“It’s 7 p.m. Friday/It’s 95 degrees,” the rapper GloRilla exclaims in her new single, “TGIF.” The song, which landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this month, is a celebration of being single, independent and ready to mingle.
It’s no surprise the track is popular; it’s a catchy summer anthem that emphasizes what so many love about the romantic opportunities of the season. (Even Rihanna co-signs.) But it also emphasizes what we’re all feeling these days: It’s remarkably hot, even in the evenings.
With temperature records breaking across the country and experts warning that these heat waves are “the new normal,” dating, like so much else, is affected by the miserable weather and its knock-on effects: frizzy hair, excessive sweat, body odor and pit stains. It’s hard enough to leave your air-conditioned apartment in the best of circumstances. For a terrible date? Forget it.
To be sure, there are upsides. Thighs are out. Sundress season is in full swing. Sweat glistening on exposed skin can be a turn-on. And the threat of a high electric bill is an easy, and potentially welcome, excuse to spend the night with your boo — just think of the savings!
But none of that makes the humid air and scorching heat more tolerable. How does one maintain comfort for a 7 p.m. date when temperatures are north of 90? Hacks abound, but some of the classic tricks can’t be beat: Wear the least amount of clothing you can before it becomes distracting. Keep your makeup light. Be mindful of the parts of your body that crease and fold.
Last summer, Tara Walls, a 27-year-old therapist living in Ridgeland, Miss., made a point of meeting up with her date at a mall bookstore because it was a public space with — and this part is crucial — guaranteed access to air-conditioning.
“If I’m going to doll myself up and put makeup on and stuff, I’m not going to sit here and sweat that off,” she said.
Ms. Walls, who is currently single, said she made sure to keep her outfit simple — jeans, sneakers and a spaghetti-strap top. “I get hot naturally, so I didn’t want to be extra hot by wearing anything too heavy,” she explained. For the duration of the date, she kept a travel-size deodorant and thigh chafing cream in her bag, just in case she needed a touch up — a pro tip she swears by.
“Mississippi is so humid, too,” she added. “It’s one thing to just be hot, but to be sweaty hot is just no.”
Beach picnic dates and romantic strolls in the park are both options for summer daters, and longer days can mean more time getting to know each other. But no matter the occasion, it’s worth considering what you’re wearing: Certain outfits can make a strange impression if they don’t suit the weather.
Ms. Walls recalled that the man she met on her bookstore date last summer was wearing sweatpants and a white T-shirt. “I’m like, Why the hell are you wearing sweatpants in the summer?” Ms. Walls wondered. What was he hiding?
Although Melanie Rios, who works in commercial banking and lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has been married for five years and in her relationship for a decade, she said she still tries to look and feel her best on hot-weather dates with her husband.
“Ten years into a relationship, not much is hot and exciting,” she said. Still, she enjoys wearing cute crop tops and cutout dresses in the summer, calling it “the opportunity to be a little spicy.”
On weekends, she and her husband take walks with their dog in McCarren Park, sometimes eating breakfast or running on the track there, which “isn’t fun if you’re not an active person,” she admitted. “Then we’ll walk to a new coffee shop somewhere in Williamsburg after we’re done, and then we kind of just hide inside for the rest of the day after that because it’s too hot.”
Ms. Rios, who has curly hair, no longer bothers straightening it in the humidity, she said. As for makeup, the most she’ll do is a bit of under-eye concealer, light eyebrow gel, mascara, cream blush and a light powder to set it all in place.
She also introduced her husband to one trick to avoid the sticky, damp feeling of excessive sweat: applying aluminum-free spray deodorant on your body, including the stomach, the under-boob, the back of the neck, and the region where “your butt meets your thigh.”
In this heat, they’re both grateful for a little bit of refreshment.
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