Posts Tagged "packing"

By Leslie Willmott on Apr 8, 2018

How many times have you struggled with a large suitcase on a trip and returned home to exclaim, “I took way too much and didn’t need half of what I packed!” Do I now hear a vow that you will fine tune your packing skills . . . but you don’t know how? “Pack light, pack smart” is my mantra and it can be yours, too. My husband and I will be vacationing in Italy for 3 weeks in May, first in Umbria where we have rented a villa, then down to Puglia and the coast on the Adriatic Sea. I’ve already started planning my wardrobe, focused on day touring, dining out and entertaining friends. I’ll be packing it all into a 21-inch carry-on bag that will make plane, train and car travel easier. How? Here are six wardrobe strategies to help you scale down to one light suitcase. I’ve also noted some of my favorite travel wardrobe pieces: 1. Limit your color palette. Keep it simple and plan around 2 or 3 neutral colors. For spring travel, my favorites are black and beige. Worn together they are a classic combination; independently both mix well with other colors. If you’re traveling to an urban destination any combination of black, white, navy and gray is good. For a beach or country trip, khaki and white are good choices for your basics. Scarves are lightweight additions to add pops of color. 2. Pack versatile pieces that can mix and match and plan to wear each item more than once. The knit jacket that I plan to wear on the plane with a t-shirt and leggings can also be worn with my jeans for touring or dressed up for a casual dinner. Consider items that can do double duty, such as a blouse that can also be worn jacket-style over a camisole, a long t-shirt that can serve as a pool cover-up, flip flops as slippers and poolside wear. 3. Take more tops than bottoms. Multiple tops will maximize the wear of a pant or skirt and tops weigh less, take less room, and are easier to launder. Unless you will be able to do machine laundry, pack tops that you can hand wash, drip-dry, and don’t require ironing. (A personal favorite for...

By Leslie Willmott on Jun 2, 2016

    June has arrived and with it, the busy wedding season! Many weddings today are weekend-long celebrations with multiple events leading up to and after the nuptials. This requires thoughtful wardrobe planning for guests. And if you are traveling to the wedding, you’ll also need to consider how to pack your choices. I recently wrote an editorial on wedding guest attire for the online fashion boutique Halsbrook, featuring dress code tips and chic fashions to guide their customers in making selections for each event. In this post, I take a closer look at the rules of etiquette; and for those who have to travel to the wedding, provide suggestions on choosing wardrobe pieces to make packing easier. First, some general guidelines: ● Don’t upstage the bride! Avoid white or shades close to white for any event; they are reserved for the bride. I also recommend avoiding red – it can steal the spotlight, another no-no since it’s the bride’s day! ● Dressing for a summer wedding means looking your best while keeping cool. Focus on wearing light, airy and breathable fabrics – like rayon, cotton, linen or silk, so you don’t get overheated during an outdoor event. Knits usually travel better than woven fabrics and can be ideal for the more casual events. Stretch woven fabrics with spandex behave more like a knit. A woven crepe or piqué might meet the crush test for travel, but all woven fabrics will wrinkle less when carefully folded. For tips on packing pressed clothes and more formal attire, watch my packing video before your trip. ● Consider separates for some of the events so one or two pieces can be worn more than once – this will help keep your luggage lighter. For example, a dress pant could be worn with a dressy blouse for a “Welcome Cocktail Party” and with another top or jacket and different accessories for a luncheon. When planning your full weekend wardrobe, start with the main event – it sets the theme for the activities leading up to and following the ceremony: The Wedding & Reception Your attire should reflect the mood of the wedding and the time of day. The invitation will often note dress code but if not, the style of the invitation and the...

By Leslie Willmott on Jan 12, 2016

  Do you struggle with a large suitcase on a trip but only wear half of what you’ve packed? Or are you at the other extreme, throwing things into a suitcase just a few hours before leaving for the airport and praying you’ll have the right things to wear? Both scenarios can be maddening! Panic-free packing is a result of careful planning. It’s time well spent so you can relax and travel with confidence and ease. Planning Ahead is Key My husband and I are traveling south this week – way south to Buenos Aires and the Argentinian wine country. For him, it’s to revisit the sites of his early-career business travel and taste the wines of the Uco Valley. For me, it’s finally seeing “Paris of the South”…and tasting the wines of the Uco Valley! Planning my wardrobe for this trip was a little challenging because Argentina’s seasons are reversed from ours in the U.S. Planning well ahead of our departure date was critical since I had need of a few new city-chic yet hot-weather-comfortable pieces. End-of-summer sales reaped a few nice basics but online research and shopping resulted in bigger wins. The weather will be in the 80’s & 90’s, with high humidity. Light cotton gauze is a good easy-care, easy-to-wear fabric for the casual tropics, but it’s not city-chic. I focused instead on lightweight, breathable, and travel-friendly rayon knits and added separates from J. Jill’s Wherever Collection to my travel wardrobe. Easy Packing is a Process 1.  A week to 10 days before a trip I set up a collapsible clothes rack in our guest room. I hang up every clothing item I’m considering taking. This rack makes coordination of separates easier (four tops can hang by one pair of pants); shoes go on the floor below matching up with the selected clothes. Note:  When I lived in a New York City apartment, I didn’t have a spare bedroom so I hung a clothing rack over our bedroom door. You might use a section of your closet. The key is to see everything before you edit and start packing. 2.  I chart out each day of my trip on a blank calendar page, noting where I’ll be and...