The Best Way to Beat the Heat Is by Always Bringing a Second Shirt With You
I will admit, this method can create some complications. If you’re going to a place that doesn’t have an easily accessible bathroom—this one tends to rear its ugly head at public parks—you may have to get creative. If the establishment you’re going to does have a bathroom but you don’t want to walk in, greet everybody, and then explain that you’re going to change clothes in a tiny bathroom stall, I’d advise you to purposefully get there early. That way, nobody is the wiser.
This move can be especially helpful if you’re headed to a first date in the summer. My honest advice there would be to take a car no matter what, whether it’s your own, a rideshare, or a really generous friend’s. Ruining a first date before it even starts because you had to stand in a blistering inferno waiting for public transit, shlep six blocks to meet them, and show up in a puddle of your own sweat is definitely not the move. If you continue seeing that person and building chemistry, though, you don’t need to hide the second shirt thing. There is no shame in strategic sweat management. And if your romantic interest can hang, the two-shirt strategy could even become a charming little bit between the two of you.
Lastly, if you’re going to put this strategy to use at work, and you have access to multiple floors within your building, head straight for the bathroom on one of those floors and execute the wardrobe change there. (If you are doing particularly well, and your job comes with its own office, you can also keep an emergency stash of shirts there like Don Draper.)
No matter how you go about maintaining a social life when the streets are hot enough to fry an egg on them, it doesn’t hurt to bring the extra shirt with you. Should you chicken out of actually doing the shirt change, find yourself unable to locate an appropriate place to do it, or perhaps the sun gods went easy on you and the sweat levels turned out to be minimal, then you just have a shirt in your bag. That’s not the end of the world at all! In fact, depending on how close you are with the people you’re hanging with, it can be a fun little conversation starter. I brought this other shirt with me in case I showed up looking like James Brown, but the dew point was actually pretty low today! Isn’t it gorgeous out? We should definitely get a bottle of orange wine to celebrate.
The main takeaway here is to have a plan. Summer constitutes one-fourth of our lives, and when the mere thought of going outside zaps your energy, it’s important to get out and socialize. You can’t let the weather win, and the best defense is a good offense. You are going to sweat, and that’s fine! It’s a natural, essential bodily function that is trying to cool you down, it just does so in a way that leaves you feeling a bit gross. You can never fully prevent it, but you can treat it.
Start with the basics—showering (maybe even twice a day), liberally applying deodorant, and wearing breathable fabrics—and then supplement your attack with the reinforcement of a second shirt. Trust me: It’ll all pay off when you pull up to the barbecue feeling fresh, clean, and literally comfortable in your own skin. You may even get some internal validation from being the driest person there.
