Skorts are hot

Skorts are too hot to comfortably wear in a hot and humid climate.  Too much material in the nether-regions.  Just an FYI.

question - silk worm deaths vs. oil industry

Is it better for silk worms to be boiled alive so that silk fabric can be made (possibly by child labor), or for synthetic fabric to be made from petroleum?

Style Mentors?

Do you have any role models 0n workday style?
Who are they?
What do they look like?
What do you wear to work?
I realize that I have lots of ideas of what I don't want to look like as I develop professionally, but I'm not sure I have any ideas of who I do want to look like.
At my last job I worked with a woman who has the sense of style I always thought I would acquire when I grew up and bought new clothes-- she wears unstructured jackets and raw silk jumpers and loose clothes of purple or green patches purchased from fair trade booths. She wears no make-up, her hair is still long in her forties, and her comfortable shoes rarely coordinate with her outfits (her style somewhat like JD at KBS). It works, but it's not me at work.
In my department here, I've got two short foreign women who end up looking like they don't care, even though I think that both do, a woman who looks great at fifty but wears nylons and sensible heels every day and lots of coordinating synthetic skirt outfits, none of which I am about to do. There's a professor who dresses more like I do, but to the point that I can't tell if she has any style either.
Thinking of the women at KU, well, Maria has distinct style, but it is nothing that I am going to emulate. HA sometimes has a look that I want to avoid-- the little practical scientist lady. Actually, my size (and my smile and my penchant for large necklaces and my unwillingness to cut my hair) make me unable to pull of a "very basic clean and well groomed science lady" look.
So who do I look to?
(Barbara McClintock, pictured, seemed to always be photographed in a blue sweater with a white collar. I don't have the personality to so limit myself. Perhaps that is one reason why I will never win a Nobel Prize.)

Sweaty Season Fashion Advice

It is very humid in central West Virginia. Of course, as a Coloradan, I found it very humid in Lawrence at times, but that was really no comparison. March-October I generally walk to work in fog, and am "glowing profusely" by the time I arrive at my office (which is usually a sauna, especially in the winter). (Of course today is freezing with a bitter wind, but we'll ignore that). I need to expand my options of what I wear to work (and frankly walking around and traveling) in such conditions.
Advice?
My "dress pants" are mostly polyester-based and while drapey and flattering in winter, stick like cheap polyester in the sweaty season.
Jeans are way, way too sweaty.
I haven't found a pair of chinos that flatters me (many flat-front pants with a bit of strech just seem to empasize that my front is not flat), but I'd be willing to try others if suggested.
I tried on a pair of lightweight cotton pants today and they looked like, well, like cargo pants, which they were. Lightweight cotton that doesn't look like cargo pants or wanna-be jeans could be considered, but where would I find them.
I think I'd like to explore some linen, but will I really maintain it? (and I'm going to swat whomever thought it was a good idea to take something made out of linen and line it with a cheap acrylic liner-- still wrinkles and now makes you sweat double).
Do I need to be looking at tencel? rayon? viscose? silk? Where would I find them?
Do professors trying to be professional teach in capris? If so, with what footwear?
Also looking for suggestions of tops that can be worn in a single layer untucked. I wear interesing necklaces every day so I don't need fancy tops, but I would like something that's as comfy as a t-shirt but with some finishing on the bottom. I have a few short sleeve cotton sweaters that fall in this category-- they fall to mid-hip and are clearly not meant to be tucked in. Tunics, rib-tees, anything like that? (but no boat/ballet necks as I'll just spend the whole day revealing my bra straps)

Personal caveat-- since I have started wearing pants that are long enough all the time, I don't think I can go back. Any actual practical advice needs to include things that come in tall.