One Outfit to Go from Work to Picnic

Your office is doing a picnic starting an hour before EOB. This means you have to go at least for an hour. Tou live to far away from the office to change. Your challenge is how to look office appropriate, but also well dressed for the picnic. Read on for a solution.

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Summer Time Is Picnic Time

Sunny summer evenings after work, Saturdays and Sundays are perfect for a picnic in the park. You get some fresh air, have great food and a glass of wine, can relax, and talk with your significant other, friends, family, colleagues, or with whom you picnic. It’s like a mini-vacation. While dressing stylishly for a picnic on the weekend already requires some logistics, dressing for such an event after work or as an office social event is more tricky. This Dress for Success post addresses this challenge with some outfit ideas.

Keep the Venue and Entertainment in Mind

When you do your picnic the classic European way on a large blanket, you may sit on the grass. Thus, grass spots are likely. Accidents happen with food and drinks placed on an uneven surface like a blanket. Thus, add such spots to the list of dangers with respect to your clothes. To avoid lasting harm look for fabrics you can wash hot or at least warm. Best you have a stain remover like a Dryel dry cleaning pen in your bag or picnic basket.

When you do your picnic the American way and bring your folding chairs or use a picnic table in the park, knits and delicate fabric may get ripped easily. They can get stuck in the chair’s mechanics or on uneven pieces of wood. Therefore, avoid clothes that are crocheted, loosely knitted, or made of lace or other delicate fabrics.

What to Wear to a Work Picnic

Sun dresses and printed cotton shirt or fit-and-flare summer dresses are always a winner. At the office, wear a cardigan over them or a blazer to look work appropriate. A wide or flare skirt with a T-shirt or blouse are great separate alternatives to a dress. In both cases, add a hat to keep the sun out of your face and flat shoes, flat mules or flat sandals that you can kick off easily when you sit down on a blanket. The skirt (of the dress) should be wide enough that you can sit down easily and sit comfortably. Great cover-ups are stoles or cardigans for later in the evening when the Sun sets.

Shorts, or Bermudas with a T-shirt or polo top are more casual options. Thus, when the work picnic is on Friday, style them with a blazer. These will be the better choice when ball games are also planned as part of the picnic entertainment. Add a baseball hat for sun protection. When a soccer or volley ball game are planned, go for canvas sneakers. Otherwise flat sandals do the trick, when the office dress code permits sandals.

What to Wear When You Head from the Office to the Picnic

When you go to a work picnic or head right from work to a picnic, your outfit has to do double duty. It has to fit both dress codes with minimal changes. The OOTD in this post can easily make this change. Just take off the pearls and belt, and swap the pumps for ballet flats and you are picnic ready.

When you loved this post and want more of this type of tips, for all kind of dressing situations in midlife,  my style book How to Dress for Success in Midlife will keep you covered. It has a load full of styling tips you don’t want to miss. Buy it now.

Do you like picnics? If so, do you attend or organize a lot of picnics in summer? Have you planned a picnic for this summer? Do you use a picnic basket?

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Photos: G. Kramm

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