How to keep your cool without sacrificing style to summer’s heat? Skirt the issue. Where pants had the edge in seasons past, skirts come on strong for summer and fall wardrobes. They beat the heat best when combined with unadorned legs, but even with a light coat of hosiery, they offer relief.
A friend to jackets, shirts and sweaters, skirts multiply the mix-and-match options in the closet beyond what a dress can do. Even the lower half of a suit can take on a new look independently paired with a crisp white shirt.
And best of all, anything goes lengthwise, from mini to mid-knee to maxi. The newest detail – the side slit – adds movement, ventilation and sex appeal. On designer runways slits ran dangerously high on the thigh, but more moderate vents are arriving in stores.
“They’re very flattering and easier to walk in,” said Gina Tovar, regional fashion director for Nordstrom.
Here’s a look at some of the best heat-defiers from a recent day on the city streets.
HOW TO ESCAPE STOCKING STUFFINESS
Hot and clingy, hosiery is the last thing you want to wear in the summer steam. It’s certainly the first item peeled off after work. But like it or not, say professionals, hosiery is key to a polished image.
“(Hosiery) gives you a finished look,” says Susan Fignar, a corporate image consultant based in Chicago. “Seeing a professional woman without it is like seeing a man all dressed up with no socks on.”
Image-driven industries such as advertising have dropped nylons from the dress code. But hose are still required in more conservative professions including accounting, law and banking, Fignar said.
If you wear hose, keep the sandals in the closet. Open-toe styles with hose leave you looking ducky (web-footed). Consider the compromise offered by sling-backs, which are cut open on the sides.
In choosing summer hose, skip the opaques, which “look heavy on the leg, and opt for sheers,” (as in the bottom photo), says Deborah Boria, executive director of design and merchandising for Hanes Hosiery.
Leg coverings are valued by the “denier,” a weight measurement. While opaques are valued at about 70 denier, summer-weight stockings rate about a 10. “They are visibly thinner,” Boria says.
She recommends matching your skin tone for a “naked but very finished look.” Color fans should look for sheers in muted tones – check out the Colorwash Collection by Donna Karan – such as pale gray or green that match a shade in your clothing. White, however, should be reserved for nurses.
For adventure and texture, try fishnets, with their ventilating open weave, a look now popular in Europe. They’re an option in looser work settings with loafers and knee-length skirts, Boria says.
And to keep nylons hidden below the waistbands of low-rider skirts, look for Hippies hose (above, suggested retail price $13), available beginning Aug. 15 at Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom stores.
