Stylish Sun Protective Clothing For Women And Men

With summer exposure to the sun comes conversations about the importance of sunscreen  — but there’s another, often overlooked protective measure you can take to safeguard your skin from the sun, and that’s choosing clothing that’s specifically made to protect you from ultraviolet rays. 

While sunlight has physical and mental health benefits , such as the vital production of vitamin D and boosting of serotonin, getting too much of it can do more harm than good. But certain types of clothing can absorb or block harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun that cause sun damage and skin cancer. 

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation , the ultraviolet protective factor (UPF) of a fabric reveals how much UV radiation it allows to get through to your skin. So, for example, a UPF 50 fabric blocks 98% of the sun’s rays and allows only 1/50 (2%) to get through. What makes this factor different from SPF, which is what you would find on a sunscreen bottle, is that UPF measures both UVA and UVB rays  (the former being associated with skin aging and the latter with burning), while SPF only measures UVB. 

Densely woven fabrics like wool, polyester, nylon, denim and synthetic fibers offer the best protection, while lighter fabrics that are more loosely woven, like viscose or cotton, offer less. 

Below, we rounded up 12 pieces of clothing that aren’t total eyesores and offer a UPF rating of at least 30.