People shelter from the hot sun as Pope Leo arrives for his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on 24 June 2026. Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP View image in fullscreen People shelter from the hot sun as Pope Leo arrives for his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on 24 June 2026. Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP Well actually What to wear in extreme heat: five tips for keeping it cool People are trying to stay cool amid extreme heatwaves in Europe and the US. Experts say you can maximize comfort with smart clothing choices
Madeleine Aggeler Mon 29 Jun 2026 19.39 CEST First published on Mon 22 Jul 2024 16.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google W estern Europe is currently being scorched by the most severe heatwave in its history. The brutal temperatures have resulted in more than 1,000 schools across the UK being forced to close and a surge in hospital admissions. The central and eastern US is also expecting a heatwave ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
What does one wear when it’s scorchingly, miserably hot outside?
“This exact question comes up constantly,” says Sophie Strauss, a self-described “stylist for regular people” in Los Angeles. “Everybody struggles with dressing when it’s hot out.”
We asked experts for advice about warm-weather dressing , maximizing comfort and masking sweat so one doesn’t look like a sentient pile of wet laundry.
When dressing for warmer weather, look for clothes that move heat and moisture away from your body. Generally, experts recommend wearing cotton and linen, which are natural fibers. Besides that, fit and form mostly come down to personal preference.
“The majority of people tend to like something a bit looser and more flowy,” says Strauss.
Read more Linen is “one of the coolest fabrics for summer”, says Dr Saetbyul Park, assistant professor of apparel and textile design at Michigan State University, because it is breathable and absorbs moisture. It’s also lightweight and stiff, which means it won’t cling to your skin when it gets wet, Park explains.
Park also recommends cotton because “it’s absorbent, breathable, easy to care for and durable”. But cotton has its drawbacks. “It can absorb moisture and get heavy if you sweat a lot,” Park says. And heavier cotton fabrics, like denim, can trap heat. Instead, she recommends opting for a chambray, which looks similar to denim, but is much lighter.
While silk is a natural fiber, it’s probably better to avoid it. “Silk fiber is pretty insulating,” says Strauss. “If you have a lot of your body covered in silk, you might feel hot.”
Synthetic fabrics, like polyester, nylon or acrylic, are more of a mixed bag. Materials like polyester and nylon have moisture-wicking properties, meaning they absorb the sweat on your body and move it away from your skin, but they may be less comfortable in extreme heat, according to Park. Generally, they’re more tightly woven and less breathable, and they tend to trap heat against the body.
This can impede the body’s ability to regulate its temperature and can sometimes lead to heat rash, says Dr Doris Day, a board-certified dermatologist, and associate professor of dermatology at the New York University Langone Medical Center.
Polyester can also get stinky, Strauss says. A 2014 study found that polyester attracted odor-causing bacteria, while cotton did not, and that it smelled significantly “more strong, more sweaty, and more sour.”
Another reason to av…