Linen, Gauze And Everything Southern

Linen, Gauze And Everything Southern

My friends, it is HOT here in the deep South. I mean triple digits heat index hot and for me that is saying something because I like the heat much better than I do the cold.  But this Southern heat lately….Wow! It is too hot for me.

Being Southern means many things.  Some say…when one lives in the South, one has all the pleasures of being “Southern”… but along with that comes the adjustment one has to make to the scorching sun,….such as using hand paddle fans, or pulling one’s hair up off the neck into a messy bun, or drinking lots of sweet tea or lemonade and of course limiting one’s time outside ….all in an effort to stay cool. Having a swimming pool also helps.  BTW, Florida has the largest number of residential pools than any other state.

But I digress.

Hank Williams Jr is quoted as he described being Southern:.“Growing up Southern is a privilege, really. It’s more than where you were born, it’s an idea and state of mind that seems imparted at birth. It’s more than loving fried chicken, football, beer, and country music. It’s being hospitable and devoted to screen porches, magnolias, red velvet cake, coca cola, and each other. We don’t become southern–we’re born that way.”  —Hank Williams Jr.

However, it is a little difficult to think of all the pleasures of being Southern when the heat index is 107.  I do know that there are many of you suffering from the stifling heat and I am reminded of an old television show “Designing Women” that describes the heat, the clothing and Southern Women.

“Yesterday, in my mind’s eye, I saw four women standing on a verandah in white gauzy dresses and straw colored hats. They were having a conversation, and it was hot — their hankies tucked in cleavages where eternal trickles of perspiration run from the female breast bone to exotic vacation spots that Southern men often dream about. They were sweet smelling, coy, cunning, voluptuous, voracious, delicious, pernicious, vexing and sexing — these earth sister rebel mothers, these arousers and carousers. And I was filled with a longing to join them. But like a whim of Scarlett’s, they turned suddenly and went inside, shutting me out with the bolt of a latch. And I was left only to pick up an abandoned handkerchief and savor the perfumed shadows of these women. These Southern women. This Suzanne, this Julia, this Mary-Jo and Charlene. Thanks for the comfort. “—Dash Goff, the Writer

Sounds romantic doesn’t it?  And it is…however the reality is ….it is still hot,  and I am a Southern woman too but instead of trickles of perspiration running down my chest, I have rivers of sweat up and down my back and every other appendage. So I tend to look for cooler fabrics to wear when I venture out into the heat….like walking from the house to the mailbox or better yet, to the car.   And linen is a great fabric to wear.

I love the breathability of linen.

Linen has always been considered a fabric for the South. 

Many years ago, Southern men wore white linen suits, especially if they were lawyers, bankers etc.  Here in Florida, men wear Bermuda shorts in church and in many lawyer and banker’s offices.  

Me?…I shop for cooler fabrics and if there is anything with linen in it…I order it on-line.

 

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The above blouse is one of my favorites.  I actually have it in 5 different colors and it is very reasonable in cost.

And this one.…is so gauzy…it is really cool as well as trendy. They do have a short sleeve version but I like the long sleeve ones to cover my upper arms for two reasons.

One to keep my dermatologist happy…..She is constantly screaming “stay out of the sun” (I live in Florida) and “Use SPF Sunscreen” ….and secondly, My upper arms!   

They are no longer the taut, toned warriors of my youth. Now, they’ve decided to embrace a more relaxed lifestyle of Florida. They’ve become the “retirement homes for triceps,” where my skin hangs off my upper arms like loose curtains,…. waving a friendly (or sometimes a bit too enthusiastic) greeting with every gesture. Sooooo I disguise them and roll up my long sleeve shirt.  I think my wrists still look good…BUT the backs of my hands …well that is a different story for a different time.

So what do you like to wear to stay cool in hot weather?  Do you like linen?

Stay cool where you are and Blessings Always.

 

Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. (Psalm 19:6) 

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