Q. Dear Jordan,
I have a challenge to pose in the hope that you can help me out. I am moving to West Africa, where the average temperature is 32 degrees Celsius ALL YEAR ROUND. I am a hard-core Canadian who loves my winters, and need to adjust my wardrobe for a 10 month long heat wave. There are no dry-cleaning facilities, or hot water, so all my clothes will have to be hand-washing friendly. Since I am going to a Muslim country, when I am working I will need to have both my shoulders and thighs covered (apparently showing your thighs in this culture is tantamount to exposing your breasts in ours).
No big deal, you say? Here is the main challenge: I am essentially volunteering for a year, so have a VERY limited budget (i.e. I wouldn’t dream of spending more than $50 for a dress, and can’t spend more than $500 overall for my clothing). Can you help?
A. Whew, this is a tough one! Mostly because, as you may have noticed, I skew towards “inappropriately underdressed” rather than “sensibly covered-up” ;). And also because…well, I’ve never been to Africa, and certainly don’t want to steer you wrong with respect to cultural standards. But I would love to try to help you, so here goes!
OK, first let’s talk fabric choice. Natural fabrics (like linen and cotton) allow your skin to breathe and stay cool, but may wrinkle easily – I’d shoot for super-light cotton jersey. Personally, though? I’m always fine in synthetic blends so long as the fabric is light and the cut is loose. Tight fit = synthetics bad.
Re: budget, I tried to mostly stick to your below-$50 rule, only going a tiny bit over for items I thought were particularly great deals (on sale!) or that you’ll get a lot of use out of. I also focused on dresses, since these transition easily from day to night and have the added benefit of being the coolest possible option. Presumably you already have a decent roster of casual tees for non-working hours, but you may want to pick up a pair of long shorts like these ($24.50 from Old Navy):
Covered-up dresses don’t have to be boring, and once you add a light sweater (see below), your choices expand dramatically.
Top row: Old Navy Flutter-Sleeve Dress ($24.50); ASOS Soft Skirt Midi Dress ($62; my personal favorite); H&M Linen Dress ($39.95; add a light camisole beneath this one if it’s too low-cut on you)
Bottom row: Old Navy Women’s Ruffled Dress ($24.50; more colors/patterns available); Lipsy Lace Trim Floral Maxidress ($62 on sale); Forever 21 Floral Maxi Tank Dress ($19.80)
You may also want to go for some maxi-dresses (if you prefer strapless or spaghetti straps, just pair them with the aforementioned light sweater): you can find inexpensive versions just about everywhere this summer, but I have a couple from Forever 21 and I love them. They’re much, much cooler than they look.
Ikat Print Maxi Dress ($27.80); Crepe Chiffon Maxi Dress ($24.80); Heritage 1981 Short-Sleeved Maxi Dress ($12.80)
Now, a few of the dresses pictured above will require some kind of cover-up to make them appropriate. What I would do is splurge a bit on one or two very, very light, long-sleeved (you can push the sleeves up or down as needed) cardigans, like this one from Splendid ($68):
What I like about this is that the cut gives the illusion of length without all the weight, so it has the lightness of a short cardigan and the coverage of a long one.
What I’d do if I were you:
ASOS dress in blue for dressier days ($62)
Old Navy Floral Dress ($24)
Old Navy Flutter-Sleeve Dress ($24)
2 Splendid cardigans in white and black ($136)
5 Forever 21 midi and maxi dresses for everyday ($100)
A pair of light cotton pants from the Gap for casual days (approx $50)
A couple of light Forever 21 blouses or H&M tees to go with the pants ($40)
And then you have a little over $50 left over for a pair of wear-everywhere shoes, like these brown Aldo wedges. Whee!
Best of luck to you on your travels!
