You know how wearing black in the summer is wrong, right? Wrong. Wearing black can actually be cool in the heat. A question to O‘s creative director, Adam Glassman asks, “I wear head-to-toe black all year long. Is it wrong for summer?” The answer from O’s creative director was, “Of course not. There are very few wrongs in life. Black is a universal, multi-season color; in warmer months, it just needs to feel lighter”. Some suggestions would be:
- “Pick airy, diaphanous fabrics—voile, eyelet lace, chiffon.
- Avoid high collars and long sleeves”
The Physics that Explain Why You Should Wear Black This Summer state, “We’re all encouraged to wear white in summer, since white clothing is supposed to keep us cool — but it doesn’t. In fact, black clothing is the best way to keep cool in the heat. It’s basic physics. And biology.”
They go on to explain more, “When we see white, we’re seeing the combination of all possible visible light. This means that white clothing reflects a great deal of wavelengths of energy coming in. This means it should reflect the sun’s rays back, instead of letting them cook us. And that’s perfectly correct. Except that this explanation is also incomplete. Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It’s also coming off a person’s own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white, we cook ourselves.”
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According to the studies, “The best color to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as those summery white clothes.”
“Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there’s even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool. So find something black to wear this summer.”
Another physicist states that, “My recollection regarding loose fitting black robes in the desert is that – given a garment that is open at the bottom (robe) and top (not too tight fitting) – heating the air inside is actually advantageous to keeping cool since this drives a convection flow upward through the garment. This airflow makes cooling via sweating efficient, enough that the person wearing the garment doesn’t feel as hot.”
When it comes to wearing t-shirts it’s cool to wear black. Blog.designerwear.co.uk explains, “The summer months may make you want to wear light colored t-shirts. And it’s common knowledge that white t-shirts reflect the heat, helping you stay cooler. But black it seems is cooler in more ways than one. Black has always been the color of choice for rebels and rockers. But now there’s another reason to ditch the Hawaiian shirts in favor of black t-shirts. Black t-shirts and black hats are said to be the best protection against harmful ultraviolet rays.”
Blog.designerwear.co.uk continues, “So the idea of wearing black may sound silly in the summer heat, but investing in black t-shirts offers the best possible protection according to scientists. In fact, wearing paler colors such as white or yellow t-shirts will put you at a greater risk of skin cancer. The researchers at Spain’s Cataluna University in Barcelona findings could come as a surprise to many of us who grew up believing white and light colors that reflect the sun offered the best protection on holiday. The researchers tested different colored t-shirts against the sun to see which was the most effective.”
Blog.designerwear.co.uk further supports their claim with, “Dr Riva who led the research said in his report in the journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: “The color of cotton woven fabrics is a factor that has a remarkable influence on their protection against ultraviolet radiation.” Most of us assume wearing a t-shirt will protect us from the sun. It’s only our exposed bits that we slather with sun cream – and yet white t-shirts were proven to be poor at protecting against damaging ultraviolet rays. And cotton has been proven to have a low ultraviolet protection factor. The scientists tested different color dyes and found that wearing black or dark blue t-shirts is in fact safer than wearing white t-shirts. Darker fabrics were much better at absorbing the damaging rays, helping to protect the skin.”
Blog.designerwear.co.uk finishes with, “So make sure you stock up on your dark blue and black t-shirts before the summer months. An easy way to see how well a t-shirt will protect you is to hold it up against the sun and see how much light it absorbs – if you can see right through the fabric (as you will with many white and yellow t-shirts) the UV rays will certainly be passing through the shirt onto your skin.”
Are you still convinced that light colors are the best choice? Get some dark clothes the next time you go out if you don’t have any already. Be sure to protect your skin with the right color T-shirts and the right material of the T-shirt.