How to dress in Asian heatwave, according to GC editors

From L to R: Giorgio Armani, ZEGNA, Sandro Paris.

1. Fabric

Everything else on this list is decoration. If the cloth is wrong, no amount of tailoring will save you. Linen, lightweight cotton poplin, and open-weave knits move air the way good conversation moves a dinner table. Leave the heavier weaves for December in London, which, much like a long-haul flight, you will eventually have to endure anyway. Cut matters as much as cloth: a shirt that skims rather than clings will do more for your composure than any product on this page.

Giorgio Armani's Jacquard Viscose and Linen Single-Breasted Suit in Beige, from the Runway SS2026 collection. Viscose and linen jacquard moves the way wool never will at 37°C — this is the formal-wear argument for rule one, scaled up to a full suit rather than a single shirt. Available made to measure.

Zegna's Pine Green cashmere-linen-cotton V-neck, an argyle-stitch mouliné knit. For the moment the office air-conditioning makes good on its threat from rule six. Keep it folded in the bag. You'll need it by 3pm.

Sandro Paris' linen polo shirt is 100% linen, classic fit, two-button collar, in Sand or Tobacco Brown.

From L to R: ZEGNA, ON.

2. A hat

A well-chosen hat says you intended to be out in this weather, rather than got caught in it. A woven panama or a soft-brimmed straw does double duty; sun protection and a faint suggestion of the colonial-era planter who's since traded the plantation for a polo field. Reserve the baseball cap for the actual polo field, or the school run. Context, gentlemen, is everything.

Zegna's Oasi Lino baseball cap in Light Beige, 100% linen body and lining, made in Italy from the house's traceable European flax. Rule two told you to save the baseball cap for the polo field. This is the loophole, linen instead of cotton-poly, an embroidered 232 Road mark instead of a logo shout, and a weight you'll forget you're wearing. Worth the exception.

On's All-Day Cap in Ivory, a six-panel 100% cotton construction built for the part of the day that's genuinely athletic such as padel, tennis, the actual sport in "gentleman sport."

CLINIQUE for Men.

3. Sunscreen

This is the one rule with zero stylistic wiggle room. SPF 30 minimum, reapplied, regardless of how overcast Bukit Tunku pretends to be. Sunburn photographs badly and ages worse, an unforced error no amount of good tailoring corrects.

Clinique For Men's Anti-Age Moisturizer fragrance-free, built on hyaluronic acid and glycerin. SPF stops the burn; it does nothing for the slow dehydration of a day spent moving between 37°C streets and 18°C lobbies. This is the part of the routine no one photographs and everyone eventually needs.

From L to R: Oliver Peoples, ZEGNA.

4. Sunglasses

Match the frame to your bone structure before you match it to the season's trending shape. Round face, squarer frame. Square face, softer curve. And resist the urge to chase whatever a footballer wore at a press conference last week. Borrowed style reads as borrowed, always.

Oliver Peoples' Nilos ($454) in an Espresso acetate frame, handmade in Italy, with a higher bridge and a deeper squared lens that reads more "1970s archive" than "festival merch." The sea-mist wash lens earns its keep on a tropical glare.

Zegna's Orizzonte I titanium sunglasses in Beige, a bridgeless construction with a high titanium top bar, smoke polarized lenses, and beta-titanium temples, made in Italy. Polarized cuts glare off the water properly, worth having both rather than asking one pair to do everything.

From L to R: Dolce & Gabbana, Dan John Roma.

5. Shorts

Tropical heat is the one legitimate excuse the modern gentleman has to bare a knee in semi-formal company, so use it well. Tailored shorts in linen or a linen-cotton blend with proper waistband, proper break, nothing that looks lifted from a beach holiday you didn't take, are the unsung hero of the summer wardrobe. Save the cargo and the drawstring for actual sport.

Dolce&Gabbana's Smooth Knit Shorts in Azure, a dense structured smooth-knit construction in a regular fit, with dual side welt pockets and a rear patch pocket. Save it for the one event a season where understatement isn't actually the assignment.

Dan John's textured bermuda in a 55% linen, 45% cotton blend, slim fit, slant pockets. Proof that "tailored shorts" doesn't require a four-figure outlay as the rule matters more than the receipt.

From L to R: Polo Ralph Lauren, Sandro Paris.

6. Layering

Counterintuitively, the man who looks coolest in the tropics is rarely the one wearing the least. A fine cotton or silk vest under a loose, unbuttoned overshirt reads more composed than bare arms and a vest alone, and gives you somewhere to retreat when the office air-conditioning decides to compensate for the weather outside by recreating a Scandinavian winter.

Polo Ralph Lauren's Relaxed Fit Linen Cardigan in Newport Navy, a V-neck cardigan in a piqué stitch knitted from fine linen yarn. Open, sleeves pushed up, for the part of the evening when the heat has finally let go a little.

Sandro's cotton zip-up jacket in Ecru, a 65% cotton, 35% linen shell with a viscose lining, piped pockets, and an elasticated hem and cuffs. It's lined, it zips, it's built for the cabin of a flight to somewhere cooler or a restaurant that's overcorrected on the aircon. Pack it; don't wear it to lunch in Singapore.

From L to R: ZEGNA, Clarks.

7. Footwear

Plain leather has its season, and this isn't it. Canvas, mesh-panelled trainers, or a good pair of leather sandals will keep your feet from staging a quiet rebellion by 1pm. If sneakers aren't your register, a well-made sandal is a choice, provided your feet have been maintained accordingly.

Zegna's Triple Stitch espadrilles in Off White, a linen-blend and calfskin upper on a rope midsole, made in Italy. The triple-crossed elastic is the house's signature and instantly legible to anyone paying attention.

Clarks' Lockford Lace, a leather trainer with a rubber sole and Clarks' signature moulded footbed, in Grey Suede or Navy Leather. Not every day calls for Italian rope soles. This is the one you wear with chinos to the office, to lunch, to the airport.

Concluding Thoughts

37°C breaks most men's composure long before it breaks a shirt. It finds the wrong fabric, the borrowed sunglasses, the hat that says he got caught out rather than that he planned for this. It finds the man dressing for the day he wished he was having, not the one actually in front of him.

Let it find nothing to break in you, gentlemen. Dress like the heat was expected, because it was.