ride into the sun in uniqlo's uv protection shirt

feelin' shirty!

It may have seemed like a dream this week but the sun was actually shining last Bank Holiday weekend so I was able to make full use of the UV CUT shirts I bought from Uniqlo a few months ago in optimistic anticipation of summer.

I love wearing long sleeved shirts for riding.  For starters, they look classically chic teamed with breeches and when you need to do a quick change they look pretty cool with jeans too. They also help prevent my arms from getting striped with varying degrees of tan from wearing vests and t-shirts and provide a bit of protection from the raking barbs of brambles when riding along overgrown bridleways.

These UV CUT shirts from Uniqlo are nicely tailored with stretch, come in soft muted tones (I've got them in pale pink and blue and road tested their 'give' over jumps), but the big bonus is that they protect your skin from up to 90% of the sun's ultra violet rays and all for £19.90. I know, you probably think I'm having a laugh talking about sun protection in the UK- I can hear you muttering, 'yeah right, if only', however as horse riders we can spend a long time exposed to skin damaging rays without realising it.

I'll leave it to Marilyn Monroe to prove how cool a simple white shirt can look in this moving pre-Monty Roberts scene from her last completed film The Misfits.

Are you a shirt lover? Is sun protection important to you?