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Cape Town wind diaries – how to survive the Cape Doctor one skirt at a time

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Ah, summertime in Cape Town.

Think ocean, mountains, leisurely walks down Bree Street - technically the kind of lifestyle one could arrogantly caption #blessed.

Read: Hey Capetonians, waterless grooming is the new avo toast

But fighting Mother Nature at every turn as she forces you to hold onto your wig or weave (the horror of exposing your tracks) with the strength of Sampson and experiencing Marilyn moments all over the place, flashing unsuspecting patrons sitting al fresco at trendy restaurants as you desperately try to hold down your skirt is not what I call graceful.

Because it looks nothing like this...

It's more like this...

The notorious Cape Doctor awakes annually around end November then tosses and turns until around end of March before entering temporary hibernation. Tumultuous as Cape Town’s weather is, the wind really is THE WORST.

The Foreshore area is actually dangerous for people who weigh less than 50kg. Not even heavy shopping bags can anchor you down.

We have however become accustomed to this daily pest as we now check the state of our underwear as regularly as our emails.

Grabbing a lightweight skirt the other morning for work, I looked outside, looked down at my skirt and was like, no. Ain’t going to work.

This got me thinking about possible solutions.

Here are a few tips that’ll allow for some show of leg, not underwear:

The skirt under the skirt trick

Wear a stretchy mini underneath your skirt or dress. You can also opt for some stretchy short ski pants.

Add a garment weight

I usually go for skirts with an A-line shape that have a bit of a heavier material like denim. These tend to stay down. Another option is to weigh your material down some way. And garments weights are apparently a thing. The Queen apparently has tiny weights sewn into all of her garments.

Today.com reports that a very simple solution is to use change. Basically all you need are a few R2 coins and fashion or scotch tape to stick them down. Stick them on the inside of your skirt and it will weigh it down. (Maybe we need a R5 on some days)

Wigs

Simplywigs.co.uk notes that wig tape is best for avoiding you chasing your hair down the road. "Easily adheres to polyurethane tabs which some wigs have. If your wigs do not have this, I have used against a standard cap and it does work. For additional wig security, team up your tape with the silicone solution sheet and stitch some silicone strips to your hairpiece and the tape will attach on one side to this, one side to scalp."

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