Beat the Heat: Summer Fashions

OK, so commuting to work on weekdays, I see something like a million folks a day. Or close. And, of course, I check out what they're wearing, and I have some opinions on a few things:

(1) Seersucker suits (men). These are big in D.C., every summer, I think. (I even saw a senator in a seersucker suit last week!) My opinion on seersucker suits is that they just don't work in D.C., especially at work. When I see someone in a seersucker suit, I think of a smalltown lawyer in the era before air conditioning. You know, a guy with a thick drawl and a penchant for straight whiskey. Not really the image I would want to conjure in someone's head, you know? I think that seersucker might be OK, some places. But not D.C., which is a pretty conservative town.

Even more importantly: Young men should not wear seersucker. It's like wearing a bow tie, but worse. Much, much worse.

(2) Bermuda shorts (women). These seem to be the new women's fashion, a drastic reaction to short shorts from the last few seasons. But what they call Bermuda shorts today bear almost no resemblance to Bermuda shorts from when I was in high school, and these were big, before. Back in the 1980s, Bermuda shorts were worn really baggy. The new Bermuda shorts are worn really, really tight. This makes them look a little uncomfortable, although it's not a bad look for at least some women.

(3) Wedges (women). The Bermuda shorts described above are often paired with wedges, some of which look to be three to four inches high. My question about wegdes: Are they easier to walk in than heals? At first, I thought that these looked pretty ridiculous, but this look has grown on me, I have to admit.

(4) Flip-flops (men and women). Of course, it's much more likely that one will see a woman in business clothes wearing flip-flops, at least for commuting purposes. But you do see a lot of men in boardshorts and flip-flops. Here's on reason one shouldn't wear flip-flops to commute in: Someone, on a crowded Metro, may step on your foot. And if your foot is bare, and out there, then that is going to hurt. Or, if there's a torrential downpour, like earlier this week, you might have to step off a curb into an intermittent storm run-off river to cross the street . . . and in flip-flops, your foot is going to be completely immersed in a slurry of rainwater and whatever is on a D.C. street . . . .

In sum, flip-flops are just not "practical" footwear. Now, maybe most women's footwear isn't practical, so maybe it doesn't matter.