32 replies to this topic

[Ahududu]

Just visiting for 2 weeks, but I have noticed these things.......


--- People dress more conservatively

--- People look quite smart and European, especially on the metro and metrobus

--- People behave like city people, but if you ask them a question they quickly snap out of it, are very friendly and helpful

--- There are no chavs

--- There are no young single mothers with pushchairs, mobile phones, and smoking fags!!

--- People are dressed for the weather - sounds odd, but so many people at home do not!!

--- Everyone is an expert.....and I mean everyone......they know everything about everything, and they love to tell you how much they know!!!

--- People are really helpful and flexible


If I think of anymore....... or if you can.....

[Fil]

No chavs? have you not come across the apaches (apaçiler) yet?

[samanthaozkara]

haha sue your list just made me giggle. Most of those you listed above are the 1st thoughts i had of İzmir when i moved over here. The one i noticed straight away was no young teenage mothers pushing around prams with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other (coming from Cardiff i saw it way to often).

Hope you have a great time in İstanbul xxx

[sunny]

Plenty of cigarette smokers with phones clamped to their ear.

[Ahududu]

Fil... erm...apaches...elaborate please!!

Samantha...we have loads in my town too!!

True, sunny, but not young mums!!!!!

[clinky]

Apaçiler are a group of young men/late teens with strange haircuts resembling a pineapple. Its often smoothed and swept to the side at the front and at the back on top it is sprouting like meadow grass. When you call them, their phone emits an extremely annoying ditty akin to smacking spoons off a frying pan. They are usually wearing tracksuit bottoms/trainers and a sports jacket (not the 1950's variety) all of which are bought off a Metrobüs bridge at a good price.

If you see them dancing they are attempting a a routine in which their body goes into a controlled convulsion whilst they swing their arms about like windmills.

All in all, the worst thing about this beautiful country.

[Lucid]

is it a phase? will they grow out of it?? i recal a book in the 90s while studying fashion called 'street style'...it made me cringe then...funny how some modes dont even seem worthy of a fad stage in the 1st place.

i have never been to Istanbul so cant comment but hub said its not the people he didnt like its the cars (and subsequent drivers in them so i guess people too)
so is a sub section for turks in cars in istanbul required? like most humans they are likely different once behind the wheel? or at least hub seemed to think so.

[Fil]

Good observations sue- can I ask a supplementary about dress more conservatively than who?

And good description of those dear apaches clinky. But try to value them, too. They are interesting as they represent a youth subculture that is indigenous to Turkey, unlike most of the styles you occasionally see around like punks or goths or emos. I was talking to a sociology student about all this the other day, she is just finishing her masters thesis on punks in istanbul. I wondered if the apaches were the first of their kind, but she mentioned that arabesk was also a local subculture.

I am thinking of starting one of my own based on 70s fashions. I still have my narrow tie, and I could ask my sister in law to start work on some superflared jeans.

[Lucid]

now you got onto the subject of fashion..i wonder do they have many 2nd hand/retro clothes shops in Istanbul? anyone know?
was spoilt for choice in London but i wonder if it always has to be new here to be worn?
i miss people watching....in cities.

[Abi]

Yes there are Lu as I was reading an article about it, I will try and see if I can find it again.

[Sirin]

Indiginous fashion of Birkenhead -

Pink pyjama bottoms tucked into reproduction Uggs from the market, teamed with a puffy parka jacket
Hair worn backcombed and teased to within an inch of its life and put up in an approximation of a beehive or in rollers
Fag or budweiser in hand - or both (fag as in cigarette of course.... in case our US members misunderstand)

At risk of sounding a snob, I would point out that I don't live there

I was also pretty embarrassed to see a woman walking round Migros in Marmaris a few years ago in her bikini top. Obviously misread the local dresscode.

[Amy]

lol chavs.. I've never seen a Turkish chav in all my life. I'm probably the chavviest Turk I know.. in fact not probably, I fully am. but that may be because the vast majority of young Turks I know are rich private-school kids. They all express shock at the mention of underage drinking or having run-ins with the fuzz...

[Ahududu]

Thanks, clinky for the description of Apaches. I haven't seen any during this trip, and the pineapple hair makes me think that I have seen them before!


Lucid, as for driving in Istanbul, I've come to the conclusion that it is done in a kind of 'Jedi fashion' !!! ie. just let the force be with you and it will be ok!!!
And here is some info on a couple of vintage shops http://www.timeoutis...alue_of_vintage


Fil, What I mean is, in Istanbul people dress for the weather, and for their age, which where I live doesn't seem to happen, this makes them appear somehow 'conservative' to me.
For example, in England a man in his 50's may dress in exactly the same clothes as a youth in his 20's, whereas a man in Istanbul wouldn't. The same with women, in England you can see a woman from the back and think she's maybe a teenager from her hair, shoes, tatoos, clothes, but when she turns round, you see that she is in fact in her 40's.
Also people dress sensibly for the weather, whereas in England, what people 'want' to wear comes first, and practicality second. For example when we had snow recently, I saw women wearing high heeled boots and ponchos, and men wearing tracksuits, no hats, scarves or gloves!

Maybe I'm getting old!!! But There does seem to have been a 'chavification' of England!!

LOL Sirin!

Amy, I haven't heard anyone call the police the fuzz for ages hahahaha

[Abi]

Loved your posts on this thread Sue, in fact I enjoyed reading the whole thread as I found out things I didn't know about. I was wondering if you were succesful in your hunt for an apartment?

[Ahududu]

Thanks, Abi.
I'll post a couple of threads this week to fill you in!

[Lucid]

thanks Sue for shop info..if/when i get to Istanbul i will be armed with info...cant visit a city without shopping can u?!

[Ahududu]

I think I'll miss 2nd hand shops when we move over - I got a great jacket and an old glass jelly mould from Oxfam today!!

[Lucid]

yes i agree..UK 2nd had shops are the BEST in the world...nothing to do with us being consumer mental is it!?
i repeat myself again..my MIL wears things til they fall apart & even then does a patchwork job to die for.New is waste for her unless something has actually broken. When i see the rich Istanbulites flats on TV etc i pee myself as its sooooo far removed from what most turks own & when you see/hear they dont even clean their own houses i pee myself again.Part of the process of owning stuff is looking after it is it not?

[clinky]

I was amazed the new flats in the Sapphire building have 'housekeeping rooms'.

Blimey!

[Abi]

I was reading about that building and it's amazing, really eco friendly, apartments even have gardens as well. Don't know how much they are to buy but they won't be cheap I'm sure.