How To Dress CLASSY When it's VERY HOT Outside

To look professional in very hot weather, cover up rather than strip down, and do it in flowy, natural, breathable pieces. A loose shirt, flowy trousers or a dress, natural fibers with no plastic, hair up off your neck, a small or canvas bag, and breathable leather shoes will keep you both cool and credible. Covered skin in the shade is cooler than bare skin in the sun.

This is how I dressed to meet a client in person in 35 degree heat. Had I not known the things I am about to share, I would have shown up in a short skirt and a tank top. I would have looked junior and unprofessional, and it would have clashed with the level of investment my client had just made.

Looking classy when it is very hot is not about suffering through layers. It is about a few specific choices that keep you cool and read as serious at the same time. Here is exactly what to do.

Why should you cover up to look professional in the heat?

It sounds counterintuitive, but the first move in hot weather is to cover your body. Showing a lot of skin reads as sexy rather than professional, and in a business setting that pulls attention to your body and away from your competence and the conversation. It also signals that you do not read the room, that you do not register a meeting as the wrong place to display your assets whatever the temperature, which quietly undermines your perceived intelligence, especially with high-net-worth clients. Covering up also keeps you cooler, not warmer. Skin exposed directly to the sun burns and heats up faster than skin protected by a layer of fabric. Look at people who live in the desert: they cover themselves as much as possible. The trick is to cover up in flowy, breathable pieces, so you stay both professional and cool.

This is why I met my client covered up rather than in the short skirt and tank top I would have reached for otherwise. The version that feels right for the weather is often the version that costs you the room.

The first thing you should do, which sounds completely counterintuitive, is cover your body.

What should you wear to stay cool and look professional?

Choose flowy pieces that leave air between the fabric and your skin. Tight clothes trap heat against your body; loose ones let hot air move and carry it away. The best professional top in the heat is a shirt: it has every professional code you want, and because it is loose it lets your body regulate its temperature. The wider the shirt, the cooler you stay, and you can roll the sleeves for a little sun on your forearms, with sunscreen. For bottoms, flowy trousers work best, barrel or straight cuts that do not cling. Long, suit-like Bermuda shorts that land just above the knee work too, no shorter, or a skirt, which is naturally flowy. For top and bottom at once, a classic dress is perfect.

For my own meeting I wore barrel jeans for exactly this reason, and I have recommended a flowy dress to a client heading into an important meeting in Switzerland in high heat. The piece changes, the principle does not: it should never sit flat against your body.

Which fabrics keep you cool in summer?

Natural, breathable materials. Polyester keeps you warm because it is essentially the same material as a plastic bag, and a plastic bag does not breathe; put your hand in one for a minute and it starts to sweat. Clothes made of plastic do the same, trapping heat against your body instead of letting it escape. So do not be fooled by thickness. A light, almost transparent plastic top can feel hotter than a thick woven cotton one, because cotton breathes and plastic does not. What matters is what the fabric is made of, not how thick it is. Keep plastic out of your summer wardrobe entirely, even a minority percentage in a single garment, because those fibers still behave like the bag and trap the heat.

Reach for cotton, linen, and other natural fibers that let your skin breathe. The label decides how hot you feel far more than the weight of the cloth does.

Can you wear dark colours in hot weather?

Yes, as long as the piece is flowy. It is true that dark colours absorb more light and infrared radiation while light colours reflect it, so in direct sun a dark linen shirt absorbs more than a white one. But a 1980s study published in Nature, on why Bedouins wear black robes in the desert, found the surprising part: although the black robe is hotter at its surface, the movement and flow of the fabric carry that heat away, so the temperature in contact with the body was identical to a white robe. The deciding factor is the gap. With no space between fabric and skin, you feel the difference between a black and a white top. If the piece is flowy, the colour stops mattering for how hot you feel.

Which means you can have more fun with colour in your summer professional wardrobe than the usual advice suggests, as long as you keep the cut loose.

What should you do with your hair when it's hot?

Put it up. A lot of heat gets trapped at the back of your neck and across your shoulders when your hair is down, so lifting it off your neck makes a real difference to how hot you feel. The most professional option is a bun: not a messy bun, but a clean, classic, classy one. A neat updo, including the slightly old-fashioned donut bun, carries a useful connotation, because what reads as classic and old-fashioned also reads as serious, professional, and reliable.

So an updo does two jobs at once: it cools you down, and it signals authority. It is one of the simplest changes you can make on a hot day.

Which bag and shoes keep you cool and professional?

For bags, smaller is cooler, because a large bag held against your body traps heat, and leather traps more heat than canvas or cotton. A professional-looking canvas bag will keep you cooler than a leather one, but if you only have leather, carry it by the handles rather than against your body so no heat is trapped between the two. For shoes, choose leather, which breathes far better than polyester. Suede loafers work even past 30 degrees because they breathe well. Classic leather sandals are fine too, simple and understated rather than preppy, cute, or sexy. One detail worth knowing: choose a rubber sole over a plastic one. Plastic is slippery, which makes you walk tentatively, while rubber is a natural material that grips and breathes, so your feet sweat less.

The theme repeats at every layer: natural materials and a little air do the work, while plastic traps heat wherever it touches you.

How do you cool down quickly before a meeting?

Use a brumisateur, the fine facial mist French women carry everywhere. A light mist cools you down quickly and elegantly. If you would rather not have droplets on your face, mist your arms instead, or give it time to dry before you arrive. It is a small, classy way to walk into a meeting cool and composed when the weather is against you.

Keep one in your bag in summer. The few seconds it takes are the difference between arriving flushed and arriving collected.