June 28, 2019
Last August, she pulled together a 4 by 4 Wardrobe based on her favorite wardrobe; she liked it so much, she thought that it would make a good base for a travel wardrobe too! Since the weather is warm, she’s going to look for the lighter shades of her accent colors.
She’s only going for a long weekend, so she knows that she doesn’t want to pack a lot! And she recently bought herself a jacket and pants in her favorite green, so she knows that she wants to wear that while she’s traveling…
jacket – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Lizzie Fortunato; scarf – Sole Society; tee – Lucky Brand; watch – Olivia Burton; bracelet – TJMaxx; pants – Eileen Fisher; sandals – David Tate; tote bag – Karl Lagerfeld Paris
She decides to be organized, and deliberate, in her packing. She thought about what 6 items she would want to pack…
She knows that the smartest thing to do, when packing very few items, is to stick to a core of her black neutral, and then add her accent colors to provide variety:
earrings – Banana Republic; green & black top – Eileen Fisher; hooded cardigan – Nordstrom Signature; earrings – Thomas Laine; floral top – Rebecca Taylor; pearl bracelet – Majorica; skirt – Vince; pink tee – Madewell; bag – Oscar de la Renta; pants – Lands’ End; socks – Lemon; loafers – Naturalizer; ballet flats – Taryn Rose
She sticks with her floral themes – one of her shirts, as well as her bag and her loafers…
Just to be sure that she has enough with her, she arrays everything that she will have with her:
In theory, these 9 garments could be combined into 24 outfits… (2 x 4 x 3)
I love the idea of packing 6 garments for a long weekend…. Could you manage this way?
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago I was enjoying the beautiful of a Pre-Raphaelite painting…
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My problem with travel wardrobes is always needing to wear things more than once. I want a clean top for each day. I usually wear bottoms at least twice, second layer tops multiple times. Depending on how long the weekend is, this one would work as it does have 4 clean tops.
I’ll be packing for two different trips next week. Very different trips – one to a big city for a concert (indoor venue) and one to an outdoor family reunion. I’ll have not quite a day at home in between to switch out clothes. For the reunion trip, I will *need* a clean shirt every day: it’s in the south – think heat and humidity. I haven’t even begun to think about what I’m packing for either trip!
I have very good luck rinsing out tops in the sink. If space allows I bring one slim, velvet hanger so I can hang the item in the bathtub to dry. Have fun on your trips!
Dawn I agree with you. I love flat light hangers for just that reason.
Cheryl I hear your problem with the humidity. Some travel stores sell an inflatable plastic hanger that kind of blows apart the wet front and back of a top to allow faster drying in humid areas.
Plus a blow dryer helps in a pinch if something hasn’t quite dried out overnight.
I go on cruises and some places like Florida it’s really hard to get stuff to dry out overnight.
I’m a fan of the flat plastic hangers that the stores sell blouses & tops on, they pack flat & light and are waterproof. Free for asking.
I usually take 1-2 for spare or hand washes, PLUS 1 pair of the plastic spring clip hangers they sell pants & skirts on.
I use the pant clips for socks, panties etc and I string a bra that I rinse out over the neck of that hanger.
Just one each of those 2 types of hangers and you can do your lingerie, socks and a top for a fresh start in the morning. Bathing suits for me and DH are drying faster too.
Plus on board ship, I like to hang everything & they don’t always supply enough hangers. Hotels too.
Even though I am a die hard carry on only packer, I usually “waste” a bit of space for these hangers.
I’ve seen some folding hanger versions on Amazon & am thinking of buying 2-3 for our next cruise. A little easier to pack maybe.
I had a few inflatable hangers for years, that finally bit the dust a couple of trips ago; I should replace them! They really did help things dry quickly, since the separated the front and back of garments really nicely.
Don’t forget to bring a handful of safety pins – you can pin socks and underwear to the bottom of wire hangers to dry. AND close curtains that don’t quite meet in the middle!
hugs,
Janice
Janice,
In the hot months, I prefer to wear lighter neutral colors, along with either olive green or light denim blue as my “ basic” color. For a short stay, I like your concept of sticking to just one neutral core plus accent colors and prints ! For a longer stay, I would add another neutral and more tops, as well as another third piece. I am always wanting a topper, even if it is just a shirt over a tank top. I am really like this post — another Pinterest save !
It’s so smart, so convenient, so original, as always.
What bright ideas (my probleme is always the same : I take too much, especially unuseful “things which can be useful” an are not^^ ; but very heavy^^).
It’s a pleasure to read you, Janice.
And It’s a… useful thing ??
This is a lovely wardrobe. Thank you so much for creating a summer travel capsule using black as the core neutraL I wish I could do white or beige or some other light neutral in the warmer months of the year, but unfortunately I am a stain magnet so something like this is much more practical for me.
The original fall wardrobe based on this painting is also very pretty, and it seems to me that these nine garments would merge seamlessly with it.
I’m planning a 6 day trip with 4 items to pack! Laundry done on day 3 or 4. I could throw in 2 more tops and do no laundry if there’s space.
Then a 10 day trip with a maximum pack of 9. Laundry done on that trip too.
I love packing light. So much less stress, pain and carrying. Especially when children are involved too!
I’m with you Zaidie. The wardrobe shown here would last me a month (possibly more) if the climate was similar throughout the trip. Handwashing in the bathroom, laundromat once a week (a chance for some people-watching in a nearby café while we wait). But then I’d be wearing tops twice before washing, and washing pants maybe once each during the trip.
It’s a very pretty capsule Janice, and as Laura says, will merge well with the August original. Mmmmm!
x
Love this wardrobe. Yes I’m actually planning a similar amount for a 5 day trip. Carry on only.
We are flying in to visit family on the BC north west coast early July. The “wet coast” as it’s known. But it may go hot & sunny so what I pack must cover both extremes plus protect me from sunburn and mosquitoes. And cope with campfire smoke.
I’m packing 2 jacket/sweater layers: a navy windbreaker & a navy V neck Merino pullover.
Wearing Navy pants, packing dressy Navy jeans. So I’m only taking 2 bottom layers but if it was longer I’d add another pair.
My accent colour is aqua so one top is aqua & I’ll wear it along with my turquoise stud earrings. An old navy & floral on cream silk scarf.
I’m packing a creamy white cotton T shirt, a pink shirt style blouse and a navy tank top.
A pair of big creamy pearl studs for alternative earrings plus an Abalone shell on silver watch that I wear on travel days.
I have a new super light nylon Travelon folding packable tote bag in a navy & aqua print that I’m using as my purse for the trip & I will wear a pair of black running shoes but pack a pair of black leather loafers for spares.
I have a large white sun hat with grey button trim that I’m probably packing but if I find a fabric more packable version in the next week I’d prefer that, as I hate having to wear a sun hat on board a plane but my white straw one would crush if I packed it.
That’s my bag for 5 days.
Margery, that packing plan sounds perfect! Good work…
hugs,
Janice
Thanks Janice, after I wrote this I found my hat at Walmart! ? Navy & a pale beige with a beige rope style trim that is perfect. And $15!!! I’m sure you sent me good hat vibes! ❤️
I try to send ALL of my readers good shopping vibes every day; I’m so glad that you caught a handful of them and got the perfect hat!
hugs,
Janice
My husband and I just went on a 5 day trip with one carry-on suitcase between us. I had followed this Six-Pack plan without ever hearing about it. I lay my items flat, stacking them, then rolled them into one roll. He did the same. It worked like a charm.
This article encourages me to do the same for an upcoming week-long trip.
This is the plan I used for a nine day trip with one laundry day. It worked great.