Although summer brings the promise of time off and travel, with the airlines charging extra for checked luggage, and our needing to manage our own bags, how does one travel light and still look great while he or she is away? Here are some packing tips for putting together outfits that will help you with your planning and packing.
Weather or Not: It is always important to get a weather report for the destination to which you are traveling. Visit www.weather.com and you can get up to a 10-day forecast to help you decide what types of clothing you may need.
Less is More: Are you traveling for business, pleasure, a special occasion, or a mix of these? Understanding the ratio of casual vs. business vs. dressy activities will help immensely in knowing what to pack, as you won’t be inclined to bring what you won’t need. Think of this exercise as a puzzle where you are using individual clothing pieces in more than one outfit to see how few pieces you actually need to carry.
Single Palette/Double Duty: Working in a single color palette and optimizing clothes and accessories that do “double duty” across various events helps keep the number of shoes and accessories to a minimum, as they’ll match everything you are taking. This saves space in your travel bag and literally lightens your load.
A lightweight suit that can act as separates with other pieces is a great staple for a business trip, as it can look different on many days by changing out the shirts & ties/blouses, a complementary pant/skirt, and other accessories that you pair with it. Women should also have a little dress that can be dressed up or down.
For more casual travel, men can take a sport coat that works with khakis, jeans, etc. and women should have that versatile little dress mentioned before. Adding dark-wash or white jeans, some shorts or a skirt and casual tops from our color palette, allows you to mix, match, and optimize the casual travel wardrobe as well.
Other items you’ll want to remember are PJs, appropriate socks and lingerie/underwear for each outfit, and any toiletries, special hair products, you may need. Some of us also like to include a light-weight fold-up tote bag (like Sporto, Longchamp, etc.), just in case we are asked to check our bag at the gate.
Get It Down and Lay It Out: As you are thinking about the specific meetings or outings that you’ll attend make an outfit list of the type of ensemble you want to wear to each. Lay clothing on your bed or somewhere where you can see the individual pieces and build the outfits for each scenario, mixing and matching within the color palette. NOTE: shoes should always be packed in shoe bags, not only to protect them, but also to keep everything else in the bag clean.
After you have laid everything out, take a short break – step away from packing for a few minutes and relax. When you return, you’ll be refreshed and ready to review the outfits you have created – then make any last necessary changes, and pack the bag!
