"When I was 21, I hid from a man I was dating when I unexpectedly saw him wandering towards me in three-quarter-length trousers." - Lynn Enright

We women think we have it bad, our anxiety over what to wear spiking alongside the temperature increases, but you guys, we have DRESSES. Floaty wisps of lightweight fabric in loose cuts that facilitate the circulation of cooling air. Men, well they just have shorts and T-shirts, two of the most controversial items in the modern male’s wardrobe. 

Shorts are straightforwardly contentious. They expose an expanse of leg for starters, likely, with an English gent, to be hirsute and unused to the glare of the fiery sun, and then there is the length and cut to contend with. Too-short Jamie Hince-style shorts, pictured above, are cheek-reddeningly embarrassing but shorts that fall below the knee veer dangerously into girlish pedal-pusher/Capri pant territory while simultaneously cutting off a chap’s calves at a particularly unflattering point. It’s probably best to stick to a just-above-the-knee length – a style that looks far better than bum-exposing styles on women too – and opt for a slim cut; too tight and you’re into cycling shorts territory, too roomy and it becomes undignified. 

Then, of course, unless he’s obnoxious, the type of oaf who allows a melting ice-cream to drip onto his chest hair, a man will need something to wear on top. Shirts are too hot I’m afraid so that means T-shirts are required but my God have you seen the necklines on these things? I blame the now defunct JLS for scooped and V-necks that descend far below the clavicle, hinting sleazily at oleaginous navels. It’s not like the average man has any interest in mimicking the style of Marvin and the rest of them, but somewhere along the line the High Street thought they did and produced thousands and thousands of the now ubiquitous scoop- or voop-neck T-shirts, confusing everybody into trying them out. Thankfully Kanye has come to the rescue; as well as bestowing the world with progeny  and a new album this summer, he created a plain white T-shirt with a perfect neckline for the French brand APC. Sure some have grumbled about the £68 price tag but that’s a small price to pay for a tee that isn’t inherently dignity-denting.    

Just remember though, even with T-shirts designed by rappers, it’s harder for them than it is for us. When I was 21, I hid from a man I was dating when I unexpectedly saw him wandering towards me in three-quarter-length trousers. It was a low point, not for him, but for me, a nadir of immature superficiality. Now, nine years later and a London commuter during a wholly unusual spell of sunniness, I say cut your guy some slack and pass him the scissors.