How To Dress Classy When it's Very Hot Outside

This is how I was dressed to meet a customer in person by 35 degrees Celsius. Had I not known all the things I'm about to share with you in this video, I would have showed up in a short skirt and a tank top. I would have looked junior and unprofessional, and it would have definitely clashed with the level of investment my customer had just made. The first thing that you should do, which might sound completely counterintuitive, is to cover your body. The first reason is that you can't look professional if you're showing a lot of skin. Because when you show a lot of skin, you look more sexy, which is not aligned with a business setting. The attention goes to your body, as beautiful as it may be, and it takes away from your competence and the quality of the business conversation. It also sends the message that you don't read the room, that you're not aware that a business setting is not a place to display your assets, regardless of the exterior temperature. That undermines your perceived intelligence, especially if you are talking to high net worth individuals. And you might think, yes, but if I cover my body, I'm going to be too warm. That's actually a misconception. Because when your body is exposed directly to the sun, it burns and you actually get hotter than if you are protected by a layer of fabric. If you look at cultures that live in the desert, you'll see that they cover themselves as much as possible. And they even wear black, which I'm going to get back to. But how do you cover your body without getting super warm? The first condition is to choose flowy pieces. So pieces that allow for some air to be between your skin and the fabric. If you wear something that is very close to your body, the heat gets trapped between the fabric and your body. There is very little space for the heat to circulate. Whereas if you have something flowy, then you allow for the hot air to move between your skin and the fabric. And that keeps you cool. The absolute best top to look professional and still be cool when it's warm is a shirt. A shirt is going to have all of the professional codes that you're looking for. But because it's flowy, it's also going to allow for your body temperature to regulate. The wider the shirt, the least hot you're going to be. A shirt is going to protect your body from the sun. And if you want to show a little bit of skin, you can roll up your sleeves. That is still going to come up as professional. But you're going to have a bit of skin exposed to the sun, if that is something that you like. Wear sunscreen though. Now in terms of bottoms, the best option to look professional are flowy pants. Here to meet my customer, I had barrel jeans because these allow the air to flow. They have a lot of extra space. But you could very well choose a straight pair of pants that allow for some flow. The main criteria being that it doesn't directly touch your body. You could also go with long Bermuda shorts under the condition that they are suit-like. So those very classic ones. And that they land just above your knee. They shouldn't be shorter. Otherwise, they would convey sexiness, which we want to avoid. Alternatively, you could also wear a skirt because a skirt is flowy. And if you want to do top and bottom at the same time, a classic dress is a perfect piece. This is, for example, a dress I recommended one of my customers to wear to an important meeting she had in Switzerland by high temperatures. Criteria number two to not be too warm in your professional clothes is to choose natural, breathable materials. The reason why anything in polyester keeps you warm is because it is made in the exact same material as this plastic bag. If you put your hand for just a minute in a plastic bag, it's going to start sweating like crazy because this doesn't breathe. It's the same with your clothes made out of plastic. You're going to feel much hotter in something light and transparent like this, but in plastic as opposed to something in thick woven cotton. Simply because cotton breathes and plastic doesn't. So don't let yourself be fooled by the thickness of the fabric. What matters is the fabric itself, what it is made of. Don't allow any plastic in your summer wardrobe, even a minority percentage in one garment, because those fibers are still going to act like this plastic bag and they're still going to trap the heat against your body instead of letting it breathe. And keeping you cool. Now, should you only wear bright colors? Because these are known to keep you cooler and avoid dark colors like black or navy blue. It is true that darker colors absorb more light and more infrared radiations, and that brighter colors reflect the light more. In direct sun, a dark linen shirt is going to absorb more light than a white linen shirt. But, and that's where our desert people, like the Bedouins and the Tuaregs, come into the conversation. A study in the 80s has looked at exactly that, and what they have found is that although the robe is indeed hotter at the surface than a white robe would be, the heat actually gets carried away because of the movement and the flow of the fabric. In the end, the temperature of the fabric in contact with the body was exactly the same between the white robe and the black robe. If there is no space between the fabric and your body, you're going to feel the difference between a white top and a black top. But if your top is flowy, then it's going to allow for the heat to circulate, and the color of your garment is not going to impact the heat on your body. So you can have a bit more fun with your summer professional fashion. Now, the next thing that is going to impact how hot you are is your hair. Because a lot of heat gets trapped in the back of your neck if your hair is down. So one of the secrets that I use all the time when it's hot in the summer, which I did here, is that I put my hair up. This way, I avoid having hot air trapped at the back of my neck and on my shoulders, keeping me warm. That makes a huge difference. The most professional updo that you can go for is a bun. Either just a pretty bun, not a messy bun, but a bun that is professional, classy, and classic enough. Either what I do, which is using a donut, which is a very classic, a bit old-school way of doing a bun. But I like bringing that connotation into my outfit because who says classic and old-fashioned also says serious, professional, and reliable. In terms of bags, if you can, pick a smaller bag because the contact with your body of a big bag is going to trap the heat. Likewise, leather is going to trap more heat than cotton or canvas would. So if you have a professional-looking bag in canvas, for example, that's going to keep you less warm than a professional-looking bag in leather. If you don't have a professional-looking bag in canvas, simply take one in leather, which is what I did, and hold it by the handles instead of having it against your body. This way, you don't trap heat between the bag and your body. And finally, to look professional under very hot weather, pick shoes in leather because leather still does breathe much better than polyester. For that reason, I often wear loafers in the summer, even when it's 30 plus degrees because my loafers are in suede and they breathe very well. Alternatively, simply wear sandals that are classic enough. We're not looking for preppy, cute, sexy sandals because we want to be professional. So simple, classic sandals that are in leather. Another pro tip is to choose a rubber sole instead of a plastic sole because plastic slips. It's going to make your shoes much more slippery and therefore it's harder to walk properly because you're afraid of slipping. And also rubber is a natural material that also does breathe better. With leather and rubber, your feet are also going to sweat less. And a final pro tip to be professional and classy but also keep yourself cool is to use one of those brumisateurs which French women use all the time and which basically give you a nice mist which cools you down. And that's a great way to cool down before meeting the customer. For example, you can put it on your arms if you don't want to have the little bubbles, the little mist on your face. But if you have time for the mist to dry, then before meeting your customer, you can have a bit of that mist. And that's a very classy way to cool down which French women use a lot. If you're unsure of how you dress professionally and you wonder how this is impacting your business, I have created an audit that will give you that answer. You'll answer the same questions I ask my clients and you'll get a diagnostic on exactly where your appearance is impacting your business. If you would like to take that audit which is completely free, I invite you to click the link in the description. Thank you for spending this time with me. I will see you very happily in the next one. A bientot!