DRESS SHARP IN EXTREME TEMPERATURES | BEAT THE HEAT!

In this video your host answers a question from a viewer about dressing well and extreme heat.

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Equipment used in this filming of this video (Amazon links):

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[MikeB]

I agree about wearing ties with short sleeved shirts. It makes you look like a supervisor in a warehouse.

[pauldenali]

And I might add that a Panama hat provides great protection from the hot sun while complimenting a number of ensembles.

[philallsopp]

My suit is from Italy (Florence). It is 100% New Zealand dark gray wool and VERY lightweight. When wearing it in the summer heat of Phoenix, Arizona (44C-45C during the summer months), the suit ALWAYS feels like I have an air conditioner operating between my suit trousers and jacket and my skin. I have never once broken a sweat when walking in downtown Phoenix during the summer months. Italy has some marvelous loom technology for making this wool fabric with these qualities.

One other thing is the use of a wide-brimmed straw hat with a crown over 115 mm. The sun is super-intense and shade is important. I wear l9ng sleeved shirts and I wear danish wool socks and dress leather shoes. Nothing ultra formal …but it works. And I stay cool!

[rogerr.]

Now this is the kind of topic I subscribe for :D
Liked!

[FlatcapHobbit]

Cotton twill newsboy caps and long sleeve linen Henley shirts with the sleeves rolled works well here in Florida!

[sirrobertlacy]

This is always a struggle from me. Living in Texas during the summer strongly limits what I can/will wear. For instance, I avoid most jackets and ties until September.

[kaykunz]

I agree with many of the gentlemen here, short sleeve shirts and ties are a no-go. I wear only long sleeve shirts. I can roll up the sleeves if needed and reduce the amount of shirts in my wardrobe. I just added a linen/cotton sport coat to my collection. I will see how it will keep up with the hot weather during summer in Wisconsin.

[Lassehansen]

Also don’t overlook the importance of choosing the right fabric for your shirts. Go for something like a linen or a linen/cotton blend. Another thing to be very mindful of is your jacket construction. Lightweight and unlined will make a big difference.

[Molach]

I think lightweight wool gabardine suits (as well as cotton gabardine) in shades of tan, fawn etc used to be quite common for people like European & North American diplomats in the Middle East & India. I'm pretty sure they were more structured as well & quite conservative in their styling

[ryangrimm]

I have two summer suits, and would like a couple more. One is a white/blue seersucker, inexpensive, had it tailored. Very comfortable. Bought it about five years ago.
The other suit is summer weight wool in a light grey, surprisingly cool. It is not fully lined and not a very tight weave (you can almost see through it), which takes a lot of the weight and close feeling away from it, provides plenty of cooling effect. The fit is a bit looser, allowing for more movement and 'pumping effect' of moving air around. This suit is from the 1950s, bought from a charity shop about 15 years ago, needed little in the way of tailoring.
I'd like another seersucker in white/light red (pink), and a somewhat darker wool suit. I have started saving up pennies for the wool.
At times, a suit is a suit. Seersucker may appear less formal, but that is easily addressed if you get it with a matching vest/waistcoat. This also allows for evenings where the temps of the day can drop precipitously, just adding the vest allows for some more comfort.

[ronaldpoppe]

Ash, I would have to agree on the Short sleeves with a tie. Whenever I see short sleeves and a tie I think of a nerdy engineer that has a pocketful of pens and slide rules. Great advice with the seersucker. I would have to say whenever I think of a diplomat in the Middle East or in the far East I picture a gentleman in white linen suit with a Panama straw hat and Walnut colored brogues. Even in hot climates layering will keep you cool the more skin you expose to the Sun the hotter you will be. Cheers Ron

[cyclops]

I'm happy to see the engagement with your channel from other people. As always sensible and practical recommendations from you. thank you for keeping us stylish and classy!

[TomTom-sjbn]

I worked in hot countries in Asia.I always used to wear open weave fresco or tropical weigh wool suits but had only half lined.That solved it for me.Also linen jackets half lined and loafers on my feet.Short sleeve with a tie is a big no no for me although funny enough Ian Fleming used to wear it as a rule😮

[vrdrew]

Really solid advice from The Chaps Guide. And especially on the short-sleeved shirt with a tie, a look that screams "discount store manager". I will note that a Sea Island cotton short-sleeved shirt, worn open necked, can look fabulous in a casual setting in a hot climate.

Dealing with the heat varies tremendously by location. I'll note that most places where it gets seriously hot and humid, usually provide office workers with air conditioning, in offices, residences, and vehicles. Here in Southern England we typically only have a half dozen or so days a year where A/C would be desirable, so its rarely found outside of the newest skyscrapers.

[maskedavenger]

I have always rolled my shirt sleeves three quarters in summer when my jacket is removed . One should always try to keep up certain standards even in the tropics, after all we are British & need to show a good example to the colonials . I should imagine there would be one hell of a flap going on at the Foreign office, should a representative of the crown, be seen attired in tie & short sleeve striped shirt . One simply would never live it down old chap .🧐👍

[ColinRussell-ol]

Interesting video, Ash - thanks!
Your various videos seem to have "awakened my interest in mens' clothing"! (A feat which many would have deemed impossible....!)

[SussyDucky]

you do not know how much i needed this. Thanks!

[themoderndandy]

I own a seersucker suit, and I'm quite fond of it. It's great for Colorado summers in which temperatures reach upwards of 105F (40.5C). As a rule of thumb, I would avoid three-piece summer suits; summer suits are designed to keep you cool, so why add extra layers?

In terms of wearing a short-sleeved shirt with a tie, I'd say the answer is "Probably not, " but it depends on the exact climate. To elaborate, shorts with a blazer are taboo in almost all of the Western world, but it's fine in the Bahamas. Especially in parts of Central America, traditional suiting rules may not apply. Otherwise, though, stick with Ash's advice and roll up a barrel cuff.

Black shoes are best for formal garments, like Ash said. I believe that black shoes should generally only be worn with dark suits — so navy, darker grey, black, or formalwear. With that said, I sometimes break this rule with my opera pumps.

For my personal advice to stay warm:
— Skip waistcoats, and avoid double-breasted if possible. These all add extra layers.
— To avoid sweaty feet, consider white bucks.
— The canvas of suit jackets affects the heat of them. A glued canvas is cheap, but it will keep you hotter, even in summer suits.
— Wear straw hats like Panama hats or straw pork pies. If you don't mind a vintage look, try a boater.
— Try to find shirts in lighter weaves.

[RaoulKunz]

I only live here in somewhat moderately warm Germany, though in an area that has always been annoyingly warm (the Romans made a bulge in the limes to have in the Empire...) and ever more so in the recent years.
My go to is currently linen and (maybe somewhat weirdly) a suit made from the same cotton as Chinos (unlined of course) and, if the weather is really annoying, boat shoes instead of derbies.
Given that it works so well as a slightly more formal than linen option and in keeping the heat off I plan to order more suits in this material currently projecting at least a suit in an Azure blue and one in the classic light khaki, given how my weird mind works probably as three piece suits.

And thank you for the short sleeved shirt with tie comment! I, once more because no comment from me without a reference to health🙄, am not supposed to expose too much skin because I have higher risk of skin cancer as an effect of my Crohn's disease medication, but even without that I prefer. once more, long sleeved but very airy and somewhat "slack" linen shirts, worn with informal cravats in place of any tie or formal cravat.

I just realized upon reflection that *all* my summer suits and combinations are somewhere in the spectrum between off-white and brown, mostly Khaki or blue - but it means everything can be easily and beautifully combined with several kinds of blue or brown/ecru accessories and my collection of blue and ivory patterned cotton informal cravats is kept busy in summer.

Have yet to try out Seersucker but it's on the list. I always felt it *just* too informal (says the bloke who has several summer jackets with patched pockets...🙄).
Probably a next Summer investment.

And then there's the most important summer element in my clothing: straw hats!
They truly work - and they are insanely superior to any basecap and more formal than the equally efficient but vastly more informal bucket/camping/outdoorsy bush hat.
For most men the choice should be the Panama, ideally in fine Ecuadorian straw but this is expensive, or any kind of moderately fine woven straw, heck if you just want to try it out as a summer accessory even paper straw is legit, just don't buy a micro-brim-trilby parody, anyone who does this should go with the more honest baseball cap...
Another legit option is the boater for a higher level of formality, love this one.
And if your insane and *not* in any wester diplomatic function in Asia or the Middle East (😉) you could wear the pith helmet, ideally in the French (and German but we didn't have colonies all that long) wider brimmed pattern. I have two and wear them once we cross the ~35°C threshold (they are a true blessing in the heat), the truly fun thing for me being that no one even raises an eyebrow about that at this point because a) it's horribly warm, especially in the city, and most people who get to see me commuting around the Rhein-Main area know me by sight by now... 🤣

Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz

[DIEMLtdTV]

I was on an un-airconditioned Merseyrail train last week and I perfected the wilted look! It was that hot I treat myself to venturing to work in a short sleeved Tattersall check shirt and some slacks.... and no tie!