Updated 8/31/22
Are You Looking Good In Sun Blocking Clothing? I worry that I will look “weird” all covered up. From head to toe.
The days of being able to ignore protecting my skin from the sun are gone. And obviously, I qualify as a slow learner.
Here I am worried about how I can look cool when out with the family in the sun, and still be protected. Yes, while wearing long pants and a long-sleeved shirt?
This sun hat and sunglasses? I haven’t been wearing hats, and now that the skin cancer is gone from my forehead, it is important to start.
While learning about sun blocking clothing, it becomes obvious that I can no longer think these warnings don’t apply to me as well. When I started this site, I had no idea there was so much to learn.
No wonder I had ignored the whole thing about skin cancer for too long.
Do you have conversations with yourself? I am very self-consciously sharing this one running through my mind the other day. Thinking about attending a little league game that got canceled? Worrying about things that don’t happen seems counterproductive, but you know that is what we do.
What Clothing Is Best For Sun Protection
Clothing made of tightly woven cloth like denim, wool, or synthetic fibers, protects your skin better than sheer fabric, thin, or loosely woven cloth.
You can check a fabric’s sun safety by holding it up to the light. If you can see through, UV radiation can easily penetrate the fabric and reach your skin.
Appearance Is Important To Us
What a silly thing to be vain about. Especially when you have had skin cancers removed! Who is going to notice what my grandson’s grandmother is wearing while watching the ball game? My grandson is only 8 years old. They are just glad to have people to support their efforts!
Now, in all honesty, we know that most people are aware of what people are wearing at different events. I can hear the conversation now in the car on the way home from the ballpark.
One of the teammates and his dad are talking. “What’s with that long-sleeved shirt your teammate’s grandmother wore?”
“Did she get a bad tattoo? It was too hot for that long-sleeved shirt that came way down over her hands.”
The answer of “he said his grandmother sunburns easily?” Then the question, “Wasn’t the umbrella enough?” Answered by “I don’t know.”
Now my grandson might have been more ready if I had worn my sunblocking clothing before and he had gotten used to it. If he understood what the function of each piece was.
I could embarrass him, unintentionally in front of his teammates. For some reason, I am more aware of questions like this with grandkids than when my kids were young.
White Nearly Always Looks Cool
Yes, white pants look so cool. I would love to wear white pants, maybe no one would know they were the new kind of weave that blocks more sun. However, I can’t get from the house to the car without having a smudge or spot!
Maybe a white long sleeve, with a cuff down over the hand top would be noticed less.
Ok, so I was saved by the canceling of the game. By the time he gets to play maybe he will be used to me and my fair skin protection. COVID has affected many things like who knows if and when the little league will resume. (games were canceled all year that year)
This is the first year for me to be serious about protecting my skin. My search is for sun blocking clothing to help me keep from getting too much sun.
It is for real this time. I admit that I have made starts that fell by the wayside.
It is time for clothing that works to help protect my skin as well as allow me to feel I don’t look weird. I will be covered head to toe when it is daylight, even when it is 99* outside! Why You Should Avoid UV Rays
Living in central Texas, in the heart of the hill country is not without challenges. We have some really hot weather, especially during the summer baseball season.
Then August football. I will have this year to find another item or two to have to wear to his ball games that will keep me covered, but not look strange.
During the cooler times of the year, when there is less direct sun, I can do well with my umbrella and sunscreen. Or the pop-up awning for sun protection.
Adding some lightweight sunblock clothing, like a sun hat will help prevent me from having more freckles. Maybe avoid the treatments from my dermatologist. Those are not ever fun.
White A Summer Favorite
Yes, white is a favorite color for summertime. It does reflect more of the heat away than any other color and keeps you cooler. The problem with white is the reflections. If you wear a white shirt, the sun’s rays are reflected on your face.
Now we all know that is where we see freckles first, and where we get sunburned quickly. This is where the skin can show aging early as well.
If the fabric of your shirt is tightly woven, and you are unable to see the sun through it, the sun can’t see you. So the trunk of your body will be protected. Your face will need sunscreen to keep the reflections from causing sunburn or early aging.
So while white reflects more, a darker color absorbs more of the sun’s rays. With the rays being absorbed in the darker colors, a dark blue shirt will protect you, and will also make you feel warmer from the sun rays it absorbs.
Again white makes you feel cooler but may reflect Ultraviolet rays on your face. Darker deeper colors like royal blue or dark purple and black will protect you from sunburn because it absorbs the sun. But it will make you warmer when you wear it.
So UPF clothing with its special weaves, finishes, and dyes can help with the lighter colors to keep you more comfortable. My denim long sleeve loose-fitting shirt will keep me safe from the sun, and a UPF-ratted lighter-weight shirt will keep me more comfortable in the warmer times of the year.
Men Can Look Good In Sun Blocking Clothing Too
Are you a fair-skinned male? Do you unburn too easily? Or have you just been out and in the sun too much in your lifetime?
Are you looking for protective clothing that will help block the sun’s rays? Have your arms begun to remind you of your dad’s?
You know, men need to protect themselves as well. Men will get skin cancer too. More men have skin cancers than females. You can have small pre-skin cancers on your skin just like women do.
This skin cancer isn’t something that just women have to deal with. Skin cancer could care less about how old you are, male or female, or how dark your natural skin tone is. We all need to exercise caution.
If you don’t want to wear the vented long-sleeved fishing shits? Remember that there are some great choices in casual tee shirts as well.
Many are made of wicking, quick-drying knitted fabric that is very comfortable to wear and does a great job of skin protection.
Hats
While using my self-talk for trying to guide me in this transition to more sunblocking clothing I have found a couple of hats. They will help protect my face. My neck is so easy to neglect. A wide brim on the sun hat will help.
That is where I am having more skin cancers show up now. So far we have caught them early enough not to cause a really ugly scar. I don’t want to be careless and risk it again.
Skin cancer shows up more often after repeated exposure to the sun. I am getting to the end of my free passes for serious and scarring skin cancer results. Where are you in your skin cancer journey? Have you used up your free passes?
As I become more aware of the ways I can protect myself from the sun’s excess UV rays, I am noticing my friends. Some of them are as slow to realize what was happening as I was.
The warnings I have had through the years were ignored. Who knew I would not always be 40? I am sorry it didn’t dawn on me until after there was some skin damage.
The stage for skin cancer on the face, neck, ears, nose, and top of my shoulders is ready. My throat above the shirt collar. Maybe even on my legs. The tops of my feet because of the flip-flops I wore.
Where are your problem areas? What are you doing to protect them? Have you added sunblock clothing to help the sunscreens you have been using?
There is so much information online. I know you don’t want to read all the information that we now have to learn about skin cancers.
I didn’t either, but as member after member of my family has dealt with this result from too many hours in the sun, I decided to take the plunge.
Hopefully, this information will help you protect yourself.
Sami’s Take On Looking Good In Sun Blocking Clothing
As I am learning more about sun blocking clothing and how it can help keep me and my family from having more skin cancer. We are just an ordinary family who is learning along the way and wish we had been more careful.
I grew up a wanna-be tanner!
My parents showed me how to dress for sun protection. Did I pay attention? No, I didn’t. The transition out in the world about how we dress was going on, and unfortunately affected me too. I thought I wanted to wear sun tops. I thought it was old-fashioned to wear the more modest tops.
We wanted to do our outside chores in shorts and sleeveless shirts. We also had no idea what price we would pay.
Unfortunately, I had children before I became aware of how dangerous the sun is. Now a few years later, we are all regulars at the dermatology office. Our regular check-ups are important for us.
Does this stupidity have to continue? No, it doesn’t. Our grandkids can benefit from sun blocking clothing that looks good. They don’t have to go through life with scars on their arms, legs, and forehead.
We do have to set better examples of how to take care of our skin. Using sunscreen is important.
Then we must also wear sunhats and sunglasses. There are so many little things we can do.
Thank you,
Sami