During heat waves, which are becoming the norm, people reveal more skin than fabric. The intense heat makes even the slightest opaque material unbearable. Yet, on the scorching asphalt and in the heart of this oppressive atmosphere, some women remain loyal to thick sweatshirts and wide-legged trousers. No, it's not torture, simply a reflection of inner turmoil and low self-esteem.
A sweatshirt in the middle of summer, when insecurities are suffocating.
With temperatures soaring and the heat making the landscape shimmer, we're wearing as few clothes as possible. Even in a cotton top and a thigh-high skirt, we're sweating profusely and leaving puddles wherever we sit. If we could go out in a triangle top and beach bottoms in the city, we'd do it without hesitation. While most women stroll around in cropped tops, barely-there blouses, and flowing dresses made of minimal fabric, others wander through this open-air furnace bundled up in their sweatshirts as if it were the dead of winter.
At the sight of this January-like look, eyes widen, whispers fly, and outraged gasps erupt. How can any normal person brave the scorching air and molten asphalt with so many layers on? This outfit, which makes us sweat twice as much as spectators, seems utterly incongruous with the current humid climate. For many, it's pure madness, but for those involved, it's a form of protection. Not against UV rays, but against the stares of others.
Often, when women wear sweatshirts or chunky knits in the summer, it's not because they're naturally sensitive to the cold or have ultra-sensitive, porcelain skin. This fleece-lined outfit is simply camouflage, used to minimize curves , smooth out bulges , and conceal a certain body shape . In an eye-opening post, content creator @ cht.am explains the reasons behind this sartorial habit, which she considers "incomprehensible." "A few years ago, I was so insecure that I wore sweatshirts when it was 40°C (104°F). The sun revealed what I wanted to hide."
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On social media, women are breaking the silence
Wearing sweatshirts in the middle of summer isn't a trick to avoid sunburn, nor is it a common trait among those nostalgic for autumn. It's about shading what you dislike most about your body, even if it means sweating twice as much and enduring constant discomfort. Women who never let their sleeves fall, even when the temperature rivals that of the arid desert, aren't sadistic. They're simply completely at odds with their image.
The content creator, who advocates for a more just and open-minded society, candidly shares her own experiences. Summer outfits leave no room for suspense and conceal nothing. They reveal the body in every detail, and for many women, this feels terribly intrusive. “I felt like I was naked in front of everyone,” she describes.
These women, lacking in self-esteem and struggling with their own reflection, wear sweatshirts, zip-up vests, and full-coverage pants under the blazing sun, hoping to make their silhouettes disappear, to erase them. They feel more psychologically at ease, but physically, they suffocate. While @cht.am, after a long process of self-reflection, managed to shed this textile burden, others remain permanently trapped by it.
On TikTok, women have only one word to defend this practice: insecurities. They are ashamed of their flabby arms, their festering acne, their cellulite. This forced sartorial isolation is a direct consequence of the pressure to be thin, to have toned arms, and a flat stomach.
A sweatshirt to burn more calories: another toxic argument
Some women wear sweatshirts in the summer to conceal bodies they deem "not conforming enough." Others pull them out after nightfall to hide their skin, which predators can smell from miles away. Yet, societal pressures push the most vulnerable to use sweatshirts as a slimming accessory or a "fat burner."
It's practically a widespread trend. On TikTok, content creators go for runs wearing five t-shirts and three sweaters in the hopes of "melting away" faster, while others share their physical transformations to promote this method. In this scenario, the sweatshirt is no longer a shield; it's a garment designed to induce sweat, intended to achieve that ever-present " summer body ."
Ultimately, a sweatshirt in the middle of summer perhaps says less about the weather than about how we inhabit our own bodies. It speaks to the silent compromises we make between physical comfort and mental peace, between the heat that burns the skin and the more muted heat of others' gaze.
What if the real anomaly wasn't that layer of cotton in the middle of July, but rather the fact that a simple "natural" body could still seem risky, exposed, almost provocative?
