How do men dress in Switzerland?
Or in Western Europe in general for that matter.

I have been told that if you see a man walking through Paris wearing shorts, chances are he is an American tourist.

Here in Quebec, I wear shorts all summer long. Even at work.

What is it like in Lausanne?
I guess I'll go check it out on google streetview...

With the prevalence of shows available on cable here that originate from Canada, US, UK and Australia, many of the people you'll see on the street dress very similar to what you'd see in any of those countries as well.

I'd say the main difference I notice compared to what I'm used to in the US is SHOES - there is not the prevalence of sneakers with jeans here that there is in the US, on either men or women. While I always got walking or cross-trainer shoes for every-day wear with my jeans in the US, here it seems folks usually wear their athletic shoes for the endeavor for which they were designed, and wear "nice" shoes the rest of the time, instead of just reserving the nice ones for going to work or going out.


So far a shorts themselves go though, I'm not really sure. It's still a bit early in the season to "count on" seeing people in summer wear here and last summer was a whole year ago. The gals seem to wear skirts more often, what I can picture in my head mainly for what the guys are wearing is what my hubby and his brother wear which tend to be more cropped pants than shorts, hitting below the knee.

Meanwhile, that's for guys, for last year... this year, as I said, it's a bit early to say with any certainty BUT thinking on it, I know I saw shorts (mid-thigh) as part of the women's summer collection available at H&M so perhaps this year the throngs (including my hubby and my brother-in-law) will be wearing shorts.

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Work:
Shorts, at work, are out of the question in companies here.
Sometimes even jeans are frowned upon, depending on the dress code.
In the academic world it's quite relaxed.

Free time:
As you please

While this may be true in most cases, it is not true in all cases. I work for a small IT company and shorts with a t-shirt are no problem for normal office days. The exception is of course meeting with customers where a collared shirt, nice jeans, and nice'ish shoes (not running shoes) are the minimum.

It mainly depends on the kind of job you have.
I can't imagine seeing a banker, a doctor in his practice, a sales person, a civil servant having to receive people,..., a professor or teacher in front of his class,..., and so many others in shorts.
When it is really hot (+30°C) and I am sure not to see anyone in the afternoon at my job, I sometimes venture wearing shorts, but in general I will have a pair of trousers ready, just in case of....
In IT, without contact with custumors, I can imagine s short is accepted.

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Men in shorts in the office seem to be fine for those that aren't client facing. On the days we have clients in (or any visitors, for that matter) people scrub up and put on smarter clothes.

Maybe it depends on the company but the three places I have worked whilst here and my husband's company (we have worked for a mix of international and Swiss companies) have all allowed shorts and/or jeans)

our suits are different to. they dont look like we still have to grow into them....

otherwise the USA culture (abercrombie etc etc ) is well integrated here, not so much in the workplace tho.

I wear nice pants and shirt everyday, but not always a suit.

Word, it's all about the slim fit here.

Salut! Bonne St-Jean!

You'll find here people keep their jacket and boots and scarf loooong into spring and even summer! Je niaise pas!

In Montreal when the celcius reach 15, people go out in shorts, flip flop and they open the terrasses!

Agreed. Not sure what the situation is now in Canada, but when I left, no one really wore scarves--apart from in the severe cold for practical reasons.

Here you will see both men and women wearing them all year long. They will defend them as a practical necessity, however, a big scarf worn on a male with a v-neck t-shirt is purely for some sort of fashion trend.

In the business and banking/finance world, you will see the generic suit as a fairly standard outfit right across the board. Also with a while or light blue shirt---you won't see the louder bright (none-pastel) colours as often in the business world.

Just my observations.

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If shorts are not appropriate in your company but want to keep an American look, you can always wear Dockers with a polo shirt.

Don't forget you have to turn the trouser leg up to ankle-swinging length, too. Essential in Zurich, at least...

I generally put on my underwear before my trousers. Otherwise it makes life awfully complicated.

what's 'underwear'?

Stuff you ''wear'' under.

Keep it real and be a leader not a follower....

People wear what they want when they want i say...at least at my work the clothing is relaxed..in fact everywhere i have been to work in the land of the swiss seems to be relaxed.

i.e. Cablecom, Swisscom, Phonak.....

Ahh--like when it's cold outside.

Not a fan of the layered look

As in most countries - depends where... and what they do for a living!
Men in Geneva dress quite differently from the men here up in the Jura mountains.. I am surrounded by farmers and customs officers.
I'd say though that generally men here dress more casually than in London City-even for business. But shorts and sneakers are just a no-no for the office.

General answer: Yes, we do.

The rest depends very much on your job environment. I work in software and unless he has a customer appointment, even the CEO will wear jeans. I personally would never wear shorts or sandals to work, no matter how hot it is.

Man here in Lugano people dress like they're going to a model parade *coughs* pretentious metrosexuals*coughs*.... and this is the case for mostly anyone!!! Also, if you're not wearing Armani, LV, DB or any of them fancy fashion houses clothing you are going to get looked like a monster and will not be treated kindly/seriously by the regular clerk or let alone anyone...

At least that is the case most of the time, here it's all about the looks and pretending, don't matter if you're broke and live in a shitty apartment as long as you're wearing your fancy clothing even it's a cheap knock-off from the balcans...

I hate the dressing etiquette over here, but I know Lugano is an exception in Switzerland, this is due to the fact we're so close to Milan and people here are more Italian than Swiss, although they will die before admitting it.

Though it is also in true in the Sopraceneri(north of the canton;Bellinzona, Locarno, Biasca, etc) people are more casual and don't care much for fashion.