Mediterranean Fashion: A Relaxed Smart Casual Style Guide For Men & Women

One trip to the any town on the Mediterranean Sea coast in Europe will reveal a style like no other. The ultra stylish local inhabitants often spend a good chunk of their money on fashion, with clothing and footwear being the most impost items. One thing that you have to understand is that apart from the beautiful beaches, great food, and relaxed lifestyle, fashion is also an integral part of the culture. 

While the local women prefer to wear a light coloured dress paired with big sunglasses the local men prefer a cotton dress shirt paired with simple shorts. As a tourist, your first time in the region can feel as if you are either over or under dressed, so let’s make sure that doesn’t happen by listing some examples of local style.

Men

Pants

In the regions around the Mediterranean Sea, men’s fashion is regarded as laid back but still incredibly stylish. In order to under stand this in regards to pants, you need to take some aspect into consideration. Of course you will see men wearing denim jeans on the streets, as with everywhere else in the world, but this is not the preferred choice of pants. Actually, mainly young adults will be seen in denim jeans, as with the rest of Mediterranean men, chinos are the top choice.

Choose to stick with some key colours with your chinos, with beige, black, and navy blue being the preferred choice. You can wear your chinos easily with a white oxford shirt paired with brown loafers. Which, by the way, is a classic Mediterranean outfit.

Shorts

In the hot summer months, wearing shorts will be the number one choice amongst the local me. We are not talking about any type of shorts, but ones that are fashionable and extremely stylish. Chino shorts are by far the most popular type, with the colours beige and navy blue the preferred choice. Wear your chino shorts with either a tucked in dress shirt or with a light colour short sleeve polo.

Footwear

For footwear in the hot months, many men tend to wear loafers, white running shoes, or black sandals. Loafers are the preferred choice to wear on a daily basis, but some men prefer to wear sandals, specially if they frequent the many boardwalks and beaches. While wearing white running shoes is mostly seen in men under the age of 30 years old.

Shirt

Wearing an oxford shirt amongst Mediterranean men is extremely popular no matter what season you are in. White is the preferred colour and can be paired easily with any type of pants you wish to wear. Except joggers of course! Also, plain t-shirts are common to see, with white, black, and navy blue being the preferred choice.

Women

Dress

In the Mediterranean region, when it comes to wearing a dress women like only two options. Either the dress will be a light colour such as white, beige, or a light pastel colour or, to wear a beautiful floral print. Yes, these are what Mediterranean women like and it is what makes this region so vibrant and colourful.

The reason for wearing a light colour dress might be because of the hot sunny days and a need to reflect the sun. Also, wearing a dress is just way more comfortable than wearing jeans and is more stylish as well.

Pants

While wearing a dress might come first amongst most women who reside near the Mediterranean Sea, this does not mean that pants are completely forgotten. In the summer months, you will see many women wearing denim mom jeans and skinny jeans, often paired with a white button down shirt. This style is extremely popular in the Mediterranean region

Shirt

As we said earlier, the main type of shirt that Mediterranean women will wear is going to be a simple button down white shirt. It really doesn’t matter what the occasion is, wearing a white button down shirt is going to be the number one choice. Mainly because you can easily wear shorts, jeans, or a skirt easily with this type of shirt. Other popular shirts for the summer include a white or cream colour camisole top, black blouse, and a plain white t-shirt.

Footwear

Flats and heels are common amongst the local women but be careful to choose which type of footwear is suitable for your outfit. With flats, it is best to wear either denim jeans or linen joggers and with heels, wearing a dress or skirt will be the best choice. Keep your heels and flats either brown or black and your sandals either black or white.

Accessories

Having sunglasses is one of the most important must haves for Mediterranean fashion, this is because it is usually sunny year round. For men, medium size sunglasses are best, while for women it is more fashionable to wear large frame sunglasses.

Mediterranean fashion is one of the most laid back styles in Europe. You can bet the laid back lifestyle has a major influence on how they dress. You can of course add to any of these styles to suite your taste. Please be sure to comment and let us know what your favourite Mediterranean styles are.

coatFibers

You may not reproduce or communicate any of the content on this website, including files downloadable from this website, without the permission of the coatFibers. See Terms of Use.