I'm going to be studying abroad next semester in Prague and was informed that dress standards are different for students versus in the states. I was wondering what the average student usually wore to class at a University and what normal dress was like on a typical day? I don't want to seem too out of place....
It's a long time since I was a student and I don't know what students wear in America. I am therefore totally unqualified to give you a response to your specific question! However, one of the things I like about living in Prague is that you can wear what you like, unless you're going somewhere particularly formal like the opera, where Czechs will 'dress up' and the only people in jeans are tourists. You can see groups of people sitting together in a pub, all wearing different 'levels' of dress and no-one seems to be as status conscious because of what they are wearing as they would be in London. Having said that, I do appreciate that young people are more self-conscious than my age group - or at least they were when I was young - so perhaps you'll get a different response from any students who read your post. But as far as I can tell from the students I see on the tram, they don't look any different from those in London ie not specially smart but not specially scruffy either.
Neither I know what students wear in America, but the difference can be (compared to other European countries) that if you are going to an exam, written or oral, it is strongly recommended to wear some nice outfit, it means suit or jacket with tie (supposing you are a boy). Not "nice outfit" meaning the most expensive you have in your wardrobe which could be e.g. a nice shredded threadbare modern jeans...
Campus dress varies a fair amount across the USA. In the south and west, it is quite common to see students going to class in shorts and t-shirts, whereas here in the east, students tend to dress up more (golf shirts or button-down shirts with either nice jeans or Dockers-style pants). I'm not sure which of these categories, if any, Wisconsin fits into. In the Czech Republic, generally what you see (at least for the guys) is button-down shirts and Dockers. This is more of an everyday dress on campus (and elsewhere in public). As has been mentioned, nicer dress for big occasions, tests, etc. (BTW, tests there are usually one-on-one oral exams with the professor/professors--hence perhaps the nicer dress is more appropriate).
At the high school level at least, dress is the same. No sweat pants. Ever. Ever. Ever. As common as that is, even up north here in Washington state, you can't do that. Dress in general is a bit "dressier" in Europe than in the US, however, every student has their own style. There were definitely days when the students in my class at gynmasium dressed up (last day of the semesters, etc) but on a normal day - jeans and a tee shirt. As for university, whenever I met my friends after a day of classes, they were also in jeans and tees. But i've also seen people more dressed up. It's all personal style too. Also; chances are, if you are studying abroad in Prague, you'll be studying with a group of foreigners, and not in classes with Czech students.
That's possible, Jirka. My experiences are now 12 years old. I do recall jeans being fairly common as well, but not t-shirts. That seems to be a change from when I was there.
