Can clothing help with hot flashes?
Q So it’s freezing outside, but I’m sweating through my nightgown. One minute I’m hot, the next I’m cold, because the sweaty clothes get cold. I know hot flashes are normal for perimenopause, but I’m so frustrated. Is there anything that can help?
Sweaty Betty
A This is a very common problem, Sweaty Betty, and a huge opportunity for the fashion market. But as we’ve seen with plus-size, petites and other underserved markets, the fashion industry is slow to tackle real-world issues for real women. It is estimated that 80 per cent of women will experience persistent hot flashes in their lifetime and not just for the average seven years around menopause; hormonal flux such as that which occurs postpartum can cause overheating, so too can medical conditions (lupus, thyroid problems) and many common medications, as well as cancer treatments.
Some of us are naturally wonky when it comes to comfort levels: I’m the Goldilocks in this story. No temperature is ever quite right. For instance, I have to drive alone lest I make any unwitting passengers bonkers with my constant fiddling with the heating systems. Like many couples, I have negotiated a détente with my husband over the thermostat setting: the twist on our cold war is that even if it makes no sense to him why I’ve adjusted it, as it follows no logical pattern, he is assured of destruction should he touch it.
At its best, fashion can be about problem solving when function truly serves form. Technology, says Calgary entrepreneur Lara Smith, CEO of Lusomé, can actually be used for good: A self-described “textile geek,” Lara spent 20 years in the fashion industry in textile sourcing and innovation. Health issues in her close circle spurred her to look at what was out there to help with night sweats; she found some moisture-wicking technologies, but they used chemicals and polyester.
Smith wanted a fabric that felt great — sexy, even — so she rolled up her sleeves and worked with scientists to create one. The result was her proprietary Xirotex fabric, what she calls “the Ferrari of moisture management technology.” The key to keeping cool is to wick away sweat (and bacteria, which causes odour) through its capillary system, what she calls “a push-pull system where moisture is pulled away from skin and pushed out into the air.” The dual-layer fabric in her Luxe line is super soft to the touch: the outside is cotton; the inside, near the body, is a thin layer of polyester embedded with this hydrophilic technology.
Design is important to Smith as well, she says: “Comfort is the new sexy. These are not granny jammies; they are made to be timeless.” There are 20 Lusomé styles in total, with options that go up to 3X, from classic piped pyjamas to nightshirts and (quite sexy) fitted nightgowns and cami sets with shorts; some of the styles work for nursing. The pieces are an investment —$98 to $144 — but they are made to last, and don’t pill or fade.
A big player has just come to market with a new product. Athleta is a Gap label that launched e-commerce in Canada last August (followed by a megastore in Yorkdale late last year). Just this week came a new launch, the Calm Cool Sleep Collection. I asked Athleta’s design director, Caitlin Butcher, to share more about the range. “The fabric is Cupro rayon, a plant-based fabric made from cotton waste,” she says. “This unique thermoregulating fabric produces a comforting cooling touch sensation. The Cupro rayon can conduct, absorb heat well from your skin, and help cool you down and regulate your tem- perature faster as you get into bed.”
To be clear, Athleta’s offering is not a high-tech solution for people who suffer from serious sleep disturbance due to extreme hot flashes (like Lusomé), but it’s a nice range, it feels cool against the skin and is very chic: the oversized camisole and wide pants are heavy silksatin, swishy and soigné.
Butcher says the Athleta team tested the Cupro line the way they would test their activewear, and that they chose the “sleek, silky- smooth surface of the fabric” be- cause it “slides with your body. We can move up to 40 times every night, so it’s important that our sleepwear moves with us.”
And while we are on this sweaty subject, I would be remiss not to share another great fabric innovation that solves a related problem. I personally love Canadian brand Numi, which is a daytime sweat solution system (with a stain repellent twist). Numi founder Michelle Shemilt is a former equity trader for a major Canadian bank. She noticed how annoying office tower heating can be to dress for and found herself avoiding her “good” clothes for fear of sweat stains. A high-pressure job comes with its own sweat risks, too, of course.
In a happy career pivot, Shemilt developed a line of Essential Undershirts, bolstered by a high-performance fabric trademarked as Contemporary Cotton, which combines absorbent and repellent cotton yarns. Basically, there is an “enhanced gusset” under the arm that wicks moisture away from the body but keeps it from moving onto the outer garment. The T-shirts (tank, short-sleeve or long-sleeve) are made of Tencel, which is also a thermoregulating fabric. It all works really well: I’ve been wearing these T-shirts for some time now and would not be without this base wardrobe piece.
All in all, better living through science. It’s nice to see something universal (and annoying and real) like sweating being tackled by smart women with a passion to make a change in how we dress to live more comfortably.