Claire's comment on Angie's post today really spoke to me: "You’ve also helped me save so much money! Just yesterday I was at Ross trying on a Calvin Klein white linen sleeveless safari dress (similar the one Jayne asked about recently). At first glance, it would have been a perfect choice for my climate, but the fact that it was lined with synthetic material and DCO meant that it couldn’t serve as an everyday dress for me."
ETA link to Angie's post:
http://youlookfab.com/2012/04/.....r-climate/

Natural fibre dress simply ROCK in hot climes - how uber-frustrating when some dingleberry lines one in a synthetic : 0

Happily, i've come up with some good workarounds over my years of living in a hot summer climate, sewing my own clothes, and having access to free clothes that i've been able to experiment on (!) Read on if that piques your interest!

Many dresses can have the lining removed (cut out or you can rip the seams) and will work out just fine. If the facings are made of the fashion fabric (the outside fabric which you see), this is simple to do. If the fashion fabric is a little thin, see-through, or clingy - wear a slip. You can find full and half slips in natural fabrics. Silks are the best and can be thrifted sometimes, too. Even a novice sewist can easily make a half slip - look in thrift stores for old 80's style blouses in silk for a really cheap slip. Dye the fabric, cut out your slip and sew it up, add some elastic and lace, and va-voom!

Another option is to rip out the synthetic lining and re-line the dress with cotton or silk. This seems like a bigger deal than it actually is, as you use the torn out lining as a ready to go pattern for the new lining. I'm in the process of doing this with a slvlss black silk blouse - both the blouse and the silk crepe (from an old shell) i'm using to line it were thrifted, so i'm mostly out my time and effort. A tailor would be able to do this easily, and if you shop around for lower-cost fabrics for them to use (JoAnne's has regular sales), you can get what you want for less expense.

Just wanted to put these ideas out there for those of you who are new to trying to dress for hotter climates. A nice natural fibre dress can be a real life-saver, but they can be so difficult to find! I've learned that these tricks can increase your dress options.

Best of luck and chime in with your own workarounds! steph