As much as I love summer as a season on its own, it can also sometimes be a pain in the ass fashion-wise. Last week I had a conversation about this with my friend. She was going away on holiday and we got into a conversation of summer fashion malfunctions. If it’s a warm day in The Netherlands, I know I am going to be warm too. It might be because I am on the mid to plus size spectrum or because I am from the Netherlands and don’t deal with heat too well, I know I feel be slightly hot and bothered by having to wear clothes on a hot day.

Comfort is always my number one priority when it comes to clothes. I love to be and feel comfortable in my own skin and clothes. In summer I find it also important to feel cool and breezy when it’s warm or humid. Over the years I have found a couple of summer styling secrets that make me feel comfortable and breezy on warm or even super humid days. When I told my friend about them she didn't know that many of these secrets, which was why I felt inspired to share some of my summer style secrets on the blog.

Wear a pair of biker shorts to help with thigh chafing

It doesn’t matter if you’re bigger or smaller, as soon as your thighs rub against each other, you will know what I’m talking about. Chafing is the absolute worst and it can be extremely painful, as it can leave actual graze your skin! I had my first experience with chafing when I graduated high school 5 years ago. I went to Amsterdam to see my cousin and we shopped, ate and walked lots. I had the most painful, sore legs the next day after I slept over in Amsterdam and the ride home felt so uncomfortable. I have had chafing ever since and have used biker shorts underneath longer dresses and skirts ever since. The biker shorts are amazing as they are usually short cotton leggings that prevent any chafing from happening.

Bermuda shorts or boyfriend shorts are an option for thigh chafing too

Some shorts are still a bit too short or too lose for us thigh girls, which can still lead to chafing. This is why, especially the past two years I have started looking into longer shorts that come over my thighs. This not only helps prevent chafing, but it also makes me feel more comfortable. I am still quite old school and don’t really feel like I need to show a lot of my skin to feel confident, comfortable or somewhat sexy. This is just my personal preference, because I love seeing other girls rock their bodies, curves and skin on the internet. I guess I am a bit more like a grandma. Bermuda shorts or boyfriend shorts are perfect for that too. I love these sort of shorts, as the legs are a bit longer on these shorts. Another bonus is that Bermuda shorts and longer shorts have come back into style in general, which could possible make it more appealing to get those shorts out again.

Prevent flashing strangers by wearing longer boxer shorts under dresses

Something I learnt from an old friend back in lower school, was to wear a pair of boxer shorts underneath dresses. This helps to prevent you from flashing other people when it’s super windy or you’re riding your bike around in summer. There have been days before when I forget to wear longer boxer shorts under floaty dresses or skirts when it was windy. Awkward is an understatement when you’re flashing people in the street, especially when you’re completely distracted by a window display and forget to actually hold the dress or skirt down. Whenever I wear a pair of boxer shorts underneath, I know that even when some flashing might happen, I am not flashing anyone with actual, pretty underwear. Just my ugly, outworn, black period panties – please tell me you have period panties too. In the past I have also bought boxer shorts from the mens department that help me achieve that too.

Wear short bralette tops under dresses

Most dresses and tops can easily be a bit too revealing for me at the bust-area. This is because I need a bigger size to wear to feel comfortable in and also to fit my size. I don’t have the biggest boobs, but obliviously they are there. It’s one of the main reasons why I like to wear singlets underneath my clothes, but it’s way too warm for that many layers in summer. That’s why last year I invested in some super simple black bralettes and sports bras to wear underneath those tops. This means you’re not flashing anyone up there either and doesn’t make you feel like you’re overheating.

Loose clothes are everything in summer

If there is one thing I have learnt over the years is that loose clothes are everything when it’s warm out. We are already sticky and slightly bothered by how hot it is outside, let alone if you’re sticky, slightly bothered and extremely uncomfortable by clothes that are way too tight… Just thinking about it already makes me feel slightly claustrophobic. So loose clothes are everything during the summer. Obviously you can wear a bodysuit, however I personally wouldn’t wear a body suit with a pencil skirt for instance, because I know I would be bloody boiling.

Ditch the heavy bags

I hate aching shoulders by heavy bags as I have dealt with heavy bags way too often during high school. Ever since I graduated I have changed bag styles with baby steps. I went from backpacks to pleather shopper bags to now only carrying tote bags with me if I am off to uni. If I am not off to uni or need my laptop, I will only bring a small cross body bag with me. This way I cannot overload my bag with lots of stuff I don’t need. If I am running errands I even like to leave that at home and only bring my purse, keys and a tote bag to put groceries or other things I bought in.

Wear breathable material

It is only until about two years ago that I really got into what kind of materials are good and not good to wear during summer. My two go-to materials to wear during the summer are linen and cotton. I find these fabrics are just very breezy and sometimes even cooling on a super warm day. I wrote about my love for linen last summer already, and recently I wrote about my love for cotton too. Some of the dresses I own are made from viscose, which is okay too for me. I try to buy less and less viscose though, and really watch what fabrics clothes are made from nowadays. They make such a huge difference in how warm you yourself will be on a warm and sunny day.

Hand or wool you’re your linen clothes

One of the most annoying things is when your linen clothing shrink in the wash. Sometimes it happens on accident. I have had a couple of occasions where some of my linen tees had slightly shrunk in the wash because the water was too hot or it accidentally got put into the drier. It’s why my mum and I started washing our linen clothes with lukewarm to cold water to prevent any shrinking from taking place. We have a wool-washing mode on our washing machine, which is great too as that is super gentle on your clothes so you can wear them for a lot longer without having to fear any shrinkage.