Dressing for the intense summer heat ► Suzy Turner

Living in the Algarve, I must admit to struggling with dressing for the intense summer heat. On days in July and August, the summer heat can reach (and occasionally exceeds) 40ºC. And that’s seriously hot! Although I’ve lived here 30 years (exactly 30 years last month in fact), I’ve never quite come to terms with the Algarve summer heat. My body seems to heat up and stays hot like hell all the time. Basically I’m a wreck unless a) I’m indoors with all the shutters firmly closed, b) locked in the bedroom with the air-con on, c) in the car with the air-con on or d) in the shade with a very cold beer 😉

As for clothes, well talk about a nightmare! During the day I need to be in loose-fitting, floaty and thin fabrics like these easy-wearing palazzo pants and fine, cotton top. I find floaty maxi dresses particularly perfect for this weather too, but for some strange reason, I don’t seem to own any anymore (note to self: must remedy that!).
When the heat is at it’s ~~worst~~ hottest, then you might even find me in a bikini and micro shorts (but only if I’m not leaving the house – I wouldn’t dream of actually being seen like that!). When it’s like that, even knickers are uncomfortable (I know, sorry – TMI). If I was a bestselling author (I’m working on it!), then I’d buy a house in the UK where I could escape to during the summer months. That’s my dream.

Now I know that most of my British readers are probably becoming irritated with me right about now. Here I am, moaning about the gorgeous summers we have every year when you’re probably looking out the window to grey skies and rain. Sorry! But that’s my idea of heaven at the moment. But until thousands more people fall in love with my books, I just have to grin and bare it. After all, living in Portugal is pretty amazing for the rest of the year. I’ve got it made, really. It’s only unbearable for a couple of months max.

Another reason it can be difficult at this time of the year is the fact that during July and August, the rest of the world descends on this part of the world. The Algarve becomes chock full of people – the roads, the beaches, the restaurants and even worse – the shops 😉 – are heaving! But I mustn’t moan, the Algarve relies on tourism. I do like to see it busy, I’d just prefer to see it busy from another country lol! But on a more serious note, I do love living here. If that’s all I’ve got to worry about, then I’ve got it made, right?

And now back to the outfit, you may remember the trousers from a few months ago when I wore them with my Harry Potter graphic tee. I’ve since chopped a few centimetres off the bottom to allow me to wear them with flats. The black cotton top (which was less than 3 euros from C&A several years ago) used to have a large frill at the bottom which I hated so I chopped that off too! Unfortunately, both the top and the trousers do wrinkle terribly easily but at least I’m a little cooler and that’s all that matters at the moment!

My black leather sandals were a brilliant buy from Primark a few years ago. They’ve lasted incredibly well in the summer heat over the years and have had loads of wear. My hat is new! I just bought it from Zara Home for 9.99 euros. Isn’t it lovely? It’s perfect to keep the sun off my face. And my handbag, you’ve seen lots of time on the blog as it’s a firm favourite from Knomo (you might remember me telling you that I actually won it in a twitter giveaway!).

Anyway, that’s it for me today. I’m starting to heat up again in this intense summer heat… now where’s that water spray bottle when I need it?