# What's the coolest fabric to wear?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 7, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842 "2005-11-07T00:48:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/21 "2013-02-19T12:35:49Z")
Linen.
Cotton is good and costs less, but when I have had linen it was far cooler than anything else I’ve ever worn.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/22 "2013-02-19T12:58:58Z")
Velour, if you believe in Zapp Brannigan’s guide to making love at a woman.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/23 "2013-02-19T13:12:17Z")
Synthetics can be awesome. You don’t need to buy sports clothing. Most travel clothing suppliers make warm-weather friendly synthetic clothing that looks relatively normal. It can get pricey, but REI Outlet and Sierra Trading Post usually have some cheaper options. Keep the fit loose and breezy, coverage high (loosely covered is cooler than bare), and colors light. Failing that, just remember to never, ever, wear jeans.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/24 "2013-02-19T13:27:35Z")
[Don’t know if the claims are true, but I bought a bamboo shirt specifically due to coolness claims.](http://www.cariloha.com/eSource/Cariloha/ecom/eSource/default/default.aspx)🆒
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### Author:  [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/25 "2013-02-19T13:31:57Z")
> [@phouka](#):
>
> Not cotton. **Linen**. Silk retains heat, which is why aviators wore silk scarves and thermal underwear makers use it. Cotton is okay if nothing else is available, but the coolest fiber to wear, without doubt, is linen.
>
> Of course, the trouble is that linen is expensive, hard to find, and wrinkles if you just look at it. On the plus side, once you start wearing it, it becomes softer and softer
I’ve had silk long underwear, and it was the least warm long underwear I’ve ever worn. It _was_ comfortable.
In this very forum I read that aviators wore silk scarves to filter exhaust from their plane engines. The scarves were long so that when one part got dirty the pilot could shift the scarf to put a clean part over his mouth many times during a flight.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/26 "2013-02-19T13:53:03Z")
> [@NadaHappyCamper](#):
>
> My vote goes for SeerSucker, those blue and whites the DownHome Southern Gentry wore.
Past tense unnecessary.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/27 "2013-02-19T14:15:00Z")
It depends on what sort of clothes; if we’re talking suits, then something like seersucker is probably your best bet.
If we’re talking casual, I’d go with one of the new treated polyester golf shirts and a pair of lightweight khakis.
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/28 "2013-02-19T16:57:21Z")
Cloth of gold is cool…but pricey!
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/29 "2013-02-19T17:08:23Z")
Nothing cooler IMHO than a pair of summer weight wool grey slacks and a Tom Ford white shirt. + Mosley Tribes glasses. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/30 "2013-02-19T19:00:35Z")
Loose fitting cotton (linen is itchy).
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/31 "2013-02-20T09:47:56Z")
[OmniFreeze Zero](http://www.modernhiker.com/2012/06/21/columbia-omnifreeze-zero-review/). I imagine it’s pretty pricey, though.
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### Author:  [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/32 "2013-02-20T14:41:27Z")
linen/cotton, or if you’re doing stuff **merino wool**
or maybe a jacket filled with steel ball bearings?
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-fabric-to-wear/329842/33 "2013-02-20T16:01:42Z")
The best thing when discussing this every summer is I get to say “wick” a lot.
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