The best underwear for hot weather (an Australian summer answer)

Australian summer asks more of a wardrobe than most, and underwear is the layer that gets thought about least and tested hardest.

Start with the honest limit

Nothing you wear stops you sweating. That's your body regulating its own temperature, and a garment that genuinely prevented it would be a health problem rather than a feature. Any product promising sweat-proof is overstating what fabric can do.

The thing actually worth asking for is dry. The difference between the two is what happens to moisture once it's there.

Absorbing and wicking are not the same job

Cotton absorbs. It takes moisture in and holds onto it, which is why you can finish a hot walk, sit down in air conditioning, and still be damp and going cold forty minutes later.

A performance knit moves moisture outward to the surface of the fabric, where a much larger area is exposed to air and it evaporates faster. You feel drier because you are drier, sooner. We covered the fabric science in cotton vs synthetic underwear.

What to look for in the heat

• a moisture-wicking performance knit body
• a cotton-lined gusset — breathable and natural in the one spot it counts
• seamless with bonded edges, because heat and friction together is where chafing starts
• no elastic waistband to trap and compress
• light colours, which matter more in summer because summer clothing is thinner and paler

The summer wardrobe changes the brief

Heat is only half of what changes in December. The other half is that everything you're wearing over the top gets lighter, thinner and paler — linen trousers, white jeans, cotton dresses — so show-through becomes a live consideration in a way it simply isn't in winter.

Which means the summer answer is usually two things at once: a fabric that handles moisture properly, and a colour that disappears under pale clothing. More on the second in what to wear under linen.

The honest bit. If you sweat heavily and it's affecting your daily life, that's worth a conversation with a GP rather than a fabric change — underwear helps with comfort, not with cause.

The Anywhere G is a seamless G-string with a performance nylon body, a cotton-lined gusset, bonded edges and no waistband. $32 a pair, or from $21.90 a pair in multipacks.

Frequently asked

What's the best underwear for hot weather?

A seamless pair with a moisture-wicking performance knit and a cotton-lined gusset. In heat the thing that matters most is what happens to moisture — whether it's absorbed and held against you, or moved outward where it can evaporate.

Is cotton underwear better in summer?

Cotton is breathable, which is why it's recommended, but it absorbs moisture and holds it — so on a hot day it stays damp long after you've cooled down. A performance knit with a cotton-lined gusset keeps the breathable layer where it matters without the waterlogging.

Does any underwear stop you sweating?

No. Nothing you wear stops you sweating, and that's your body regulating its temperature — a garment that prevented it would be a problem, not a feature. What underwear can change is how quickly moisture moves away from your skin.