Picnic perfect!




Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge. Our quest was chosen by Gail this time, being Perfect Attire for a Picnic. For me this would of course mean a beachside venue and here I am on Skirt Island at the most Southerly end of Tresco. My style buddies are all set, ready to show you their picnic-ready outfits too so let's get going!




Gail set the bar quite high with her fabulous picnic basket alone! Bowie tee, silver pumps and a bottle of bubbly signal a great picnic don't you think? Join Gail over on Is This Mutton to see more. 




This tent dress was made for drifting about in a meadow of wild flowers, however the British weather had other ideas meaning Jacqui had to make do with her own back garden! Join her for the backstory at Mummabstylish




Emma from Style Splash chose her outfit because she thinks the pattern is not unlike a picnic blanket.  The pretty pink gingham two piece was a Zara purchase a few years ago and has come into its own for today's challenge!




Picnic ready, Hilda is sporting an entire outfit from Tesco's apart from her trainers. Her cute look is ready for fun. See more on Over The Hilda blog. 




My picnic outfit is a collection of old pieces which are still bright and colourful. The tunic top was a hand-me-down from my daughter which she bought from H&M years ago. I'm a huge fan of paisley print therefore was delighted when she offered it up to me. An outfit for a picnic needs to be comfy and easy to wear, as well as being practical enough for clambering in and out of boats or in this case across the sand dunes to get to this remote craggy setting. 




The tide was still rising, sending splashing foam up as I was setting up for shots. There's nothing like a quick soaking to send me off in a fit of the giggles!




The elegant hat pose isn't just for show; sunhat and sunscreen are part of my picnic essentials, especially as I've had surgery and other treatments for skin cancer. I wear factor 50 on my face everyday now and have established a routine whereby I apply suncream before my sea swimming every day too. My pale Celtic skin is very much at risk of more sun damage even at work where the sun shines into the Gallery window for a lot of the day. 




We all need a little bit of sunshine on our skins to absorb our daily dose of vitamin D, but it's really not that long. In my case only 5 minutes a day and for those with darker skin it's about 30 minutes. These times are for arms, legs and hands as well as faces. After that you start to experience sun damage which is the precursor of more serious problems.




My pom-pom raffia bag was a charity shop find some years ago. I love the bold colours and the roomy size that is big enough to take beach towel and swimming kit too.




The pink plisse trousers are from New Look - they're light and airy and ideal for sunny days. My floral sandals were from Primark years ago. Perspex rings were gifts from a friend.







A tiny seed pearl necklace was a pre-loved purchase. It's a habit for me to always finish off an outfit with a necklace, even for a picnic. Sunglasses are by Radley London.




Time to stop and stare. Nature is the perfect meditation isn't it?




I do hope you enjoyed this month's challenge. I was so pleased to have made the effort to spend some time outdoors on Saturday, as by Sunday we had rain all day long - such an unusual thing for us. The forecast for the UK is another mixed bag of weather, but improving in the southwest later in the week. Fingers crossed for Thursday as I'm off to St Martin's for the day for another picnic outing!




Wishing you a great week ahead!

Anna x

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14 comments

  1. How gorgeous this is. I adore these colours together. It’s perfect for the picnic challenge xx Jacqui x

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    1. Cheers Jacqui!

      I really did enjoy this challenge, even though it seemed to stump me a bit at the idea initially.

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  2. Dear Anna,

    I'm back from my holidays and read your posts chronologically. I think it's very good that you emphasize the importance of sun protection. Our skin present the bill of our sunbathing account later, but we receive our bill. We use always LSF 50 on our face and also for the body. Later in summer we change to LSF 30 for the body. It works very well.
    You look stunning!
    Hugs from Cologne
    Susa

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    1. I hope you had a lovely time on holiday Susa. As you say, we all will pay the price for years of reckless sunbathing.

      Wishing you a lovely week x

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  3. What a perfect colour combination for a picnic, Anna! I love these happy brights!

    We are having a major heatwave here (it was 42 degrees yesterday), and we are dying...melting...That ocean looks nice and cool.

    I'm always sunblocked to the hilt too. Better to be safe!

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    1. Thanks for that Sheila.

      Oh my goodness, I heard on the radio this morning about the death toll in Canada due to the heatwave - poor you!

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  4. Fabulous outfit Anna! I can see why you were so pleased your daughter gave you the shirt, it's beautiful! Orange and pink look so good together.

    Emma xxx
    www.style-splash.com

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    1. Orange and pink make wonderful mood lifters together - I just love them!

      Wasn't that a great challenge!

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  5. I love the colour combo and I too am never without a hat or sun factor 50. And that bag is so cute....

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    1. I've recently found a factor 50 for the face that also has a tint of colour which stops me looking too pale - I love it.

      The bag is such fun isn't it x

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  6. Gorgeous colours in your picnic outfit Anna; they pair beautifully together.
    We have a heatwave here in Scotland, but no sunbathing for me. As a natural red head I rely on the fake version of a suntan.

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    1. Thanks for that Phyl. We redheads do have to take good precautions eh? I'm a big fan of fake tan too x

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  7. This is SUCH a quintessentially ANNA outfit with the pink and orange combo which you do SO WELL! I love the whole look and Skirt island is really cute!x

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    1. Thanks for that Kezzie! Both of these items are mainstays for me during the summer so you can look forward to seeing them again soon x

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