is 100% silk good for summer?

[ooodile]

I've seen some silk tops and dresses I'd like for my summer holiday, but wonder if I'll be a hot sticky mess in them? Or is silk good because it's natural?

Silk is very difficult to wear I find.
Can be very sweaty.

I like silk in summer, but you often find the lining is polyester which is quite sweaty.

Thank you! You've both confirmed what I thought - I might just stick to 100% cotton for daytime and a few silk pieces for evening.

Silk stains badly.

I wear a lot of silk tops. It's not as sweaty as viscose or synthetic fabrics, but it's worse than linen or cotton. But a lot easier to iron than linen or cotton so swings and roundabouts!

Also it's like wool in that it's an animal fibre not a plant fibre, so no bio washing powder. Keeping white silk white is therefore a bit of a challenge!

Silk can crease badly too, so a bit high-maintenance for travelling.

Viscose is bad, it can be sweatier than polyester.

Silk knits are better than wovens.

Thanks everyone, you've been really helpful. Laughing at the amount of times "sweaty" has been mentioned!

I wear a lot of silk in this climate, but I've not been on a proper, hot summer holiday for ages so as much as I'd like to think I can pack my usual UK wardrobe into a case I don't think it'll work!

I tend to wear clothes which are quite well fitted, as I don't suit lovely loose drapery which is ideal for summer - so if I'm going for a fitted blouse it might be best to go for cotton over silk.

Chardonnay - I just bought a silk knit from Whistles and it's great, I love it. (this particular top would be too hot for summer but it's non-creasy, soft and comfy.) I'll try to find some lighterweight silk knits.

If you're going somewhere humid then linen is best - in humidity it sort of gently crumples rather than creases, and it breathes better than cotton.

Bamboo fibre is brilliant in hot weather

100% Silk is amazing and not sweaty at all. I made a silk outfit for a holiday once and loved wafting about it in the heat.

However it often comes with a polyester lining which is sweat city. And depending on the type of silk it may be very high maintenance with creasing and not being washable.

I've been wearing a lot of silk shirts (no polyester) and I think they're brilliant for a UK summer because they keep me cool when it's hot but when the temperature dips, they're warm. I like them a bit oversized and I wear over a low cut cotton vest which avoids the sweat stains.

I buy all mine second hand - charity shops, vintage, weigh and pay - because the quality's miles better for the money.

I always machine wash on a delicate cycle in a pillow case. Ironing's a bit of a pisser but then it is with linen too.

Sorry I forgot to say - that's the UK and I'm not sure how well they'd wear in a proper hot climate.

I'm not a sweaty person at all but I sweat in silk. The armpits in silk tops discolour very easily.

Silk and raw silk are fine in the heat. It was the preferred choice in the Far East for hundreds of years, before AC but perhaps they did not have the choice of cotton?

Silk jersey is amazing. Sit down in a plastic chair and sweat; stand up creased, but the creases then fall out. Diane von Furstenberg, I salute you!