Question: What do astronauts, brides and Tom Wolfe have in common? They all wear white to keep the heat at bay. Anyway, the sartorial thinking is this: floaty, breezy, delicate fabrics of the lightest colors allow all that solar heat fighting its way to our skin to just reflect away instead.

提問：宇航員、新娘和湯姆?沃爾夫（以穿白色西裝而聞名的作家）的共同點是什么？答案就是，他們都穿白色衣服來保持涼爽。總之，這樣穿著是考慮到：面料輕薄精致的淺色衣服能反射陽光，從而讓光的熱量難以接觸我們的皮膚。

Wear dark fabrics, the idea goes, and you're stuck with that heat as it greedily absorbs into the fabric and causes you to swelter in your own clothes. But white clothing will cheerfully bounce that solar heat right off, and you'll be (more) comfortable on a hot day.

這種觀點認為，深色的布料會貪婪地吸收陽光的熱量，因此穿深色衣服會讓你一直感受到這些熱量，讓你悶熱難受。但白色的衣服會將熱量反射，讓你在炎熱的天氣中更舒適。

While all that certainly sounds great in theory, there are a few other factors at play that might be working against the light clothing adage. At the very least, there's some compelling evidence that says it doesn't matter. Let's start with some 1980 academic research from the journal "Nature," titled "Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot deserts?"

盡管“淺色服裝原則”理論上聽起來很正確，但其它一些影響因素可能會與這個理論相悖。至少，一些有說服力的證據表明，衣服的顏色并不重要。先來看看1980年發表在《自然》雜志的一項學術研究中的證據，該研究題目為“為什么貝都因人在炎熱的沙漠里穿著黑色長袍？”

As you can guess, the researchers were as flummoxed as you and I by the fact that in oppressive heat, the residents of the Sinai desert wear billowing black robes instead of, say, white (or a maybe pretty pale lavender). What they found was when they tested white robes versus black (and note they did this by having some poor guy stand out in the heat while recording temperature), the differences were nil.

悶熱的天氣里，西奈沙漠的居民穿著黑色長袍，而不是白色的（或淡紫色的）。如你所料，研究人員就像你我一樣對此感到困惑。他們發現，對白袍和黑袍進行測試時（研究人員讓一些可憐的家伙站在酷熱中，記錄溫度），兩者的差異是零。

They found that the black clothing did absorb more heat, but that's where it stayed: In other words, the black soaks up additional heat, but that extra is lost by the time it actually gets to your skin. Way more useful for keeping cool, however? The fact that the robes are loose and billowing, to allow airflow.

研究人員發現，黑色的衣服確實吸收了更多的熱量，但熱量就此打住了。換句話說，黑色衣服吸收了額外的熱量，但是當它真正接觸到皮膚的時候，那些額外的熱量已經消失了。穿黑色反而更能保持涼爽嗎？事實上，是因為長袍寬大容易翻動，便于空氣流動。

There's also an argument that the whole "light clothing" argument is missing a key element: the person who's wearing the clothes. This means that the heat your body radiates will actually reflect off white clothing, bouncing back to your body to keep you toastier. Not a bad theory, but it's not tested on humans.

還有一種觀點認為，“淺色服裝”理論忽略了一個關鍵因素：人體輻射出的熱量。他們認為，身體輻射出來的熱量也會被淺色衣服反射，再次回到你身上，讓你感到更熱。這個理論不錯，但沒有在人身上進行驗證。

So, the answer is — it doesn't make a huge difference whether you're wearing black or white in hot weather.

所以，最終的答案是：在炎熱的天氣里穿黑色還是白色并沒有什么大的區別。

Question: What do astronauts, brides and Tom Wolfe have in common? They all wear white to keep the heat at bay. Anyway, the sartorial thinking is this: floaty, breezy, delicate fabrics of the lightest colors allow all that solar heat fighting its way to our skin to just reflect away instead.

提問：宇航員、新娘和湯姆?沃爾夫（以穿白色西裝而聞名的作家）的共同點是什么？答案就是，他們都穿白色衣服來保持涼爽。總之，這樣穿著是考慮到：面料輕薄精致的淺色衣服能反射陽光，從而讓光的熱量難以接觸我們的皮膚。

Wear dark fabrics, the idea goes, and you're stuck with that heat as it greedily absorbs into the fabric and causes you to swelter in your own clothes. But white clothing will cheerfully bounce that solar heat right off, and you'll be (more) comfortable on a hot day.

這種觀點認為，深色的布料會貪婪地吸收陽光的熱量，因此穿深色衣服會讓你一直感受到這些熱量，讓你悶熱難受。但白色的衣服會將熱量反射，讓你在炎熱的天氣中更舒適。

While all that certainly sounds great in theory, there are a few other factors at play that might be working against the light clothing adage. At the very least, there's some compelling evidence that says it doesn't matter. Let's start with some 1980 academic research from the journal "Nature," titled "Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot deserts?"

盡管“淺色服裝原則”理論上聽起來很正確，但其它一些影響因素可能會與這個理論相悖。至少，一些有說服力的證據表明，衣服的顏色并不重要。先來看看1980年發表在《自然》雜志的一項學術研究中的證據，該研究題目為“為什么貝都因人在炎熱的沙漠里穿著黑色長袍？”

As you can guess, the researchers were as flummoxed as you and I by the fact that in oppressive heat, the residents of the Sinai desert wear billowing black robes instead of, say, white (or a maybe pretty pale lavender). What they found was when they tested white robes versus black (and note they did this by having some poor guy stand out in the heat while recording temperature), the differences were nil.

悶熱的天氣里，西奈沙漠的居民穿著黑色長袍，而不是白色的（或淡紫色的）。如你所料，研究人員就像你我一樣對此感到困惑。他們發現，對白袍和黑袍進行測試時（研究人員讓一些可憐的家伙站在酷熱中，記錄溫度），兩者的差異是零。

They found that the black clothing did absorb more heat, but that's where it stayed: In other words, the black soaks up additional heat, but that extra is lost by the time it actually gets to your skin. Way more useful for keeping cool, however? The fact that the robes are loose and billowing, to allow airflow.

研究人員發現，黑色的衣服確實吸收了更多的熱量，但熱量就此打住了。換句話說，黑色衣服吸收了額外的熱量，但是當它真正接觸到皮膚的時候，那些額外的熱量已經消失了。穿黑色反而更能保持涼爽嗎？事實上，是因為長袍寬大容易翻動，便于空氣流動。

There's also an argument that the whole "light clothing" argument is missing a key element: the person who's wearing the clothes. This means that the heat your body radiates will actually reflect off white clothing, bouncing back to your body to keep you toastier. Not a bad theory, but it's not tested on humans.

還有一種觀點認為，“淺色服裝”理論忽略了一個關鍵因素：人體輻射出的熱量。他們認為，身體輻射出來的熱量也會被淺色衣服反射，再次回到你身上，讓你感到更熱。這個理論不錯，但沒有在人身上進行驗證。

So, the answer is — it doesn't make a huge difference whether you're wearing black or white in hot weather.

所以，最終的答案是：在炎熱的天氣里穿黑色還是白色并沒有什么大的區別。