Okay Gray

Sexy archeologists digging around in desert documentaries are rarely wearing tank tops and Indian gurus are usually completely covered in cotton. As for the leading ladies in romantic safari films, they're most often clad in long-sleeved linen.

Therefore, much to the surprise of my sleeveless-loving friends, I'm embracing this week's European heatwave with anything but short. My long sleeves not only provide a layer between my skin and the hot sun, they also give me psychological support when I can no longer bear my bare arms.

At a 95-degree-fahrenheit class dinner last night I was greeted by three men who'd chosen short sleeves (thank goodness) and six women who'd opted for sleeveless. To avoid the glittery glisten of wet skin or the darkened marks on a sweaty seat, I chose a long-sleeved white dress. It looks like a stylized lab coat and couldn't be worn to the circus in the park across from the hospital the night before or I'd have been mistaken for a doctor on break or a circus clown dressed like a mad scientist. But for dinner in the garden of a pub, it was perfect.

Towards the end of the night the conversation between the four older girls and me turned to the heat and the disbelief that I felt cooler in my oversized lab coat than they did in their sleeveless tops. They didn't want to hear about the robed bedouins in the desert feeling fresh, but when I added that I no longer liked my arms, I got their full attention. The loudest cry was that we're getting older and have to accept the way we are; we're all beautiful and lucky to be healthy. This was followed by encouragement that I shouldn't care what other people think (to which I explained it wasn't the other people I cared about, it was myself).

It wasn't until my run the next morning (which I'm aware isn't the right exercise for ugly arms) that I realized I was the only one in the group that doesn't color my hair. Had I thought of that the night before, there would have been less heat on me when I asked them for the rulebook on self-acceptance.