What to Wear to a Picnic Birthday Party? What Happened When We Popped the Poppers?
W Who doesn’t love picnics! The scent of freshly cut grass mixed with the barbecue smoke, happy chatter, and the blue skies filled with flying frisbees!
Picnics are a great occasion to forgo the restraints of formal dinners and cocktail parties. One can eat, drink, run around, play games, talk with friends, and even unnoticeably answer some work emails at the same time.
Nevertheless, being close to nature doesn’t mean going full, Adam and Eve’s mode wearing fig leaves instead of clothes. Choosing what to wear to a picnic can be tricky. One has to keep in mind other guests that usually crash outdoor parties like mosquitos, ants, bees, and spiders, as well as the weather, location, and the specifics of the gathering.
Is it going to be an active picnic where guests will play sports? Or a leisurely one? A picnic on the beach or in the park?
Filling some of these questions with outfits being an answer, I prepared a quick cheat sheet that can free your busy mind and save some time.
What to wear to a picnic depending on a picnic theme?
Sports picnic – if playing sports is included, I would always opt for shorts and a top. Whatever the game, it is usually easier to score if the dress doesn’t get in the way.
Leisure picnic – if it is just a relaxing gathering with friends, whatever outfit makes you comfortable, it is usually the right choice. You can adjust it just a bit, depending on the location.
Celebration picnic – if the picnic involves celebrating a birthday or some other occasion, it is nice to show respect by choosing something a little more elegant. A simple dress, silk top, or a summerly shirt can go a long way to emphasize the occasion.
What to wear to a picnic depending on a picnic location?
Forest picnic – that’s the place where the picnic definitely will be attended by the mosquitoes. Hence, a stylish hoodie and shorts are not only comfortable and helpful to fend off some of the mosquitos but will look beautiful against the green trees as they usually come in great colors. And unless the picnic includes a serious celebration, I would pick sportswear – to be ready to sprint in case some bigger creature than a mosquito feels compelled to crash the party, haha.
Beach picnic – that’s an easy one! Despite being a casual beach style with its staple, white and blue colors always looks stylish. Shorts, polos, airy dresses one cannot go wrong with color being the key to looking good.
Rooftop picnic – set in an urban location, a rooftop picnic leaves plenty of outfit choices. Casual shirts, chinos, dresses, sweaters, and jeans are all an excellent pick to complement the city’s vibe. And unless the rooftop sits on an abandoned, graffiti-covered factory in its raw pre- yuccie popularity stage – I would save the hoodies for more nature-related places.
Park and garden picnics – for park and garden picnics, a casual sport elegance is a great place to start. Polo shirts and shorts combined with a classic sweater ensure comfort both whiles catching the ball and talking world events.
Putting the puzzles together – we were celebrating our friend’s birthday with no intention of playing sports in the Sofienbergparken. It is one of Oslo’s most popular parks that took its name from a country villa called Sofienberg owned by an official, and then by the merchant who’s both wives were called Sofie.
Although none of us had an intention for the outfit coordination, nor did we set a dress code, judging the occasion, everyone opted for a fun casual elegance and even similar colors of blue, white, and red.
Karianne wore a classic long navy dress with white polka dots and a collar, Lilith chose a fuchsia sweater dress, I wore white tweed dress with red stripes, Karin wore long, green dress with floral pattern paired with rock leather jacket. Merim wore red ankle-length pants with a classic cream top. As it comes to the men – the choice of their clothes not only is limited to shirt and pants but to make things even more limited they all, including even our little guests, wore blue polos and shirts.
I hope that combining the picnic’s theme with a location will keep you safe in a fashion sense. As it comes to other safety measures, we caused a temporary hearing loss of our guest of honor using party poppers that happened to explode in an unexpected loud way.
Luckily we didn’t let that horrible party popper to be a show stopper, so grab your frisbee, and before heading out to a fabulous picnic, have a look at how did we do on ours!
A picnic is more than eating a meal, it is a pleasurable state of mind.