Aug 7, 20202 min read

The European Summer Aesthetic

Europe is a continent that people have had on their bucket lists for years to visit. The most visited travel destination in this part of the world is France with its capital Paris, followed by Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Travelling as a black woman, not just to Europe but anywhere, has it's pros and cons. After reading the experiences of black women who have traveled abroad and watching their YouTube videos explaining the details of their trips, it's apparent that we stand out. Probably not in places like the United Kingdom, but perhaps in Serbia, Croatia or Hungary. Sometimes people will stare because perhaps they haven't seen black people in real life before (it's possible, especially if you wear your natural hair!) In a blog post by Gloria Atanmo, who writes the blog, the Blog Abroad, she said this about her experience travelling to Serbia as a black woman:

"Visiting Serbia was such a hilarious experience, because it’s one of those countries where black women are just a hot commodity. Again, not in the creepy way, but on a normal day, you can expect to take between 5 to 10 photos with locals. They’re also very polite about it, and you can tell there’s a mix of shyness and amazement as they stumble over their words trying to ask for that selfie."

Despite that, many single black women are choosing to travel the world, either solo or with a group, and Europe is on many of our travel destination lists. When visiting Europe in the summer, it's important to remember that in most cases, Europeans dress a bit differently. Especially if you are coming from America, it's important to dress in a way that doesn't scream "TOURIST".

I've observed that Europeans usually tend to wear more neutral colors, tones that are not too loud, in their everyday wear. The ones that I've seen on Instagram, blog posts and YouTube seem very classy and put together. They're usually in countries like France, the U.K., Germany. Here are a few examples of how black women visiting Europe can embody that.

Examples of Neutral Toned European Summer Outfits

All images are from Pinterest

I've also noticed that more colorful, floral prints tend to be worn in places like Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece during the summer. Here are some examples of how black women can incorporate that while on their trip.

Examples of European Summer Outfits with Pops of Color and Floral Inspirations