A lot of people think that Brazil is just one gigantic country with naked women, samba, and barbecue, but this is a big stereotype. Brazil has a great cultural diversification. I am from the south of Brazil. A city called Porto Alegre, right next to Argentina and Uruguay. Where I am from we have a very European culture and we are the only part of Brazil where the winter is actually cold. And even coming from the south of Brazil and growing up with a traditional family, I felt the cultural difference between Brazil and NYC hard. This is one of the things people ask me all the time: fashion and lifestyle adjustment since I moved to the US.
From the very beginning of my blog, I have been stating that there is something to be said about being an immigrant building a career in NYC. This is one of those things! The changes between lifestyle and fashion style. I honestly find myself more comfortable in the style I adopted in New York, but it was a process that took time. Even though I grew up in a different scene than the tropical Brazil people see on the TV, the colors, warm tones, and prints are a thing. The modification to the NYC hustle and need of wearing a full black outfit took a pretty good six months for me.
In terms of what to wear, I did not notice much difference. Contrary to what everyone thinks, Brazil is not about naked women, short skirts, and boobs out. This is just a stereotype. I always liked short skirts, but that does not mean everyone in Brazil is like that - neither means my parents always approved how I dress, lol (but for real). NYC is all about fashion. You can see and feel the fashion lifestyle on the streets of Manhattan. Brazil is the very opposite of that. Sure you can find fashion in Brazil, but as a tropical country, there are always colors no matter what season designers are working on. The full black uniform worn by every true New Yorker is something that, in Brazil, would be more like “who died today?” or “whose funeral you just came from?”
In my first 6 months in NYC, I was just in school, did not have a job, and was enjoying the city. After those six months, when I decided to stay and become a true New Yorker, I had to get a job and adapt to the hustle of this city. To be completely honest here, the punctuality, the formality, and the bohemian lifestyle of New York are things I was used to. With that European culture, we have in the South of Brazil, being on time, respecting people’s schedules, and being professional are things we take very seriously. So that was the easy part. But the hustle, the pace, and the style of NYC is something that I had to learn.
Sure New York is not only about black outfits. I can find edgy outfits around the garment district easier than in Rio de Janeiro - and Rio is the place in Brazil where you will see the smallest tongue bikinis. As I mentioned, I find myself more comfortable in the style I adopted in NYC, but it was a great difference between the colors and prints I used to see around the streets in Brazil. It feels like all immigrants face these stereotypes regarding fashion and lifestyle in their original countries. I can only talk about the industry that I know and hear the most jokes about it, but as an immigrant the changes we embrace take a great impact on our style. That is bigger than just adapting. It is also about standing up for yourself and “educating” people that everything they know is a stereotype!
PS: I know this picture is nothing new. But this picture represents really well my NYC style and how comfortable I fell with who I am today!
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