Could you imagine life prior to widely available HVAC? These cramped streets, heaving with people and heat. It's all the more remarkable given the sartorial expectation of the time. How did people wear suits and dense dresses regularly?
But agree on the suit deal - How do they stand it? The Amish in Iowa today wear wool even in the hottest weather. Nuts to that.
When it's 50 degrees in September, people here in upstate NY put on gloves. When it's 50 degrees in April, they wear shorts.