Thirty degree plus workwear

What is a corporate woman to do in this heat? Admittedly female workwear has been morphing into an increasingly casual look over the last few years but even in the world of dress-and-itsy-bitsy-cardigan, which has by and large replaced the thigh length skirt and sharply cut jacket with shoulder pads or at least it has unless you are a contestant on The Apprentice, this weather is a challege. It's been a real eye opener to see how corporate women commuters are coping with the challenge. Me, I don't have such a huge personal stride to take here. Given that I spend my personal life decked out in a Gap vest, huge shorts and fitflops, any transition to something that showcases my figure and swishes when I walk represents several steps up the ladder of presentability. In other words, put on any kind of frock and I'm Ready For Duty. Even a beach dress. For others this has been a golden opportunity to throw caution to the wind. I pass several women walking up the Strand in floaty pieces of material I would probably have reserved for a first date. Others have gone full on Laura Ashley and are decked out in so much calf length floral material they are attracting wasps. Still others are attempting silk, which, girls, is a really bad idea when the weather is so hot you have no alternative but to sweat like a lumberjack. Here's a tip for all female commuters. Wear cotton. Or don't come into work at all. It really is that simple. The important thing, I hear a woman tell another as they walk their sweaty way through the stuffy tunnels of Charing Cross tube station, is to layer up. Hum, I think to myself. Surely the important thing, apart from to make sure you never have less than 5 litres of water about your person, is to LOSE the layers? A problem for anyone with a muffin top, of course, as in weather this hot there really is no place to hide. If you layer up you sweat so much your layers stick to you, revealing even more than you would be revealing if you had no layers. But if you don't layer up, then the challenge is on to find the dress that skims perfectly over the bumps. Or, as I notice an increasing number of women doing, you decide that you Just Don't Care. Fellow workers are simply going to have to get used to the sight of you at your desk checking email in a bikini. No I'm kidding. Not a bikini. But something not all that far off. Midriff  baring vests and mini skirts. For some women even just baring their arms is the equivalent of running naked through the office, and there are a lot of pink bare arms about. Well. Unless you have a job interview to go to during this heatwave - and boy, do I feel sorry for you if you do - there really is only one answer.  The answer to all the problems that corporate workwear has ever presented. Work From Home.