I was recently in a mall in Denver that is considered to be rather up-scale. The Cherry Creek Mall contains stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Diesel and Boss. Pretty nice, but I couldn't help thinking about the malls I've visited in Brazil, of course. The “shopping,” how you saw mall in Portuguese, resemble what we are used to in the United States but there are differences in the types of stores, the organization of those stores, the culture, and the people in the malls. I have never been a big mall guy, but I have to admit that these differences that I mentoined get me excited to go cruise the malls of Brazil.
I would like to focus on what people are wearing when they go to catch a movie, window shop, or eat a Big Mac. Forget about sweat pants and t-shirts and think about trendy jeans, sexy tops, and expensive looking accessories. Getting together with fiends at the mall is not and event to dress down. I asked a friend in Salvador about this and she told me that Brazil is a violent place and the malls were realitively safe places where people could relax the alert level a bit, have fun, and be seen. I think it's partly that reason you see what you see in the malls and I think the other part is that the typical Brazilian is a little bit more formal in their dress than the typical American. Brazilians are aware of how they look if they are going to a fancy club, meeting some friends at the local street side bar, or just going for a walk.
I learned the dress code the hard was in 2007 which was my first visit to Brazil. I was staying with a friend in Salvador from my Portuguese class at the University of Colorado, and one day we decided to catch a movie at the mall. Salvador is on the coast and you see a lot of people in beach gear. I wore my board shorts and a tank-top and she wore a sundress a woman would wear over her bikini. We were comfortable and dressed like the people we saw near the beach. By the time we entered the mall and were halfway to the theater we looked at each other and I said, “I think we are a little bit underdressed.” It was obvious that we were tourists. I decided that in the future I would be a little more aware to how everyone looked around me and I would blend in better.
Whatever motivations Brazilians have for looking good just about everywhere they go is alright with me. When I'm in Brazil and speaking Portuguese everyday I have no problem adapting to their way of doing things. My experience there has also effected me when I'm in the U.S. I think about where I am going and I try to look my best.
