Hide your feet and don’t moan: style tips for a British heatwave
With temperatures set to soar this week, Brits should look to The Good Life’s Margo and Jerry for advice, says
Dressing for the Great British weather has always been a challenge. Never more so than in the summer months when, after weeks of disappointment, soaring temperatures suddenly blast out of nowhere (having waited until the weekend is over to rise exponentially, of course, in order to taunt those of us who have to actually Get Stuff Done).
With a midweek mini-heatwave forecast for many parts of the country, then, office workers everywhere may well be tempted to pull a sickie – not least to avoid the sight of their bosses giving their crumpled “Man from Del Monte” linen suit its annual outing.
But how you get dressed for the heat without looking like someone who has just crawled out of the chillout tent at Glastonbury? How can you look cool, calm and professional when you’re fervently wishing you were in a park eating an ice-cream, instead of dripping hot beads of sweat on to your keyboard? Is it OK to go and stand by the air-conditioning unit for the day? (Answer: yes. Take a clipboard with you and look imperious.)
The key is to avoid man-made fibres and have sunglasses on hand, even indoors, to shield your eyes from the excess flesh on display among those who have not read this memo. The summer of 1976 represents the greatest fashion challenge in the history of Great Britain. It was the hottest one on record and many areas recorded up to 16 uninterrupted days of temperatures over 30C.
What did people wear? Bikinis under their work clothes, which they stripped down to at lunchtime. Rolledup trousers. Handkerchiefs on the head. A lot of denim cut-offs. (Check your age first. Are you 23 or under? Then go for it. Otherwise, no.)
For the first time in the history of Lord’s, MCC members were allowed to remove blazers in the pavilion – although ties still had to be worn. tempting to hitch your hemlines as high as the mercury, something floaty and floor-length is much less likely to leave you stuck to your seat.
Mrs Leadbetter has clearly been a big influence on designers this summer: Roberto Cavalli, Rachel Zoe, Temperley London, Tory Burch, Alice + Olivia, Etro and Dolce & Gabbana, they all have Margo kaftans. Luckily they seem to have ditched her favoured nylon for high-temperature friendlier fabrics. See eBay for the originals (recommended search term: “1970s vintage maxi cape dress”). Hot weather is so difficult for men. Unlike his wife, Jerry never found a solution on and was generally to be found in a heavy poloneck and tweed jacket. That’s not the answer. Unless you’re trying to lose weight by perspiring excessively.
Gentlemen, embrace the shortsleeved shirt – they’re not just for those crazy Europeans! And, yes, of course you can wear linen to work, but it’s a myth that baggy means cool. Suits still need to be crisply tailored and well-pressed if you’re to look like you possess more sangfroid than you may feel. Only show some toe at work if you have gorgeous sandals and a fabulous pedicure. (This goes for men as well as women.) There is nothing more distressing in a professional context than to have to face the truth that the person you are dealing with is the owner of a pair of Office workers take the sun, while Margo Leadbetter, left, shows the nation her heatwave chic in 1976. Right, cool ideas from the catwalks naked feet. (How dare they?) Be honest: would you want to meet your feet in this state in a job interview? Dress them accordingly. Definitely no flipflops. For men, in particular: carry spare socks so that you can change them during the day. This is not something other people need to find out about, it’s just your little stay-fresh secret. You can dress for the beach at work. You just have to be clever about layering.