Let’s start with my biggest tip which has nothing to do with clothes or hot weather; simply about using your common sense!
- I believe absolutely in free personal choice. That’s why ALL my training is franchise free. You use the bits that resonate with you, and ditch the rest
- I would always provide bespoke advice for every individual, based on your physical colouring, your colour personality, and your style personality
- So these tips are NOT to be taken as gospel. They are tried-and-tested suggestions to get you thinking about what actually works for YOU!
My 10 top tips for dressing cool when it’s stinking hot out there!
Choosing colours
When choosing clothing for a hot day, you’ll be better off with fabrics that are light in colour.
- Pastels and colours on the lighter end of the spectrum are all good options as they will absorb less sun and light than darker colours
The Cool-er seasons could choose whites, beiges, and light greys
- Summers could choose soft white, and have a myriad of pastels to choose from – blush pink, soft blue, and gentle lavenders
- Winters could choose brilliant white, and perhaps icy pink, icy blue, icy lavender
I would never recommend grey in any shade for the Warm-er seasons as grey is invariably a Cool tone. But if YOU like them, who am I to stand in your way?
- Autumns and Springs could choose light creams, ivory, linen, parchment, buttermilk, and vanilla
- Autumns could choose from the lighter Armani colours too – soft jade, light bronze, light rose brown
Your unmentionables
If you’re wearing white-ish outer clothing, don’t choose white underwear
- You can never get two whites to match perfectly
- We want others to focus on you, not the obvious outline of your bra and your VPL (visible panty line)
Choose nude or flesh-coloured underwear instead
- Even though, as a Cool Winter, my best lightest neutral is brilliant white, especially for tops and blouses, I haven’t owned a single bra or knickers in white since I learned this on a style course hundreds of years ago
- My own capsule wardrobe of under garments now only contains black and nude
It makes shopping and getting dressed in the morning so much easier.
- I recommend flesh-coloured underwear for Summers and Winters who might currently be wearing white undies under white outer garments
- And also for Bright Springs who like to wear white
Before you put on your bra in warmer weather, dust talcum powder under your breasts to cut down on chafing.
Or think about ditching your unmentionables completely!
- Your sweaty parts will breathe better and your skin will cool more efficiently through sweating.
- Airing your ‘bits’ also reduces the chance of developing a fungal infection, like candida, which thrive in warm, moist environments
- If you do ‘go commando’, remember to wash your outer clothes more often!
Protecting your skin
Wear a hat with a brim, to protect your neck as well as your face
- I’ve experienced the horrors of heat stroke twice purely because I foolishly chose NOT to cover my head and neck in the sun. Feeling like you can’t breathe and you’re about to keel over is not something I wish to ever experience again.
Protect your bare skin with waterproof and long-lasting sun-protection-factor (SPF) cream
- One application may not be enough. Make sure you top up periodically so your skin is always protected when you’re outside.
Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare of the sun
- If you’re a Classic, Romantic, European, or Dramatic and you’re feeling less than fabulous when dressing to keep cool in hot weather, this is a fab way of adding extra colour or detail around your face – which is the most important focal point on your body anyway!
Fabrics
Try to avoid wearing fabrics that normally cling in cool weather, e.g., satin, spandex, chiffon, rayon, polyester.
Choose loose fitting clothing, like A-line dresses and skirts. Flowing garments allow air to circulate and this will keep you so much cooler.
Choose natural fibres, i.e., cotton and linen, as they are great at absorbing sweat and allow the skin to breathe
- Naturals will automatically love natural fibres
- But for the rest of us, only wear them if you feel comfortable
I had the misfortune to read an article by another consultant where she was telling her readers to wear only cotton or linen.
I’ve never met the woman (and, frankly, I don’t want to) but her dictatorial approach tells me she is clearly a true Classic style personality.
- Most Classics love to wear linen and cotton
The problem is that true Classics have a tendency to believe that what they think and say is always right! Believe me. I know. I’ve had over 60 years’ experience of listening to people trying to tell me what to do – and they’re always true Classic style personalities.
The truth is that some of us wouldn’t be caught dead wearing cotton or linen…
- As a Dramatic Romantic Winter with a touch of Classic, I can’t stand the feel of cotton on my skin
- Most Winters and Bright Springs tend to prefer glossy fabrics so wouldn’t go anywhere near linen either – it creases far too easily!
- Warm and Light Springs, together with Summers and Autumns, very often prefer matte fabrics so cotton and linen are great choices for heat-wave dressing
Avoid fabrics that are not breathable, i.e., polyester, nylon, silk, rayon, wool
- They will cause you to sweat and will also retain body odours which will make your day much more uncomfortable and may upset other folk too!
If you have to dress up for a wedding, christening, etc., then try silk first, before considering polyester or nylon.
Choose skirts or shorts rather than trousers
This will help the air flow more freely.
I know it’s common sense, but this is a hard one for me as I’m a Dramatic Red Winter and prefer trousers any day.
- Plus wearing shorts or skirts displays my milky white legs – not a pretty sight. So I shall be trying out a self-tanning cream this week so that I don’t frighten the neighbours at 200 paces!
Your tootsies
Choose comfortable, breathable shoes made from canvas or cotton.
Avoid leather, rubber, and other man-made materials so that you don’t end up with swollen, sweaty feet in this heat.
Looking professional
If you’re dressing for the office, don’t dress for the beach
Leave the flip-flops at home, along with the off-the-shoulder tops, strappy dresses, and mini hemlines – unless you have no aspirations of promotion at all!
How do I know all this stuff?
Because I am a very old dinosaur…
Over the last 40+ years, I have invested in top-notch, professional colour & style training, and practised madly on anyone daft enough to sit long enough until I had total confidence in my skills as someone who could help and advise others.
I prefer colour analysis to the style stuff (apart from style personality, of course) and I hate, loathe, and detest both wardrobe weeding and personal shopping, but I am SO glad I invested the time, money, and energy to learn everything – colour, style and shape, colour psychology, personal shopping, wardrobe weeding, etc.
Because you just never know when that knowledge, or perhaps one teensy-weensy insider secret, could help someone else look and feel confidently fabulous on every occasion.
Colour & style is life-changing stuff!
These are suggestions, hints and tips; some that work for me, and some that work for other people
So if you’re going to pass some or all of these ideas onto others (and please do), don’t play the arrogant dictator, telling people what they should and shouldn’t do.
You will only end up naffing someone off (like me) with the result that your reputation and expert status go right down the drain.
Show your readers/friends/clients that you understand that we are ALL different and that you will give them personalised advice when they book with you.
Treat them with courtesy and respect, and they will love you for it!
In fact, that goes for every single person you meet.
Let’s get a tsunami of kind thoughts and words rippling out across the world.
Because what you give out, you always get back – ten-fold.