So, we’re mid-heatwave here in Eastern Canada, and my sympathies to Winnipeg! (Apparently it was almost 50 with humidity yesterday, which is just ludicrous, and makes me glad I didn’t take that summer job there years ago.) Couple that with the fact that I am reliant on public transit (which is not air conditioned here, and so is basically rolling greenhouses filled with sweaty people), and I’ve got a lot of bits and tricks to deal with summer heat. I’ve tried all of these, and they work for me to varying degrees, but, of course, your mileage may vary.
The Standard advice:
- Wear natural fibres. It’s unfathomable to me why anyone would wear polyester in the summer, but it’s one of those things that has to be on the list. I am a big fan of linen, and it stands up well to heat. Cotton is good too.
- Wear light, floaty clothes. Self explanatory.
- Stay hydrated. Everything feels worse when you’re thirsty.
- Leave the cardigan at home. See Katie’s post about this.
- Commuting shoes are great. Switching your shoes at the office/school/etc gives your feet a chance to air out briefly and not be stuck in sweaty shoes all day.
- Relatedly, insoles are your friend.
The Slightly Bizarre But Still Sensible:
- Put your jewelry on at your destination, or leave it off entirely. I always carry my necklace/bracelet/etc in my school bag until I get to school — it’s surprising how much this helps.
- Chill your jewelry just before you head out. If you must wear it, make it cold first. Cold water or the freezer both work, depending on the material.[EDITED TO ADD: Be careful about the freezer, since some set stones may pop loose as their settings contract. Opals should never go in the freezer. I've only done this with glass and plain metal chains, and not for long amounts of time.]
- Don’t underestimate the comfort of a clean pair of underwear. Seriously.
- Slip a strip of cotton under the underwire of your bra. This helps absorb the dreaded underboob sweat, and I find it helps prevent it a bit too. My skin is much more agreeable to having cotton next to it than synthetic bra material.
- Go braless, if possible. It makes a world of difference, and no-one is judging you. I have a few sundresses that are fitted in enough through the top that they give me support, but have a floaty skirt that’s not constricting.
- Use a fan. Sarah when to Spain once, marveled at how the women there would regularly whip fans out of their purse and fan themselves, and kindly brought me back a fan. I figure if it’s good enough for Spanish ladies, it’s good enough for me, even if I’m the only one here who uses one and I’m not nearly elegant enough to pull it off.
The Mystifyingly Effective:
- Shower in the evenings. I have no idea why this works, but it’s incredible how much more easily my body deals with heat and sweat (ie, it doesn’t sweat nearly so much or as quickly) when I shower in the evenings as opposed to first thing in the morning. Maybe it’s something about all the humidity built up by the shower? I don’t know, but it works astoundingly well throughout the day (which is the really bizarre bit — it’s not just in the mornings I notice a difference), and plus it lets me sleep in more. Win win!
Did I miss anything? How do you deal with dressing for summer heat and/or public transit?
“It’s unfathomable to me why anyone would wear polyester in the summer.”
Because I hate wrinkled fabric, hate ironing, and have a small wardrobe— I’m wearing the same poly or mixed-fiber shirts I wore in the winter.
I LOVE the “shower in the evenings” tip. It works nicely, and it feels soooooooooooooo good to slip into bed after an evening shower. Ahhhhh.
Chilled jewelry sounds lovely, but a word of caution against putting pieces in the freezer: since most objects shrink when cold, you could end up with stones that pop loose from settings or materials that crack. For example, NEVER put opals in the freezer.
I try very hard not to wear polyester at all, since it makes me hive-y. I’m with Rebekah – I HATE ironing – but I hate hives more so I just embrace the wrinkles.
I’ve only put glass in the freezer, and not for very long, but yeah, caveat on that one. I forget that lots of other people have much fancier jewelry than I do :p
I neither iron nor care about wrinkles, so polyester offers me no advantages.
I like to go out with wet hair and try to minimize what I’m carrying – no backpacks for me this week! A gin and tonic at the end of the day helps too
I avoid polyester like the plague in every season. I will do rayon — rayon/viscose has gotten a lot nicer in recent years — but I am forever scarred by having bought a favorite hot pink polyester blouse as a kid and having it make me STINK so that the other kids mocked me as they are wont to do. I know polyesters have improved too, but really, not that much.
It’s weird how much I’ve adapted to the heat since moving south. The weather that the rest of the country is complaining about is routine in Charlotte. I remember a stretch of weeks the first summer I got here where it was in the high 90s every day for weeks on end and I thought I’d die. Now that’s routine and I leave the house with my cardigan because I’ll need it in the cold, cold office. The worst is that it doesn’t cool off at night. You absolutely have to have A/C or the heat stress would be awful. I don’t know how people lived in these climates without it, but they did and I guess you’d adapt even further.
Good tip on saving your jewelry for the office. It’s amazing how much sweat my watch seems to generate, and I kind of hate how after I’ve been outside for a while, I can’t get my rings off because the heat has swollen my fingers up. Eiww.
I’d second Allison’s suggestion for not carrying a backpack. The worst part of the heat for me is that I have to walk nearly a mile to the train while carrying a backpack with a laptop in it. That thing gets hot pretty quick.
I’d also recommend sporting a hat if you’re going to be out in the sun for a while – nothing hurts like scalp burn.
I definitely avoid backpacks in the summer when at all possible (trekking back and forth to see A. doesn’t help with that…), and having burnt my scalp on numerous occasions, hats are clearly a good idea.
I’m very happy to be a skirt-wearing woman while men at the office are trapped in pants and long-sleeve shirts.
I’m going to look into cotton strips.
Fans should most definitely be resurrected! I’ve been carrying one in my purse. Another trick that construction workers do is to tie something wet around their necks. You could do this during a bus ride with a simple cotton bandanna. It works wonders!
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