.

The most popular Spanish staple for Spring, Summer and Fall are white jeans, which can be dressed up or dressed down. Flip flips are worn exclusively for the pool or beach, and leggings are not considered pants and are rarely seen.

At leisure wear is only worn when going to the gym or sports activity and does not double as street wear to run errands. T-shirts with writing are considered more for athletics and not worn when going out with friends.

Grooming
Teenage girls all have long hair. I was the anomaly with my shoulder length hair. They wear minimal makeup during the day and wear more at night for social activities. Girls remove leg hair with wax or an Epilady, but never shave. However, they do shave or wax their underarm hair.

See blog DRESS LIKE A SPANIARD

Teenage Boys

Teenage boys wear jeans or long pants, which are tighter than pants in the USA. Shorts are not as popular in the city center and are seen more in the summer and on vacations and at casual outings. When going to a party, it would be standard to see a guy in skinny pants, a white button down shirt, a nice belt and lace shoes. They look so sharp! For casual wear, teenage boys wear polo shirts and t-shirts and streamlined athletic shoes, not the big footwear that looks clunky.

Shoes are worn, but not big athletic shoes.

Hygiene

Teenagers normally bath every day, but hair is washed only every other day or a couple of times a week. Teenagers apply deodorant daily, although their grandparents may still not be in the habit of doing so. There is little interest in teeth whiting like there is in the USA, so that combined with all the smoking, result in darker and more yellow teeth.