Expanish TEFL Blog

One of the best tactics to ‘blend’ in with a local culture is to dress just like the locals do. If you are a TEFL teacher in Buenos Aires, this means formal/dress clothing in the day and porteno clothing (people of Buenos Aires) by night. You may wonder what advantages are there if you ‘blend’ in with the locals…?

1.    You will actually be treated as more of a local instead of a foreigner, obviously different than everyone else.
2.    Tourists are considered to have more money, clothing of more value, etc, and the chance of petty theft and muggings are actually less if you look more like a local.
3.    Here is your chance to feel like an Argentine! If speaking the language, eating local food, visiting local venues, and more, are part of cultural immersion, so is what you wear.

What do people wear in Buenos Aires?

For TEFL teachers in Buenos Aires, it is important to dress well when you are teaching, dress trousers and a button shirt for men, and the same for women, with the possibility of a longer skirt.  Just look around you at what other workers are wearing in the city and you will catch on pretty quick!

For the night time, the people of Buenos Aires wear a wide variety of different clothing due to the fact of the diversity of the city.  In general, Argentine men wear jeans, collared shirts, sneakers or loafers, and often add a hint of color to the wardrobe not afraid of colors such as baby blue or pink. Women often wear slim jeans, boots or fancy sandals, long tank tops or sweaters and lots of accessories. Keep in mind that Argentine women to not show too much skin, so keep the tight low t-shirts and short skirts at home.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 9:19 am and is filed under Argentine Customs & Culture.
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