Hot Outside, Freezing Inside: Summer Work Style
Who the heck knows how to dress for the summer? And who controls the office temperatures, anyway?!
Summer work style comes with a unique challenge: it’s sweltering outside and freezing inside—and you still need to look polished.
In this episode, Natalie is joined by custom womenswear designer Farida Raafat to answer your real questions about what actually works for summer office dressing. From navigating temperature swings and summer suiting to exploring color (even if you’re hesitant) and yes, whether black still has a place, this is a practical conversation to help you get dressed with more ease, intention, and alignment this season..
Episode Notes & Resources:
Follow DALYA on Instagram and visit the website to create your summer custom clothing
Get my Dress for Your Day guide to help you make practical and thoughtful decisions when getting ready every morning.
Submit style questions you’d like answered in a future Wear Who You Are episode.
Read the full& Raw Episode transcript:
[00:00] Natalie: Hello listeners, welcome to another episode of Wear Who You Are. It is Wednesday, my favorite day of the week. And it's extra favorite today because we are bringing in our first guest expert of this new format. And you may have heard her in a previous podcast episode. We've got my dear friend, was colleague, now friend, wonderful human being, Farida Raafat of DALYA.
Farida: Hello, it's so nice to be here again. Right back at you, wonderful human being.
Natalie: Best. We have been collaborating a lot since the first interview that we did together. And one of the things that's been going on are a lot of panel discussions. We've been sitting on panels and getting a lot of listener questions all in corporate or business casual environments. So we thought that we would take those questions, as well as listener questions from you, and put them in smaller guest episodes so then you can get really valuable information.
[01:15] Natalie: So we're going to start off this series with summer office trends because we are in May right now and in New York, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. I would say it's when everyone's like, yeah, summer's here.
Farida: Although it's getting colder and colder, but yes, still the official start of summer.
Natalie: My brain needs to say it anyway, so in my brain it will always be the unofficial start of summer. So we're going to talk about summer office trends with questions that we've gotten and questions that you've submitted to help demystify what the hell to do when there's temperature swings, air conditioning, all of that. So ready to get into it?
Farida: I'm so ready.
[02:20] Natalie: All right, so speaking of, our very first question is the most practical one. What practical tips do you have for when it's sweltering outside? And freezing cold, whoever is setting that thermostat to like negative two inside for business or business casual wear?
Farida: This is a really good question. Actually, I don't know if this is true, but it's like a fun fact I heard that the reason office buildings are so cold is that they were set to male internal temperatures, which men run hotter than women, which is why it's always freezing. I don't know if that's true, but that's what I've heard.
Natalie: And they're always wearing full suits. Yes, it's like double. Exactly, double layer.
Farida: But I think your best bet here is layers. Just like they're layering with a suit, it's really about thinking forward about layers and maybe even just keeping a couple items at your desk that you can just grab that are neutrals that work with everything that you don't really have to think about, that you can drape over your shoulders while you're sitting at your desk. And I think it's just about thinking ahead. You're obviously walking. If you're in New York, you're walking from the subway or your apartment and then to the office and you're sweating on the way and you want to wear as little as possible. So it's just about thinking ahead and planning.
So I think in your commute, I always say to pair it down as much as possible, have pieces either at the office or on you that you can then layer with when you get there. A suit is always a good option, even though people get really worried about suits and blazers in the summer, which I always say you're not wearing that blazer while you're walking around in 100 degree heat getting from point A to point B, but at least you have it so that your look looks put together. And when you're at the office, you have another layer for you.
Natalie: Love that. Well, then speaking of fabric and blazers, one thing that we know is that the fabric and the construction matters a lot too for breathability. So in the summer when it's hot and sweltering, but you're also going to be inside, what would you say are the best fibers or fabric makeups for summer?
Farida: People always get a little surprised when I say this, but there are summer weight wools. There are tropical wools. Wool doesn't automatically equal fall winter. Now, what Natalie said is really important, because it's all about the construction, how the wool is spun, how tightly woven it is. All those things contribute to how breathable the fabric is, how much air the fabric lets in, and how thick it is. Summer weight wool is one of my favorites because it's very breathable, natural fiber, and it holds a really nice shape. And you're not going to get overheated in it, surprisingly. I know this is a weird one for people, but I love a summer weight wool and I will die on this hill.
Another thing that I really love that people are always scared of is linen. People love it. They love how it feels, but they're always like, I hate how wrinkly it gets. So this is when the composition matters. So we here at DALYA even have a lot of linen fabrics that are blended with something else. So we can do like a linen cotton silk and those blends work really nicely because you kind of get the less wrinkle ability, same sort of look of a linen and then the breathability from the cotton and the linen kind of works really nicely. So you get the same kind of vibe without that wrinkle ability factor. So really the composition is key.
[5:00] Natalie: That's such a big one for all of my clients. I'm like, you can wear linen. It's just getting the best properties of what it's blended with. So you can get the breathability of it, but maybe it's cut with a cotton that's going to help with some of that wrinkle factor. And it may wrinkle some and just embrace it.
Farida: Yeah. That's also a look. I know people are scared of it, but I also think that people expect you to wear that kind of linen look in the summer. And there's something really beautiful about a worn in linen pant or jacket. So don't get too scared of it. But I completely understand not wanting 100 percent linen, especially in an office setting when you maybe want to come across as polished and a little more refined. Maybe save it for when you're in Italy on vacation.
Natalie: Let's all go. When are we going?
Natalie: OK, so on that vein, is it OK to wear black to the office in the summer?
Farida: You're asking someone who lives in New York. It's hard.
Natalie: And it's a great question that I get a lot.
Farida: I always say yes. To me, it matters what you're wearing it with. Natalie and I talk about this a lot and actually she's wearing it today and I'm wearing it today, like a column of color with something on top.
Natalie: I'm wearing all black for those not seeing, I'm wearing all black underneath and then I have this lovely green on top of it.
Farida: And then she's bringing out some other colors with her scarf. So I think it's all about accessorizing and how you're wearing it. Black, of course, you can feel a little bit hotter when you're wearing it. So just be mindful of the other pieces on top. But I think that black is always an all year round color that can be worn at any point. It's just what are you pairing it with?
Natalie: And going back to the fabric, I would say too, if you've got like a linen or a cotton or a lightweight wool, then the fabric also can help balance the fact that you are wearing black in maybe a brighter season, which is summer, spring, early fall.
Speaking of color, what about those who aren't as confident in color, but they want to explore it. Do you feel like summer is the time to start playing with more permission to have color in your wardrobe if you're a little color-averse?
[7:05] Farida: I actually really love playing with color in the fall, but also love playing with it in the summer. I think it's brighter color. Let's just say people feel a little bit more comfortable with experimenting with brighter color in the summer. And I think it's a great time to just play. And if you're not somebody that likes color a lot or wears a lot of color doesn't think that they can carry off color, although you probably can. There's a nice way to start introducing it in smaller ways, whether it's in an underpinning of the total look. So if you have a blazer on top that's maybe a bit more neutral, but maybe you're introducing color in the piece you're wearing in the underpinning. So it's just little hints of that color. That's a nice way to bring it in.
If you're wearing an outer layer that's like a blazer like I'm wearing today or even a vest and you want to bring it in in the pattern of the piece. So similar to this blazer we have here, this is like a nice washed out blue, which is like a nice summer update from a navy. But then you have this kind of yellow deco running through. So it's not a full yellow blazer, but it's a nice way to kind of start introducing a little bit of color.
Natalie: For those that are listening in, I'm holding up kind of a slate blue that reads more neutral, but it's not quite a full neutral and it's got this kind of yellowy camel print going through it. So it's a nice way to introduce some color, but it still is super versatile.
Farida: And then also if you're too scared to experiment with saturated color, this summer and spring in general is a nice time to maybe play with more pastels or kind of this heathered look of a blazer. Natalie's holding up a baby pink pastel kind of blazer. So I think those are really good ways to start introducing some color in your summer wardrobe without feeling like you've completely had a shift in personality.
[09:00] Natalie: Yeah, and I think just thinking about the outdoors, one tip I always have is mimic what's happening outside. So in the summer, it's typically brighter colors out, flowers, brighter things. So if it is a time that you want to experiment, it's not going to look as out of context in what's happening in nature around you as well. Like blue skies, I'm very hopeful about the weather this summer, clearly. So that's always just something to consider if you're feeling a little trepidatious about it.
Farida: And also in your accessories, whether it's a scarf or earrings or a belt or even your shoes, it's a good place to experiment.
Natalie: We have a great story where one of my clients I brought in never has worn a pattern. She will wear color, but it's usually pretty soft neutral because that's her coloring. And because it was summer, she did say the words. We had this beautiful pattern that Farida brought out for it, and I was like, I think this would look lovely on you. And it absolutely would. She said, “okay, because it's summer, I'm going to play because that's sort of the environment that's happening around me as people are playing.” So that was a good story of someone who's like, I'm going to take a leap.
Farida: You can always break it up. It doesn't have to be the full outfit.
[10:05] Natalie: Yeah. So last question then for our summer series is let's talk a little bit about trends. What are you seeing is trending for summer office wear?
Farida: I think this is always an interesting one because it really depends on the office environment. I think first thing is, is it okay for you at your office to go sleeveless? And if the answer is yes, I see a lot of matching vest and pant kind of co-ord sets that women really like in the summer because it still gives off that feeling of a polished ensemble, like maybe a suit, but then obviously it's sleeveless. So it just gives you more of that breathability. So that's definitely something we see in the summer. Summer dresses are just a really easy way to still look put together because you're head to toe coordinated, but again with breathability. Those are highest selling pieces, I would say, in the summer. And then just kind of depending on when you are in the summer, those kind of transitional coats or blazer shirt pieces. So this word we use in menswear, it's called a shacket. It's basically a shirt jacket. I like to use that in womenswear too. It's just a lighter weight blazer, but it's not a shirt. It's kind of somewhere in between.
[11:25] Natalie: I love that. Those are great tips. Well, thank you so much, Farida. And we have two upcoming episodes. One is going to be on fabric, which we touched on a little bit today, but we'll dive deeper into it. And then we're going to talk about blazers. We're going to break them down top to bottom to give you all of the knowledge so you can wear who you are. We will see you next time.
Farida: Thanks for having me.