It’s hoootttt outside! Many ladies often ask me, “aren’t you boiling in your long skirts, sleeves, and head wrap?” The answer is, “Yep, it’s hot, but I am much cooler than someone wearing short shorts and a tank top!”
How can this be?
The answer is simple: look at the Bedouins and those that lived outside in extremely hot weather. They all wore light colours, long, draped fabrics, and had their heads covered. Light fabrics reflect the sun away from your body much better than skin does! Skin fries under the sun; not only does this create health problems, but it also raises one’s body temperature like nothing else. A long, breezy skirt is much cooler than constricting shorts. Same with fluttery sleeves! As for the hair covering, I find that when I wear light fabrics on my head, I sweat much less than when I wore my hair down (sticky!) and got my scalp burned.
So here is my hot day hair wrap and outfit! The shirt is light, loose cotton. The skirt is a wrap skirt from Jerusalem, and the scarves are cotton/silk 🙂
The Wrapunzel Blog 
True. I wore long skirts and loose shirts to work every day this summer and people would not believe me when I said I felt a lot cooler. But I find it difficult to ride a bike with a long skirt, so I often opted for the bus.
LikeLike
Beautiful! Does it bother you if the hanging tails get sweaty from your neck? Where I live it’s scorching all summer and I haven’t been motivated to wear any hanging styles…I’ve resorted back to good old simple Israeli tichel buns till the weather cools down 🙂
LikeLike
Good post! I have always wanted to know this! (The answer was what I figured, but I love that now it’s definitive!) The next thing I want to know is, since your hair is wrapped up all day, when you are home and take it down, does it look wonky, and then you have to “re” fix your hair to look nice at home? If that’s the case, do you have any tips for speed or for adjusting your hair nicely under your tichel to be nicer when it comes out from under? Thanks for being so open!
LikeLike
Great question! I just replied to an identical question on the Wrapunzel facebook page:
I let my hair dry before covering it (not always possible, but I try!) and then when taking the scarf off, either spritz my hair with water from a spray bottle, or run my hands through water and through my hair to get it back into shape. I also try not to tie my hair too tightly under the scarf (this can actually cause hair loss!) I use a big, satiny scrunchie to pull my hair back.
LikeLike
Thanks for answering! You have satisfied my curiosity and I will know not to pull my hair too tightly!
LikeLike
I like it a lot. very pretty. And yes the long skirts are cooler. I always have to chuckle when I get asked by someone in short shorts and a tank top if I’m hot… 🙂 I think it’s even funnier in the winter and someone in a mini skirt asks me if I’m cold… lol! Don’t you find those silk wrap skirt to be hot and sticky in the summer?
LikeLike
Beautiful combination and colors. I love the skirt! Thank you again.
LikeLike
Btw, my husband is wondering if there is a way (other than going to Jerusalem) to purchase skirts like what you show in the picture. Is there a store name, phone number/ website? Thnak you.
LikeLike
Such beautiful tichels, Andrea! And the wrap skirt is so pretty!
LikeLike
The skirt LOOKS Israeli. 🙂 Wish I was as creative as you.
LikeLike
Oh so true! Covering-up is the only way to survive a temperature like +40C, plus the sun! It also protects you from dehydration which can be quite dangerous.
I remember how, about two years ago, me and my husband were hiking on Table Mountain in Cape Town. It was January (midsummer), about +32C, and there are almost no trees on that mountain – mostly shrubs – so there was no shade to hide from the sun. We were completely covered, from head to toes (my husband even wore a jacket), and turists from some northern country (USA? Canada?) who were also going on a hike stared at us like if they thought we were crazy :))) The tourists themselves were almost naked, wearing only shorts and tank tops (one of them even had his torso bare). Well, well… After about two hours’ hike, on our way back, we met those tourists again. NOW they were looking at us in a completely different way. They were exhausted and sun-burnt, while we were still fresh & happy in all our clothes.
LikeLike
Very lovely! How do you get your head wrap to look so pretty? Mine always look so plain.
LikeLike
I definitely agree with you. My other successful cooling practice while covering is to damp down my scarf before I put it on in the morning. That way it cools me, and I end up sweating less, while still staying cool. I do tend to prefer one-scarf or scarf+accessories type wraps in the hottest weather, though. It
LikeLike
may just be psychological, is what I was going to end with, before I accidentally hit the “post comment” button a little too soon.
LikeLike
I love your skirt. I have problems finding beautiful (read: exquisite) long skirts and tichels in my country. The trend in skirts is for short skirts and they are not suitable. Any online site with skirts made from gorgeous fabrics would be appreciated. Keep the inspirations coming…I look forward to more.
LikeLike
When building houses in Texas, Oklahoma, and California in hot weather, I always wore a long sleeved white cotton shirt and stayed more comfortable than I would have burning my skin in a tank top or t-shirt. The cotton wicks up the sweat so the sun can evaporate it. This makes the damp shirt sleeves feel cool against the skin. I learned this neat trick early in life while working in California’s tomato fields from both the Mexican and Japanese workers. Cotton head scarves work the same way. Levis do not keep one as cool as a skirt, no way no how, but I would never wear a skirt while roofing a house!
LikeLike
Love the shoes!
LikeLike
It is super hot today in Australia, I followed your tutorial with two light cotton scarves, and I didn’t sweat at all! It works :o)
LikeLike
Andrea this wrap is particularly beautiful! I’ve also been asked a lot whether I get hot in scarves (especially with velvet headband, volumiser, accessories, multiple scarves etc) and I really don’t find I do, as it keep my hair which is long, dark and curly off my face and neck. Most important thing is to keep applying sunscreen to your neck! You don’t want that to burn.
I’d never really thought about the heat and longer clothing in this way, and it’s really such a great point. Theres nothing worse than burnt skin, and it just tires you out so much.
LikeLike
Yes, I absolutely agree that skirts are much cooler than slacks. I recently bought 4 long tiered cotton skirts and love them. I was told as a child that white reflects heat, so that’s the reason you see so much white clothing in the warm months of the year. Also love the wrap-around skirts. They were popular when I was a teenager and made several for myself.
LikeLike
I love seeing the clothing and how they coordinate.
I’ve been stuck in the grey, black, brown, world of drab!!! It all goes together but at what cost?
You’re showing me the way back to beautiful color!!
Thanks,
Catherine Levison
LikeLike
Ooooh, I love that skirt! When I was younger I always wore miniskirts but I never really liked it, I am definitely a maxi skirt girl! I live in Australia and I have NEVER seen that style here anywhere. It looks amazing.
LikeLike
I think I just fell in love with the skirt. 😀
LikeLike
Please forgive me if I sound like I am complaining but I NEED HELP. I am short and wide and never been able to find any clothing styles that suits me, so it has mostly been mismatched clothing in my wardrobe. My clothing makes me look ‘frumpy’. Now it is winter my skirts keep me freezing. Put a jacket on and I look even shorter. Stockings don’t keep me warm, that’s because in Australia they don’t make nice woolly leggings. I really need someone to help me have a makeover. You women always look fresh, even some of the fuller women, as they can carry themselves well andlook gorgeous. I cant do that either. Maybe there is someone or a site someone has that I haven’t come across yet that will help me. TY Andrea for all your shares.
LikeLike
I have the problem of being taller than the average woman (5’9″) and not at all petite. It makes for a frustrating event when shopping for skirts that are long enough….sigh. as for “outfit ideas” I go to Pinterest and look up modest long skirts. I probably have close to 3000 pins. because I see things that look cute on others that I never would have thought to put together my self. What works for me is I tend to stick to solid color tops minimal design on my skirt and splash out with a bunch of color and pattern on head scarves. as for the keeping warm thing, if you go on Amazon you can find thicker leggings or even if you go to any search engine and type in silk leggings …they tend to keep me warm , I hope all this helps!
LikeLike
That’s a smart approach to dressing. I applaud you. To be honest I do the same thing–smile.
Solid tops go with everything, minimal or even a plain, one color skirt and then the scarves will match and you’ll look all put together.
No Clashing !!
LikeLike
Hi Christine,
To stay warm in the winter I wear a thin layer underneath everything. There are companies in the USA that sell tops and leggings made of silk or even “space-age” man-made fibers but the point is staying warm while not looking bulky in winter time calls for thin layers. There are lots of companies that sell very thin “first’ layer for skiing. These kinds of things don’t cause more bulk and you won’t look any larger for having them on. They are just like “long-john” only very thin.
I know that in Australia you are heading into winter at this point.
We in North America are heading into summer time.
When you said a jacket makes you look larger have you thought about wearing something that is longer and with more of a drape? A jacket cuts you off right in the middle and that can make a woman look bigger to have a line across her middle.
I have a wool cape that conceals my figure (which is part of my goal with modesty issues) but I don’t look heavy in it.
I use a lot of long and thin layers and that keeps me warm and not looking larger than I am.
In fact, I can easily get too hot but it’s easy to take off a layer and cool down if needed.
LikeLike
Have you tried Dressing Your Truth by Carol Tuttle? I encourage you to Google that. She helps people find the right clothing style and color scheme that makes their beauty (personality-wise and physically) shine.
LikeLike