What are your experiences with dressing up in Berlin?

Question

Berliners usually dress down a lot, especially in the east. In the west you have a lot of girls who dress „tussig" which I wouldn't consider as dressed well more like commercial. I get many weird looks when I dress up 😅 Rarely do I get compliments, it's more like faces of ignorance or contempt because they now how the feeling shit about having dressed down. I fly a lot so I always do my make up at the airport toilet in berlin to save time. Usually people are in and out of the bathroom. But not when one person is doing their make up... oh no then suddenly every woman starts analyzing their face, doing their hair or also starting to do make up. So there must be some sense of "let me look great too". Not that you only look good with make up but you get my point it's about putting in an extra thought or effort. Germans are weird when it comes to style and fashion or is it just me😆

ilsabeschmuck · Answer

nah you're not wrong, it's a real thing here. east berlin especially, people wear the same black puffer jacket and beanie from october to april, it's like a uniform. i've lived in friedrichshain for years and if i throw on a blazer for a dinner thing, i get side eyes on the tram like i'm headed to a wedding.

the airport bathroom thing is hilarious and true though. there's this weird competitive energy that only comes out when someone else is clearly making an effort. it's like they'd never dress up on their own but they can't stand to feel outdone.

one thing that helps, if you care: stick to kreuzberg or neukölln for nightlife, people there are more into individual style, vintage, that kind of thing. it's less "tussig" and more creative. but for day to day, yeah, you'll always be the odd one out. just own it, honestly the ones who stare are usually just jealous they didn't bother.

anettliebich · Answer

honestly the airport bathroom thing is so spot on, i've seen it happen in tegel and now ber brandenburg too. it's like people here only allow themselves to care about appearance when someone else does it first, weird group mentality.

but there's a flip side to the dressing down that i kinda love. nobody judges you for showing up to a nice restaurant in sneakers and a hoodie, you can be super casual and still get great service. in other cities you'd feel underdressed, here it's totally fine.

for actual dressing up, check out the smaller cocktail bars in mitte or charlottenburg, like around savignyplatz. people there tend to be older, more refined, and they do put effort in without the whole tussig vibe. it's a different crowd than the clubs, more like.. understated elegance. you'll get way less weird looks there.

wanda · Answer

haha i feel this so hard. lived in prenzlauer berg for a bit and even there, which is supposed to be the "nicer" east, people just do the whole clean minimal thing but never actually dress up. it's like they're afraid of looking like they tried too hard.

the weird looks thing is real though. i think it's partly a berlin thing where effort is almost suspicious, like you're showing off or you don't belong. but honestly, i've started to see it as a filter. if someone gives you a nasty look for wearing a nice dress to a gallery opening, that's on them, not you.

for actual stylish people who aren't tussig, try the bars around hackescher markt on a weekday evening, not the touristy ones but the little speakeasy types down the side streets. also, the crowds at berlin art week or fashion week events are the only times you'll genuinely blend in, but that's like twice a year.

and yeah, the bathroom thing is a whole social experiment. i think berliners secretly want to dress up but they've convinced themselves it's uncool, so when someone does it, it triggers this weird mix of envy and defiance. you're not the weird one, the city is just in a weird phase.

sylvelinmandel · Answer

you're def not alone on this. the staring thing is so berlin, it's like effort is a personal attack. but fwiw, i've found that the real divide isn't east vs west, it's more like tourist zones vs everywhere else. mittte is a lost cause, full of people in fake designer stuff or people who look like they just rolled out of bed for a brand meeting. meanwhile in places like wedding or even parts of neukölln, you'll get older ladies in proper coats and heels just going to the bakery, and nobody bats an eye.

the bathroom thing is hilarious though, i've seen it at suum cuique in the west and at the new hauptbahnhof too. it's like berliners have this weird shame about wanting to look nice, so they only do it when they can pretend it's spontaneous or someone else started it. you'd think living in a city with so many designers and vintage shops would change that, but nope.

if you really wanna dress up without the side eye, skip the clubs and hit up a private viewing at one of the smaller galleries in charlottenburg, like around kantstraße. the crowd there is older, more international, and they genuinely enjoy fashion without the tussig vibe. also, sunday brunch at a nicer hotel like the 25hours or the waldorf in west berlin, people do dress up there and it's chill, no

christina · Answer

The dressing down thing is partly a leftover from the old east, where looking too put together could read as showing off, and partly just the city's whole anti-pretension thing. But I've noticed it shifts a lot depending on the occasion. If you go to a proper dinner reservation at somewhere like Horvath or a nice spot around Gendarmenmarkt, people do make an effort, it's just a quieter, more understated version of dressing up than what you'd see in Paris or Milan.

The airport bathroom thing is real, I've seen it at BER too, and I think it's because Berliners are actually insecure about their style but have built this whole identity around not caring. They'll never be the first to try, but they'll happily follow if someone else breaks the ice.

If you want a space where dressing up is normal without the tussig crowd, try the rooftop bar at the Hotel am Steinplatz in Charlottenburg on a Friday evening. It's mostly an older, international set, people wear proper dresses and jackets, and nobody gives you a second glance for doing the same. You'll still get the side eye on the U-Bahn ride there, but that's just part of the Berlin experience.

Neu aus Berlin