I dont usually shop a lot for clothes. I am happy to live on T-shirts, jacket, jeans, shorts and sneakers. I own 1 formal shirt and 1 pair of black pants and a necktie for formal occasions. I go to school wearing my sweaters and comfortable fleeces and could go on with that without any concerns. But I am starting to be “bombed” by friends and GF about changing my style. Here is Taiwan according to them, not my country, I need to dress smartly. But why? Really, I wear my good shoes, expensive ones, go outside and the city has lots of dog poos, pollution, street vendors, betel nut spits and other spits, why should I do so much effort ? I even bought a pair of Crocs, ugly but washable in case I step on some spit. I don’t want to waste my good sneakers walking around the town.
Your GF and friends are being a bit picky expecting you to dress nicely. I dress according to pollution and animal/human excretions while in Taiwan too and offer no apologies for doing so. Tell them you’ll dress better after they go roll in dog poo I say. I wear lots of camouflage to hide stains and use rubber boots most of the time. Taipei is a real battleground
Dress according to what makes you comfortable. It’s not really anyone else’s business, the only other person that really has any right to dictate your dress is your employer. By the by, are your friends being serious? I was at a wedding on Sunday at a really posh restaurant, the cousin of the groom was sat at our table wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt.
This is the same gal who farts and burps? Now she is a fashion maven? Oh it gets better and better.
Seriously, either you are winding us up or this gal is as clueless as a Republican strategist. Taiwan is a very casual place. Yes, there are fashionable people, and downtown many people dress nicely, but flip flops, t-shirts, jeans, shorts, and general scruffiness is the norm.
That said I am not sure what neighborhoods you guys are in with dog poo, and other bits so generally scattered about that are a serious danger to your clothes. That’s just precious talk, or a signal to move. And dude, if you are willing to wear Crocs I find it hard to believe you are even aware of how your neighborhood looks. 
QFT
If you’re in the habit of wearing those monstrosities, then your pee-stained shorts are the LAST of your concerns.
I can usually tell foreigners who have been in Taiwan a while, they dress very casually, like the locals.
I was going to suggest a different approach. I was going to suggest you wear nice clothes, but in very odd combinations to piss her off. However, that [strike]might[/strike] would make you extremely fashionable here and could very well backfire upon you.
If she starts you on tight leggings -latest male fashion- and neon pink shirts, please make a run for the hills.
Define: smart dresssing. OK, you do not want to dress like a government employee -you know, nearly transparent from constant wear cloudy color shirt, black trousers of undefinable material, cheapo shoes that expand like fast boats… accessorized by pink or light blue big -like Kim Il Sun big- frames for thick a** glasses… for men, yes, men. Plus are we talking like a nice outing to the movies? I’ve heard Taiwanese girls complain that their foreign boyfriends either use too much cologne or forget to shave, but clothing wise… never heard a beep. Perhaps a nice hat/cap may help, a few accessories to thow around to make the transition from work to R&R (I am thinking like a woman, though). BTW, how do her friends dress?
Another important question: is there like a big age difference gap between you two? Aside from the fact that Taiwanese in general are less mature mentally than the average Westener, if there is a gap, it becomes the Grand Canyon.
Each time I read one of these threads, I appreciate my wife even more. Where do you guys find these girls? 
That’s one more of each than I own.
I admit that me and my GF don’t have a coordinated look. When we stroll around the city, I usually wear a t-shirt and a jeans plus my crocs. She wears those strange faux fur leg warmers + high heels, mini skirt and a colourful blouse with ribbons here or there or some frou-frou thing, or blouse with puffy sleeves. Or she wears one of her plataform boots that reaches the middle thigh (black or white) and a mini dress. She sometimes pair that with some faux fur coat and looks like Chaka Khan minus the big hair. Her hair is a straw blondie and she wears hazel contact lenses and fake lashes and carries a beaded little bag. I don’t even own a polo shirt or pleated pants. But even a polo shirt and pleated pants will not look well coordinated with her fashion.
My classmates want to take me to shop and get me a pink or purple vest, some bright blue necktie, some long sleeve shirts to make me more urban so they can take me to some restaurants or bars. They don’t quite like the T-shirt for an evening program, they want to fix my addiction to t-shirts and jeans. They want to teach me how to dress “creatively”.
I say go for it! What have you got to lose?
Here you can see what are these faux fur leg warmers and how the women use them.
boring!
Yep, the 80’s all over again!
Here is another girl who adhered to this new fashion trend. She looks like my GF, leg warmers, blondie hair, fake eyelashes, sweet expression.
flickr.com/photos/tokyofashi … q=japanese fashion leg warmers
Sorry, but that is WAAY out of date, even by Taiwanese standards! (And we are already talking 10 years past the sell-by date here.) That mouldy fig of yours has NO RIGHT telling you what’s cool and what isn’t! Is she her own grandmother, or what? 
OK, but you haven’t answered my question: is there a 3 or 5 or 10 year age gap between you two? That may affect fashion choices.
Last Sunday I went out to eat with 2 other couples. One of my furriner friends was in the usual t-shirt and shorts -those baggy surfer awful hanging things- with white socks and loafers. The other guy had a Spanish style cap on, pretty scarf, jacket and jeans, a casual but polished look, plus he was clean shaved. Both their girlfriends are local, and they’ve been together a long time, for several years -over 5 years, I think, both. And yes, the t-shirt one’s girls is more casual, the other guy’s girls more fashionable, so there is some mutual influence there.
It is natural for couples to “mimic” each others body language. Here they take it to teh extreme by dressing the same. You do not have to go to that extreme but it may help to get a deeper understanding of the relationship… if that is the way you want to go.
We are both 23, but she gets her fashion sense from those girlish magazines that are sold in the convenience store. So the strange leg warmers and thigh high boots are selling like hot cakes. As for me I usually wear simple clothes that I can match with any pair of jeans and I just add a jacket. Maybe I should buy a combat pants and black Doc Marten boots just to keep my relationship going smoothly, but it is strange that a man needs to join the girlfriend and wear some costume just to match her looks. I’m probably dating the wrong girl but she likes to go out with me and she wants to improve my looks even though I feel alright with my clothes. BTW she hates my crocs, but I see lots of men wearing them, so in a way I am fashoinable also.
I think the OP should shave his head for starters.