Serious swelter demands a smart style strategy
It’s hot. Not “ooh, let’s grab iced coffees and stroll” hot. No, this is the kind of heat where your phone shuts off just from looking at the sun and you start Googling “symptoms of spontaneous human combustion.” The weather map looks like someone dropped a bottle of hot sauce on the Midwest and said, “Good luck out there.”
→ Get the look:
- Short sleeve linen shirt [on sale]
- Green tank top
- 5.5″ blue gray shorts
- Seiko field watch
- Silver bracelet
- Navy espadrilles
- Ray-Ban sunglasses
- Dove Men+Care Dry Spray
- Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch sunscreen
- Lands’ End tote bag
Surprisingly, layering isn’t always about warmth. Sometimes it’s about surviving heat with dignity.
Start with a white linen-blend camp collar shirt. It’s light, breezy, and casual enough that you don’t look like you’re about to lead a tour group through Sicily. Underneath is a deep green tank top. Yes, a tank. I know it sounds like I’ve given up, but it serves two noble purposes: 1) absorbing sweat before it hits the linen, and 2) giving you a backup plan when even the linen shirt is too much and you need to pretend you’re totally fine and this was all very intentional.
The shorts are slate blue with a vintage 5.5-inch inseam, which lands squarely in that sweet spot between “tastefully classic” and “yep, those are definitely legs.” They’ve got that easy, broken-in feel right out of the box. These are the same ones I featured in my summer sneaker lookbook, you can see photos there.
On the feet, Espadrilles. They’re basically slippers with a passport. Light canvas uppers, jute soles, zero ankle support, which is perfect for me, since I won’t commit to plans in the heat that require standing for more than 90 consecutive minutes.
Read more in our guide if you need further convincing.
Accessories are where I feign competence. A field watch, a silver chain that I’m 68 percent sure doesn’t turn green when I sweat, and a pair of olive-tinted aviators that are a cheaper-but-still-name-brand alternative to the expensive Randolph Engineering ones. Everything gets tossed into a structured canvas tote that implies I’m going somewhere interesting, like a bookstore or a gallery, instead of the pharmacy for foot powder.
You can run errands, meet friends, or stare blankly into an iced drink for an hour without feeling like you’ve lost control of your life. It’s breathable, functional, and most importantly, helps you forget that the weather has forced you to avoid leather seats for fear of becoming fused with them. ■
