I can’t stop thinking about hot weather and how this affects (or doesn’t affect) dress in other cultures. On the hottest days, certain groups will not or cannot stray from their uniforms, whether out of religious regions (i.e. Muslim women covered head-to-toe in all black), for style reasons, i.e. Italian men sweltering and suave in their summer suits (see: The Sartorialist when he documents them in Florence and Milan during the men’s collections in July) or practical reasons, like cowboys on in the high desert who wear long pants, boots and neckerchiefs.
Today I am wearing a scarf in defiance of the heat—well, a small scarf, knotted—because I’m sick of summer heat dictating my wardrobe choices as an excuse to eschew style for comfort. This item has a very practical application, it turns out: Useful for catching sweat, which is obviously why cowboys and Europeans wear them.
Another way to wear what you want, heat be damned—walk slowly and deliberately. This must also be another trick learned by dwellers in intensely hot places. Anyway, if I walk too fast my skirt hikes up.
I lament the warm-weather fashion myself. I prefer layers and scarves and jackets. However, I do not prefer sweat dripping down my nose or other bodily parts. So I stick with what I’ve always been good at: jeans and lightweight shirts. Works for me… until fall comes again.