In Taiwan, do any of you feel social pressure to dress according to the weather?
It’s around 15-20 degrees Celsius, or 50s-60s Fahrenheit in Taipei now, and I’m wearing T-shirts and shorts as always. My friends in the US wear T-shirts when the temperature is in the 60s, and that’s nothing unusual even in warm states like California. For people from colder climates, this is room temperature or even warm weather (and Canadians all say this is warm), but Taiwanese think it’s really cold.
Instead of getting congratulated for being brave and unafraid of the cold like in the US, in Taiwan people give me weird looks when I wear a T-shirt in such weather. People keep asking me if I’m cold and if I need a jacket. They make you feel like you’re not fitting in and you’re doing something wrong, or like they desperately need to do something to help you out. One random old guy even barked at me, “what kind of clothes is this? 這是什麼衣服？” My relatives keep telling me to put on a jacket, but I refuse because I’m a grown man (I don’t get why they treat guys in their mid 20s like kids).
I’m just doing something completely normal for guys from the US and Canada. But if you happen to be a warm-blooded guy from a colder climate who likes wearing T-shirts in cool weather, other Taiwanese people may make a huge fuss about it. I know it’s my own business, but I keep bumping heads with people who try to tell me how to dress.
Because most people here are really cold now. Even the ones (foreigners) that come from a ‘colder’ country and live here for like 2 decades. Taiwan is not Thailand. It can get even colder to about 2-4 C later on. Humidity makes it cold to the bone.
But never mind their comments, some wear a down jacket and flip-flops. Which I think is weird.
But seriously, for young American guys, 20 C (68 F) is T-shirt weather. American schools even teach that 68 F is normal room temperature.
I’m a skinny Taiwanese-American guy too, not a white guy with a thick frame. If you’re of Taiwanese descent, they’ll keep picking on you, but white guys are sort of allowed to carry on as usual, I guess because locals assume that they’re built to be cold-tolerant.
In the US, we get blasted with A/C turned all the way down to 15 C (60 F) while wearing T-shirts with shorts or jeans.
I remember one day back in high school, it was a wonderful 60 degree morning, but my mom said I had to put on warm clothes or she wouldn’t let me go outside. One of my best friends (a white guy) was stunned. “But you always wear shorts just like me! What happened?” My response: “Ya gotta understand Asian moms.”
I just wear what I feel comfortable in. Sometimes it’s just a t shirt or light long sleeve. I rarely wear a jacket in Taiwan unless it’s really cold at night.
In the US there are lots of guys who grew up on the E coast (I mean to say actual towns/cities right on the Atlantic coast) who wear nothing but hoodies and flip flops in the coldest weather. They might own a rain slicker for when they’re on the water. I suspect that tapers off by Boston (if not further a bit further south), but even guys in Delaware I know don’t own a real winter coat.
I have a good friend with a house on Virginia’s eastern shore, where they get snow, but I’ve never seen him in anything heavier than a hoodie even with snow on the ground.
Guys who work out at sea always own really good winter wet gear but wear it only when working way out in the Atlantic. Off the sea they wear board shorts, flops, and maybe a hoodie.
Guys who surf off the E coast are far more likely to own a good wet suit than a winter coat.
I wear a t shirt with a jacket , because I can keep my body temperature more comfortable. Inside can get a bit cold if just sitting and not moving but outside can get warm if walking fast. The winds can get cold here too so at least a wind breaking jacket is a good idea in my opinion.
Yeah, it’s weird to me how people start busting out the winter jackets when it’s 70 degrees. I don’t think it’s dipped below 60 but for a couple of nights, and people are bundled up like there’s a blizzard. I’m personally happy after living in Singapore that I can wear jeans without sweating through them.
I come from a cold, and I mean freakin cold, US winter weather location. Now just a few years later I’m taiwanized. A day like today feels really cold to me.
Yea, it’s not about the temperature outside, it’s about the temperature in your bones. I miscalculated that before and got a chill, even if it was ten degrees above cold
There are some modes of dress that no Taiwanese person would adopt in the winter 
