Summer means a lot of things—barbecues, a picnic in the nearest park and insect bites—but it also means that your clothes are going to need an overhaul. Say goodbye to your jumpers, boots and massive coats; summer’s here, and the time is right for sneakers and short sleeves.
But keeping your summer wardrobe in good shape in the face of scorching heat can be a difficult prospect. The sun can bleach your jeans and fade your t-shirts, and that’s before you take the dreaded impact of sweat or spilled festival beer into account. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to make sure that your summer clothes will last until next year.
T-shirts
The ultimate fashion staple, t-shirts look good whatever the weather. This summer, more than ever, t-shirts are going to have their moment; the trend of the season is printed t-shirts, with graphics and slogans ruling the runway as well as the high street. There’s no right or wrong way to wear them, and being true to what you think looks good is the only advice we can offer in terms of finding the shirt that will suit you to a tee.
But keeping the print looking good as new, even if you’ve bought a vintage-looking shirt, can be a difficult job. T-shirt printers Printsome recommend cold-washing and air-drying your tees, nothing that “the higher the quality of the tee, then the longer the print will last,” so don’t be afraid to pay a little more for a better t-shirt.
Jeans
Sure, it’s not going to be the weather to break in a new pair of raw denim jeans, but if you’re rocking jean shorts this season, the same rules apply when it comes to looking after them. As this guide to washing denim can attest, you don’t need to clean your jean shorts more than twice a year if you’re sporting selvedge. Overwashing can lead to premature fading, and as with t-shirts, make sure you handwash them cold and leave them out to dry. At least it’s the weather for it, right?
Rumours of how effective it is to wear your denim into the sea have also been greatly exaggerated; it does allow you to customize your shorts in your own unique style, but the jury’s still out about just how good the pay-off is, so it’s best if you stick to trunks when you’re at the beach. Likewise, regardless of what Levi’s say, freezing your jeans next to your Fab ice lollies doesn’t really do anything good for your jorts other than give you cold thighs.
Shoes
Put your brogues in mothballs and save your Doc Martens for a rainy day, because it’s sneakers and sandals weather. For starters, if you’re going with flip flops, don’t be that guy and wear socks with them – that’s basic stuff. But going sockless is going to mean that your sandals need more attention when it comes to keeping them clean and smelling halfway decent, and that can be tricky business. The easiest way to do this with leather sandals is covering them in baking soda and wiping it off the next day. Sorted.
When it comes to trainers (or, indeed, rubber sandals), as with the rest of your outfit, a cold wash and air dry is the best way to extend their lifespan. Just don’t throw them all in the washing machine together.
