My most romantic moussie ...
We have just had a week of very hot (for me) weather, and I
would have no doubt keeled over with heatstroke had I not used my loaf and
implemented a few cooling devices. You
will be aware of the usual things, using a silk-filled duvet and linen bed
sheets, drying laundry indoors, turning off the towel rail, that sort of thing.
Can you see my hand through the fabric?
Those of you who wear scarves will have moved away from the
heavy large 90cm ones and used their small silks and mousselines at the start
of summer. In addition to wearing my
mousselines, this is the time when my pre-Hermes scarves come into their own
again, because they are made of thinner material and therefore cooler. In the heat I wear all scarves away from my
neck, folded in the basic bias fold and worn loosely under the collar of a
linen shirt. And when I have to go
outside into the sun, something I try to avoid in the heat, I fold the scarf into
a triangle and wear it with the long side across my shoulders and neck, to
protect the back of my neck from sunburn.
Delightfully cool in looks and feel!
Nevertheless even a scarfie like me has to admit that
scarves add fabric to an outfit, which is not desirable when the temperatures
are in the upper 20s. So why the
preposterous title of this post? Because
I have discovered the secret of keeping cool by using scarves earlier this
week!
I was walking home from work and happened upon a Sahara
shop which had a sale. Now usually I steer
clear of this shop, they sell drapey loose garments ideal for big ladies and
even their smallest sizes are too big for me.
But they have great colours and use nice materials, so occasionally I
drift in and have a quick look.
On this occasion I spotted two things that caught my
fancy. Firstly, an asymmetrical linen
dress that looked deliciously cool – it is, I know because I bought and wore it
the next day and it was simply wonderful.
The second thing I spotted was linen scarves. Very thick, large linen scarves. On sale!
I had seen them before, but rejected them – after all, who wants a big
heavy scarf when it is hot? I wanted
flimsy, blowing in the wind sort of scarves!
But this time I had a 2+2=4 sort of flash of genius. I will share it with you, because extensive
googling has failed to find any other website which gives the same tip.
As we all know, drying fabric cools the air that surrounds
it. Linen is especially good for this,
because it is incredibly absorbent and holds an awful lot of water, and thus
releases an awful lot of water while it dries.
This is why drying laundry next to your bed when it is hot is such a
great idea.
But what do you do while at work? I work in a brick tower, the sun beats down
on it all day long and there is no shade whatsoever. In the morning after a hot day the office is
like an oven – brick is good at storing heat!
Hanging wet sheets around my desk is not really an option, nor is
putting my feet into a bowl of cold water.
I try to gain relief by organising frequent trips to the nearby ice
cream parlour, but though good while it lasts the cooling qualities of ice
cream are fleeting.
Are you guessing what I am getting at? Drying linen sheets … thick large linen scarves … a woman addicted to wearing scarves … Like all great ideas it is really extremely
simple.
Linen scarf
Here it goes. You buy
a linen scarf/stole, ideally one of a sort of waffle fabric, thick and large –
a bit like a pashmina. In the morning
when you go to work and it is still a little cool you just use it normally,
hanging around your neck loosely. As the
day progresses and the temperatures rises, you first take off your linen scarf
and make do with the other, little silk scarf you wear as usual. Now it gets even hotter, you mop your brow,
things are getting impossible. This is
the time for taking your linen scarf to the bathroom. You soak it in water, wring out the excess,
and either put it around your neck, folded into a sausage, or – and this is my
favourite – wear it like a stole, around your back and arms, with the ends
hanging glamorously at each side.
Because the scarf is wet it stays in place well, I am able to work -
including typing - while wearing it. It
really looks quite elegant, I had loads of compliments on it. And it cools down your entire top half, I
even had to take it off once or twice because I was getting too cold. It is a good idea to wear it with a linen
dress or top, because of course your clothes get a bit moist as well and not
every garment looks good while and after having been repeatedly moistened and
dried like this.
