Black clothes

[willowman]

Why do so many of the inhabitants of hot countries wear dark clothing?

Haven't they realised, after thousands of years, that white reflects the heat and is cooler?

[acw]

A Muslim friend of mine once told me that they wear white to funerals.  Maybe therefore wearing all white in Muslim countries is a sign of mourning.  I can't say with certainty that this is true, it's just a suggestion. 

[Dom Tuk]

Why do european girls prefer to wear dark clothing all the time. Have they not realised (after thousands of years) that wearing reds/blues/yellows/greens makes life so much more colourful. Why the dreary black tights/trousers all the time? Taking pictures as a tourist in your countries is such a drab experience.

[netibiza]

Please don't forget that in many European countries people wear black for mourning.  In Spain it's 7yrs for either parent and so on, so once you reach a certain age you are in almost constant mourning.  Also Black absorbs the heat up to a point, white constantly attracts the heat. So inhabitants of hot countries probably know what they are doing.

[jno]

The long black covering worn by some Muslim women can be quite cool: if it ends a few inches above the ground, the air heating up inside rises and sucks cooler air from outside, and this cools the body as it circulates. The pinstripe suits worn in the City of London seldom have this effect, but I don't suppose the inhabitants have realised this yet or they'd have switched to full hijab themselves.

[Morrisonker]

I've wondered a similar thing... Whenever I've been to other european countries (spain in particular) all the clothes in shops seem to be made of polyester.  Even if you're used to the heat, it can't be very pleasent wearing tight man made clothes all summer, especially regarding body odor

[Gef]

A bit of a conundrum here. Yes, black is the best absorber of heat but it is also the best radiator of heat. White is the opposite.