Whether relaxing in our homes or venturing out to seek a living, we humans always have wanted to keep cool in summer. We’ve been working on ways to keep our homes cool since at least the time of the great Roman civilization. The Persians had a lot going on too, and they figured out some cool techniques as well. For better or worse, in modern times, we have air-conditioned vehicles to take us where we want to go. But before we had those dubious blessings, we chose clothing that would help us keep cool. In desert climates, hot and dry, people adopted robes. Robes keep you at least less hot by keeping the sun of the skin. People still wrap themselves in robes today in the desert. In the tropics, little or even no clothing was a popular choice. That choice is still popular. Humans like to get bare to the greatest advisable extent, when in the hot, humid tropics. Most of us call that vacationing. But the rest of the time we spend in business casual all week long. As long as we can’t retire to a perfect climate and do nothing when it’s too hot to move, I guess we’re still going to need air conditioners.
