I know summer is still a few months away in the northern hemisphere, but this year I want to plan ahead, and know what to look for during Spring and Summer retail season, since the last two summers I had a hard time dressing for work, and by the end of the summer I was completely bored with my choices.

I work at a Cruise Port. I work for the Cruise Port Authority, as the Marketing Director. My office is a casual place, really almost anything goes, but my preferences are more onm the dressier side. Also, my job requires me to attend events, which require different levels of dressiness, sometimes at last minute notice (the same day of the event), which means that often times I don’t have time to plan my outfit, and that I try to have a couple of outfits ready for these occasions. Sometimes, I am left with no time to go home and change clothes.

Dressing for work in late Fall, Winter, and early Spring is not very hard, since the weather is rather mild, and I am ok with a long sleeve top and a topper. But the five hottest months of the year (Mid-May to Mid-October) where the temperature is in the mid 40’s Celsius, it is a nightmare to get dressed in the morning, and I end up repeating a few outfits more than I would like, since I love variety.

During those months, I usually wear a lot of dresses, most of them with a ¾ sleeve, and on the loose side, at or above the knee and wear a light, long and loose cardigan at the office. I want to add more variety, but I don’t know how. The weather outside is usually in the mid 40’s, inside the office there is Arctic A/C, so I have to layer. I have to walk for a couple of blocks from the parking lot to my office building, which is not too much, but during the summer, it feels like 2km and often I get to my office with my face sweating before 8am in the morning. I can’t stand anything too fitted or tight under those temps, nor wear a fabric that feels unbreathable. I like sleeveless tops, but I don’t like to wear them outside during high summer season. I leave those for Early Fall and Spring, when the temperature is not that high yet.

During the hottest months of the year (Mid-May to Mid-October), it is so hot outside that I don’t like to feel the sun directly on my arms (I wear sun protection daily, but still, my skin is sensitive, and I just prefer to wear a sleeved flowy or loose top. The interesting sleeve trend has worked well for me, but the A/C at work is so cold that more often than not I would still need a topper. Also, if the top is too flowy, it works better on weekends, but for weekdays it feels a bit more casual than I would like, and it is hard to layer. Which other formulas could work for my professional needs, dressing preferences, and climate?