Clothing for heat and humidity

[cwestbrook]

What kind of clothes and underwear have worked well for you and your family to keep you comfortable in the Florida heat and humidity?

Thanks

 

[Donald is #1]

For clothes, I would make sure that they are light colored to reflect some of the heat. I would also think that cotton would work well because it would breathe.

 

[pha1226]

I will be going in August and planned to look for CoolMax type fabric clothes. I'm also looking for shorts that dry quickly so we can take advantage of any excuse to get wet in the parks to cool off.

I figure summer clothes will be on sale after July 4th.

 

[unbroken chain]

The number one thing you will want is probably a straw hat with large brim. Must be straw or mesh to breathe. You may be able to find packable ones. Really, it will keep you cooler by keeping the sun off your head.

People who work in the sun also sometimes put small towels or light cloths under their hats that covers the back of their necks. I don't care for the look of this, myself, but what the heck. I think this keeps you noticably cooler if you keep the cloth wet. Evaporative cooling. Otherwise it just keeps you from getting a "red neck". You may be able to buy a cloth hat with a flap that comes down over the back of your neck.

As poster above said, light colors. No polyester. In the heat polyester is like wearing a plastic bag. 100% cotton only (or silk will breathe too, but you don't want silk).

Consider somewhat gauzy or flowing clothes. Not tight, not heavy. Think of the traditional white robes in the desert. Under hot, hot sun the white, very loose clothes keep the sun off you while keeping the air circulating. In fact, many of the groundskeepers in this area (90-95 degrees in the summer) wear long sleeves all summer. I assume because it keeps the sun off their skin.

 

[CampbellScot]

I do little cotton sundresses and of course cotton undies!! They keep me cool and basically you are wearing a large Tee shirt! Old Navy has some great deals on sundresses as the summer wears on. If you are smaller framed, a girls XXL fits nicely and you end up getting dresses for under $10!!

I outfitted my step daughter in pretty much the same stuff. Little cotton sundresses and cotton undies. I also got her a rash guard top and "swim shorts" for our Animal Kingdom day. We knew we'd get wet, but we didn't want to wear sopping clothes for the rest of the day OR have to worry about bringing extra clothes into the parks to change into. It worked out very well. Either way she was set for whatever. Same for my step son. He wore swim trunks most days, just b/c they are very light and cool. I also got him a rash guard and moisture wicking tees, just like his daddy's! Of course both kids wore Crocs every day! I opted for Privo flip flops on non "water possibility" days and Teva Mush for "possibly get wet" days! My husband wore Keens. They are made for water wear but they are as supportive as a sneaker. We were all set and DANG we looked snappy!!

Land's End has some great stuff for hot weather but it's on the pricier side.

Also try and avoid colors that show sweat stains!! Cuz that just looks icky!

 

[cwestbrook]

This is exactly what is confusing me. I've done a lot of reading and shopping for warm weather clothes. There seems to be two sides:

One group says to totally stay away from cotton--it stays wet when you sweat, it's heavy, dries slowly and wrinkles. This group says to wear Cool Max, capilene, Columbia Omni Dri, microfiber, etc.--these wick away moisture, breathe, are light weight, dry quickly and don't wrinkle as much.

The other group says to avoid all synthetics--they are very hot-- and only wear cotton. They say you will be more comfortable in cotton.

I am soooo confused.

 

[CampbellScot]

My husband does the coolmax shirts. He likes them. As a guy he just sweats more than I do! They work great for him. He wouldn't wear a cotton t-shirt while at Disney.

I wear spaghetti strap cotton sun dresses. They work best for me. I don't have the cotton as sleeves over my arms at all. They are all sleeveless.

Sometimes you have to try different things out to see what you feel most comfy in!

don't always take recommendations as gospel! One girls "ICK" is another girl's "Awesome"!

 

[rsimon]

We live in Dallas TX (summers are hot and humid here too) and we like going to Orlando, Miami, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel in the summer. My clothes are always the same for the weather.. I like the basketball athletic shorts because they breath very good and loose. They are always synthetic as cotton may breath but it doesn't work too good when it is humid IMHO.

For shirts, I wear the coolmax type shirts (always white). Underarmor or nike athlethic shirts work great as they have the "stay dry" technology. I wear a underarmor hat made with coolmax type material so it breaths and drys fast also. A good pair of athletic shoes or tevas and I am good to go.

I am good to go with temps and humitity index over 100 degrees (of course it helps to be used to that kind of weather) and I am pretty comfortable and dry.