In the SW USA in summer it can get 117F (47C) and let me tell you, my dude, 100% cotton is still hot as hell.
I don't know this for sure, but to me it seems like the whole suit and tie and jacket thing was a northern European tradition and eventually an eastern USA tradition where it's cold. That shit don't work in the desert, and those who continue to claim "professionalism" and maintain such stupid customs are fools, in my opinion.
I'm not middle eastern but those dudes have the correct answer to the desert. I really wish the thawb would catch on in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest USA.
just before the reddit strike there was a thread on /r/askhistorians about wearing layers in hot climates specifically referencing some cowboy-type TV shows. the historians were talking about how linens and even properly woven wool are a lot more comfortable in heat than cotton.
I have some linen and I can see it being the case but the cuts/styles are not to my liking. Maybe I will have some tailored one day.
I have been sleeping on linen as much as possible for ages. I have pieces from a few sources and I've never found them scratchy. Not sure why as everyone else has the same comment. My actual "sheets" are just yardage from a fabric store at the heaviest weight I could find and it was pleasant immediately. I do have one cushion case that's kind of scratchy, I probably wouldn't want to sleep on sheets like that.
Apparently it gets softer with laundering so just throw them in every time you do a wash I guess.
You got your linen bed sheets at a fabric store? Maybe I'll take a trip to my local fabric store and see if I can feel them. Agreed about the wash thing. That's why I'm sticking it out, hoping they get softer over time.
I got them at an online retailer. Extreme discount. I took a gamble as I thought it might not actually be linen at the price. Especially wide enough to make sheets. Don't forget it shrinks.
Worthwhile going to a store to feel all what's available, different weights, weaves etc. There might be a clothing or upholstery oriented place that has more useful. For textile-industry, do not expect meaningful online presences. A lot of fabric stores have a website from 1997. A few 200px photos of stacks of fabric, a list of random brand names, a phone number and an address. Call them and tell them you are interested in linen for drapery, sheets & upholstery and they will tell you if have have that kind of thing and if not where to go. But it is a touch and feel business so actually going is better.
I sew, and I wouldn't even bother looking for linen in your local fabric stores. Most everything is going to be mixed with rayon and too narrow for sheets. That's especially true if your local fabric store is Joann. I can recommend some online retailers, but my usual go-to in the past has been Ukrainian linen, and... uh, you know.
For your current sheets, it will take time for them to soften, but if you wash them on hot and tumble dry them, they'll soften faster. There are multiple types of linen, and there's a variety called softened linen where it's been basically been beaten to soften the linen fibers and simulate wear. Linen that hasn't been softened just hasn't gone through that process and will be scratchier.