Best fabrics for hot weather
 

I'm heading to Mae Hong Son, Thailand - for work - at the hottest time of year, and I'm trying to figure out what kind of clothes to bring for wearing every day at the office. Dress code will be somewhere around business casual I think, so no suits required on a regular basis but also no tank tops and shorts.

In movies based in places like Africa people are always wearing linen - but I have read that synthetic fabrics are better because sweat can evaporate. Thoughts? It would be nice not to walk around with sweat stains all day, so what fabrics are good for hiding sweat?

Sorry if this is a little...unpleasant to discuss but I imagine it's something other travelers have thoughts on/are curious about!

thanks,

mp413

There have been lots of discussions here about Synthetic V's natural fabric. It seems pretty evenly divided about which is best. It is a personal preference and I prefer the natural fabrics. Sweating is unavoidable and at least you won't be the only one. I think that the synthetic fabrics make me more smelly. I prefer light weight cotton or linen fabric in a colour that doesn't show sweat marks. White,cream and even some blacks but the thought of wearing black in the heat never appeals to me.
Make sure you get one of those non staining deodorants if you have any dark colours. Will you be working in airconditioning?

I'm also a fan of natural fabrics - cotton, linen and silk blends. I do have a couple of pairs of slacks that are a linen/cotton synthetic blend especially for hot weather made by Ex Officio. Pure linen is problematic as it looks like you slept in it as soon as you sit down once. SO if you opt for linen, do so in a blend.

Cotton - I lived in Indonesia for four years and I would have died without my cotton.

Cotton is my choice as well, but that's a personal preference thing.

More importantly, is no dark colors as they attract mosquitos.

Also spend as much time as you can out in the heat; you will get used to it very fast. Staying in the AC all day and sleeping in it only makes it worse. Eating local food helps too; the more western your diet, the harder it is to acclimate.

cotton and linen

For casual walkabout or touring Cotton is very nice but for outdoor sport or when you're gonna sweat a lot then you can't beat clothing made of synthetic 'sports' fabrics that wick away perspiration. Quite a few brand offer high SPF protection as well.

This is really helpful! Wow, the consensus here definitely leans in favor of cotton/natural fabrics. Interesting. I definitely prefer to wear cotton...but it does stay wet. The Ex Officio blend stuff sounds neat, thanks for the recommendation Kathie.

I know there are some synthetics that don't show sweat/moisture at all, but not sure what they are so can compare to tag when shopping. Anyone know?

Usually a Nylon based fabric and for brand like Nike they will call it Dry-fit, Adidas call it ClimateCool etc. There's a company call Simms which makes really nice and comfortable fishing shirts in the US that works wonderfully here in Thailand.

http://www.simmsfishing.com/site/xdpy/sg/CLOTH