Your Hanoi Summer Style Guide

It's HOT. 

I thought I knew what hot was when I went to visit my Hubs back in the day in Arizona and it was 103+ for 3 days. Then I moved to Hanoi.....and Summer arrived. For the last week it has been on average 95 degrees+ with 70%+ humidity, which makes the heat index on average 113+ degrees. HOT. Now I understand why a colleague said to me "Oh, you're going to be pregnant here and SO miserable." I refuse to be miserable, I am happy and grateful, but this heat is NO JOKE. I told myself I will find a way to avoid being miserable. It can be done!

With the recent change in weather, I have noticed several new styles in Hanoi. There has always been the "Half-shirted man" style, which I could not get a good picture of; Just imagine a man with half of his t-shirt folded up so his belly shows. I am not judging it, I might be sporting it come June.

In addition to the "half-shirted man", there is another style that is EVERYWHERE; the "no-shirted man." Apparently men can still sell dine outdoors in this style and also sell their wares on the street in the same fashion.

A topless vendor selling cellphones

While the men in Hanoi seem to be stripping, the woman are doing just the opposite. Vietnamese women take skincare very seriously and almost never get any sun(Yes, many of them have amazing skin). While the men wear less clothes, the women wear much more. 

On normal sunny days in Hanoi, you will find a Vietnamese woman on a motorbike wearing:

1. a "fashionable" SARS mask

2. a hooded jacket

3. A helment(60% of the time)

4. gloves

5. pants, or this new number I have seen popping up: a blanket with a strap around the waist to keep your legs hidden from the sun:

Hanoi Fashion Summer 2013

Or, perhaps, if you are an elderly man or woman, you will roam the streets wearing your pajamas...

An old man that lives in my neighborhood, out for his morning walk

I have been told it will be like this until September. 

Since I am not a fashionista, I will not be following the current trends in Hanoi. 

However, I have found a remedy for the heat:

Our pool--not too shabby, eh?

The way to avoid being miserable this summer: I plan on living in my swimsuit. 

(while not at the office of course)