I am Hotter and Cooler

Perspiring in my flowing clothes in the 70s (age and temp)

Older woman wearing coral bohemian top on Pexels

The host at the poetry reading last night always dresses like a poet.

She has long white hair, flowy clothes (last night, she wore a gold-thread-flecked caftan top), and varied and outrageous reading glasses. I usually don’t approve of long white hair, as many women look like badly aged 20-year-olds who never changed their style, but her hair is groomed and contemporary with loose waves.

I, too, wear more loose, flowy clothes these days — ponchos, wide-legged gauze pants, tunics, scarves, shawls. I also wear lots of bright colors. The flowy clothes mask the waist, which doesn’t exist anymore, and the tactic of the color is to call attention to the clothing article, not the body. I read enough fashion magazines in my late teens and early twenties to learn these tips, even while wearing faded jeans and thrifted tops.

Medications and their potential side effects

I blame my profuse sweating with even mild exertion in moderate temperatures on the many medications I take. The perspiration lines are not lines but blotches, and flowy clothes help the sweat stick to the skin and articles next to the skin. Menopause came and went with little discomfort, but the body caught up in cruel…