May 30, 2018
Sunset over the Seine, Paris May 2018
The vacation was beautiful. Except for an unpleasant, but very brief, encounter with my fibromyalgia, this trip could not have been more perfect…
But I packed… not ALL wrong, but largely wrong. And I blame Lake Michigan!
Hear me out – in Chicago, if you live near the lake (and I live literally 100 meters from it), the weather is always colder than advertised. So when someone tells you that your forecast is… say 75 degrees… you draw a mental picture of what that means. In this neighborhood, it means coolish – a cardigan or light sweater is appropriate.
Which, if course, is NOT how that temperature feels when you’re away from a very large body of water that keeps the heat suppressed for much of the summer!
Let’s specifically look at what I packed, what I “had” to buy (ahem…), and how it all worked out! (yes, this is somewhat changed from my original plan…)
cardigan – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Majorica; tee shirt – Eileen Fisher; crossbody bag – Bao Bao Issey Miyake; watch – Shinola; suitcase – Tumi; backpack – Standard; pants – Eddie Bauer; flats – Arche
I didn’t need the black cardigan… Just plain and simply didn’t. I lived in tee shirts, so this one was in heavy rotation… and the pants are my favorites, lovely and travel beautifully, but they felt dressy and heavy…
2 points to address – we have laundry done on vacation. In Paris, there is a chain of “same-day” laundries called “5 a Sec;” you take your goodies in, and pay for the service, then pick things up after 5 or the next day, depending on your drop-off time. They cost a lot, but a fraction of what you’d pay to have your laundry done at your hotel!
Secondly, Paris – especially the neighborhoods where we hung out, like the Marais – is not nearly as dressy as it once was. If you stay over near the expensive designer stores, you’ll see plenty of elegantly-dressed women, but many of them aren’t actually FROM Paris – they’re in town shopping… If you’re around on Saturday night or Sunday morning in the very high-rent districts, you will see women dressed beautifully, but it’s more and more the exception.
And our hotel this trip was near the University, so we saw lots of students and academic staff. They’re not the first tier of the expensively elegant…
sweater – Eileen Fisher; cardigan – Lands’ End; dress – Lands’ End; striped sweater – Eileen Fisher
This dress was AMAZING. I could wear it on its own, with a shirt or a cardigan over it… it wasn’t too warm, it was never too dressy nor too casual, and I wore it a lot…
Sweaters were fine, in the evening, but what I completely never saw coming were the really warms days, for which I wasn’t prepared… I could easily have packed just 1 cardigan, and 1 sweater, and added a ton more tee shirts…
With this next cluster, I was trying to create a way to dress-up somewhat for dinner (which turned out to be unnecessary…)
The summery tops were handy as heck, but I could never bring myself to wear the pants nor the sweater – they both felt really dressy, and… warm? after being out for a long time during the day. For a woman who doesn’t get as warm as I do, or for someone who was dining at dressier destinations, these pieces would have been excellent. But our vacation just didn’t turn out to be that fancy, this time…
tee – L.L.Bean; sleeveless shirt – Lands’ End; ornamented sweater – Talbots; dotted pants – Talbots
And this was a pity, because these dotted pants, and that ornamented sweater, are both really lovely… sigh…
But I wasn’t willing to get overly dressy for dinner just because I had pretty clothes with me. First thing, I don’t want to be more dressed up than Belovedest – that wouldn’t be kind. And I admit that I don’t want to be the peacock in the hen house of a bistrot…
windowpane top – Eileen Fisher; sleeveless top – Lands’ End; silk tank – Eileen Fisher; silk pants – Eileen Fisher
At the last minute, I started monkeying around (a LOT) with what I was packing, and in my silly fussing, I left out 2 really useful summer tops! You would think that after spending years of my life studying the travel capsule wardrobe in all of its variations, I would know better than to start messing around with things after I’ve carefully planned what to pack. But NOOOOO…. I had to change my mind on a bunch of things!
But I DID have sufficient delusions to pack this very wonderful, but insanely useless, sweater…
sweater – J. Crew
So after a couple of days, I was using the laundry diligently, but still scrambling to dress appropriately for the very warm days… Happily, I had the good sense to pack cropped leggings, and a pair of sandals, which might have saved my style bacon on this trip!
cardigan – Eileen Fisher; tee – L.L.Bean; dress – Lands’ End; pants – Eddie Bauer; tee shirt – Eileen Fisher; cardigan – Lands’ End; sleeveless top – Lands’ End; dotted pants – Talbots; black & white sweater – Eileen Fisher; ornamented sweater – Talbots; striped sweater – Eileen Fisher; argyle sweater – J.Crew; silk tank – Eileen Fisher; silk pants – Eileen Fisher
So what’s a woman to do? I could easily have managed with the clothes that I had with me – it’s foolish to think that I couldn’t have. The world is full of people who don’t have wardrobes any bigger than the contents of my suitcase…
But Belovedest and I chose to buy a few things… Both of us had a few gaps in our summer wardrobes that could stand to be filled (like I didn’t have white tee shirt fit for anything better than a dust rag…). We knew that if we were smart, and careful, we could find things that we would be able to wear a lot through the next 5 months, and that we would always be able to point to as “Paris purchases!”
I actually bought all four pieces at Uniqlo, but 2 of them aren’t available on the internet, so I’m showing very close substitutes…
tee shirt – Uniqlo; linen shirt – Banana Republic; tunic – Eileen Fisher; shorts – Uniqlo
For what it’s worth, the minute the weather warms up, half of Paris turns out in wrinkled linen pants, wrinkled linen shirts, and the always natty wrinkled linen blazer… LOTS of linen…
The shorts turned out to be adorably cute, comfortable, and they’re going to be absolute work-horses for the rest of the summer. The fabric is a bit like an oxford shirt, in that it’s a weave of white threads going 1 way and black going the other. Perfect for me…
The white tee shirt was an easy choice, knowing that I didn’t have a decent one at home… The linen shirt was a gesture toward avoiding sunburn (I should have worn it over my head – my nose didn’t fare well!), as well as sort of fitting in with the rest of the city. I would have loved a black and white striped or patterned shirt, but I thought that pink was a fun addition to my monochromatic world.
The tunic was a nod toward knowing that I had tights and sandals. I will NEVER wear leggings without something over them that comes to the tops of my thighs, and this tunic is perfect to combine modesty with coolness!
So my complete “wardrobe” for Paris looks like this, after the shopping:
Note that a pair of jeans DID make it into my suitcase, and it was a good thing. Saturday the 26th was a big sports championship days in Europe – the English rugby finals, the Pro 14 (former Celtic League) rugby finals, AND the Champions League Soccer final were ALL the same day. Much pub hanging, in less than delightfully sterile conditions…
I dressed like this:
So there’s a lesson here, isn’t there? Probably a couple of them…
- READ and BELIEVE the weather forecasts. Given that it’s an inexact science, it’s still a heck of a lot better than just assuming you know what the weather will be…
- Pack with versatility in mind. I really messed up this – I don’t have any logically planned “Triple Top Secrets” packed, nor was I thinking that temperatures might be unexpected warm or cold.
- Extra tee shirts! They’re small, they can be worn alone or layered, and if the weather warms up, you’ll live in them.
- Know what you have at home, so that if you do choose to shop, you can do it intelligently.
- Be prepared for laundry, and give up any stigma you might still harbor about wearing the same clothes repeatedly.
I have THREE more trips this summer, at least… I’ll keep trying to get better at this!
Friday I’ll share with you some of the fashion ideas and personal style statements that I saw in Paris. I struggled to take good photographs of window displays, because it was so bright and sunny (when it wasn’t pouring rain). But I made up for it by people-watching for hours and taking tons of notes!
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
Janice,
On a trip through Nova Scotia some years back, I and some of my fellow travelers experienced what you have just described here ? Despite packing for the forecasted weather, the actual weather turned out to be a lot warmer than the weather man had predicted ! This was a daily moving bus trip with no laundry ootions except for undies overnight, so the limited clothes for warm weather got many wearings ! Clothing shopping was extremely limited as we were in mostly rural areas. So the options were to swelter by day or just get over rewearing the same few pieces in hopefully different combinations .
I appreciate your candor at being on the same playing field as the rest of us with packing mishaps! It happens, but lessons get learned along the way !
Make that laundry options , not ootions — and I thought that I had caught all of the iPad oops !
I had the opposite experience in London in December. It was icy cold and rainy every single day and required double layers of wool sweaters and heavy socks to brave the winds off the Thames. Thankfully I did have goretex shoes and a longish water-proof raincoat, but had to buy heavy scarves, gloves and hat! Good learning experience.
Last Fall, for my usual getaway, I was stymied by the weather, which had decided to stay High Summer (90*F+) for the first few days, then turn to normal autumnal temps (65*F) later in the week. It wreaked havoc on my planned packing at the last minute so I combed your archives for advice. You need to pay attention to what you definitely already know ;-) I would have been lost without your wonderful wardrobe plans!
I look forward to how you tweak each trip’s packing this summer.
I find my most versatile pieces to cope with unexpected weather are a sleeveless dress for hot weather and dressier occasions, a T shirt and a cardigan to layer it with. A short crew neck cardigan, which can be worn buttoned up as a jumpers , a blouse to wear open over a cami if it’s hot, over a T shirt of it’s cooler- with buttoned and open cardis if really cold . Light cotton trousers or skirt, opaque tights, a big scarf, a light rain jacket, and a short down jacket. T shirts are reasonably cheap and easy to pick up when travelling but footwear is trickier so I would always prioritise a range of footwear over lots of tops.
Did you wear shorts in Paris? I have never seen French women in shorts, except when running….and even then, they’re more likely to wear leggings. I don’t think I would dare to walk even to the recycling bins on the corner in my little village wearing shorts.
Otherwise, layering potential is always good. I tend to wear 3/4 sleeve T-shirts and long-sleeve blouses (with the cuffs rolled up to be 3/4) all summer long, just because I want protection from the sun. With just one warm cardigan, I could put a T-shirt under a blouse and be fairly cozy. And if it’s warmer than expected, then only the cardigan is too much, because the other pieces could be worn separately. And I’ve never been on a plane where I didn’t need a warm sweater AND a pashmina (often, even on the same flight, it will be stifling hot, too).
I actually laughed out loud at your title! We moved from Wheaton to Lakeview 3 months ago, and boy is what you say true! Looking forward to see how your travel capsule changes.
I’ve had both experiences – an unusually hot June in Ireland/Northern Ireland a few years ago where it was 90F in Dublin & Belfast and I did a lot of re-wearing of the truly warm-weather clothing I’d brought. But by the end of the trip we had wind & rain, so I did end up wearing absolutely everything I brought.
Just a couple of weeks ago I was in Chicago for a long weekend. I packed for myself (and my kids!) a couple of days early when I had some free time. Kept checking the weather forecast up until the morning before the day we left. Highs in the mid-70’s. Unfortunately, I never checked again and then wind shifted to come off the lake and we FROZE for 3 days (highs around 50). One kid had to wear the same pants 3 days in a row. The other kid at least had a change of pants along. I had to go buy myself a long-sleeved layer to go under my light jacket and Husband did too.
Ah! I have two experiences where Lake Michigan can be blamed for subpar packing.
My first trip to Europe (Amsterdam/Bruges/Paris/London) I imagined chilly mornings and evenings, and pleasant days. It was September. It turned out to be a very warm spell, and I was stuck in ballet flats & sweaters! I mercifully had a black tank top and white T-shirt packed and ended up living in them!
The second – when I moved from the Detroit, MI area to San Antonio, TX area I had to redefine what “70 degrees meant”. I visited the Botanical Garden in SATx in February and thought “ok, let’s see – jeans, flats, black long sleeve t-shirt “. I was boiling hot! The sun is much stronger here, and if it is at all sunny, prepare for it to be hot!
Thank you for sharing your real life packing process, snafus, lessons, and adaptations. Your style blog is the most practical and useful I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading!
I appreciate your honest assessment of what worked – what didn’t. We’ve all been there!
I live a couple of hours north of you and we have the saying “cooler by the lake”. Lake Michigan, that is and it is indeed cooler. I have packed too warm for Las Vegas in the spring and not warm enough for New York City. At any rate, I like your final wardrobe, casual and cohesive.
The weather has tripped me up a few times on trips to the SF Bay Area, and after living there for 36 years, I should know better! I always assume it will be generally colder than expected in the summer, and warmer than expected in the winter, but even those rules don’t work all the time. Part of the problem is my insistence on jamming everything into a single carryon bag, so if I have to combine both a warm wardrobe and a cool wardrobe it means less fun with color coordinates and more technical “can this layer over this” requirements.
I recall so clearly going to the UK for the summer (May through very early July) in 1990 and my dad telling (then 11-12yo me) that the weather would be “just like New Hampshire”, where we’d summered most of my childhood up to that point. I packed shorts and tees and tanks. It was a chilly summer, and early summer is cooler than late — I FROZE. Scotland, in particular, was so chilly. I came home with a few sweatshirts and re-wore my four heavy layers over and over again!
In so many ways, I think “adulting” makes packing easier when it’s chillier than expected. At almost-40, I prefer my arms and legs being a bit more covered anyway, and I get chilly in a/c so easily. So having a cardigan and long pants is almost always a given when I travel. Surprise warm is much harder to prepare for when you haven’t packet for it! I am looking up those Uniqlo shorts now. They look great!
Years ago, in mid October I packed warm-ish layers for a trip to Amalfi and Rome. Of course the weather forecast looked right for those clothes, but once we got there, it was the beginning of a heat wave. I was stifling hot in both places and so glad for a couple of silk shirts and a t shirt. Fashion went out the window!
I like your wardrobe anyway–but I have to admit when I saw that argyle sweater earlier, I was like–what? It’ll be too warm for that!
Oh well, live and learn!
Thanks for the *very* timely post! I leave for Paris tomorrow and thought I was packed…until I read this! I think I need to throw in another tee shirt. I’m more concerned that it’s forecasted to rain almost every day I’m there.
I only do laundry if I’m traveling for more than 10 days. I do bring a travel size spray bottle of Febreeze and use that when I hang my clothes up. It at least gives them the illusion of freshness.
I am in Paris now. It’s hot and humid. It’s raining less than I expected, though it poured in the middle of the night last night. At the last minute I did not take my EF linen skirt, one of my favorite hot weather items. And I have plenty of space in my suitcase too. I totally agree, Janice, that it is not wise to second-guess oneself at the last minute, unless it is really thought out. I. appreciate your honesty about your packing process. It’s amazing how many of us really struggle with this. I am hoping to find a pretty dress to wear here and as a Paris souvenir.
Thank you for an honest post. It is so good to do this analysis on returning from a trip. The weather in this part of the world is pretty changeable this time of year (and the weather difficult to predict, even for the scientists). I do like buying clothes as momentos – I bought a t-shirt in Canada in 2003 and it is still going strong in my wardrobe.
You mentioned you did want to be more dressed up for dinner than your belovedest – do you compare notes while packing?
I enjoyed reading about your travel wardrobe. But, I am also curious about your struggle with fibromyalgia which you have also mentioned in previous posts. I am wondering if you have any good tips for dealing with fibromyalgia while traveling? For me, traveling with fibromyalgia always poses some challenges. I would love to know some of your coping strategies.
Thank you for your delightful style blog. I always enjoy reading a new post!
Just the one pair of shoes?!! And you did what I do – those last minute panic changes always mess things up for me. I like how that pink shirt addition created a whole new vibe to your capsule, but does creased linen work in Chicago too? Hugs, x.
Thank you for this interesting article!
The dry cleaning chain (dry cleaning: “nettoyage à sec”) or laundry has a very cute name. I think it’s a play on the ooh la la time-to-visit-your-girfriend “cinq à sept” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinq_%C3%A0_sept
I’ve just returned from a trip where my carryon ended up being checked (long story) — and then lost. There I was in Budapest with literally NO changes of clothing, faced with imminent departure on an 8 day cruise. Not only is Hungarian an impenetrable language, of which I could speak only one word (an informal hello) — I wear plus sizes, notoriously hard to find, AND it was Sunday.
Thanks to the hotel concierge and YELP, I did find a plus size store, and, communicating mainly through gesture and some drawings, acquired just enough clothes to carry me through. Your lessons about capsules and wearability really REALLY helped me find a small but workable wardrobe. At least now I have a fantastic story, and the clothing as souvenirs. And yes, they have blended into my closet at home. I really was paying attention to you. THANKS!
Mauritania—great story. I’m looking at going on a similar river trip in the spring, and am utterly stumped about how much to take. (I’d like to look like a grownup, so my usual 2-jeans-3-tees-and-pray-for-laundromats, may not cut it.) Can I ask how much you packed in the luggage they lost?
I’m sorry, Maurita, evil autocorrect strikes again.
Great article! I didn’t know that you had fibromyalgia. I would love to hear your travel tips on dealing with the pain & fatigue and clothing & accessories to deal with the myriad of issues arising from fibro. Especially, how to travel light with these issues. Thanks!
I am in the process of packing for a 3 week trip with varying climates – the forecast won’t go as far as the end of the trip. My capsule will have to include warm and cool weather clothing, city wear and hiking gear. We do a similar trip every year, and packing is a challenge, but it’s fun to have the right things, and funny to not have what I need. I don’t usually travel with leggings, but this year I’m contemplating a short knit swing dress + leggings for the overnight flight over, with a cardigan and wrap for warmth. And, honestly, on almost every trip I take, at the last moment I throw in a few extra t-shirts. They are very useful! – nancyo
I love your post-travel reviews. Very useful.
I’ve crossed the Atlantic around 200 times. Although I have learned a lot about how to pack, I have also come to accept that it’s never easy and I never get it entirely right. Last January, despite carefully following my own rule of always packing for 3 seasons, I nearly froze in France. I ended up layering everything I had brought bag-lady style.
I’ve also found that temperatures are deceptive. A couple of weeks ago I sweltered at 75 degrees in London in a short sleeved teeshirt dress and sandals. Yesterday it was 75 degrees at home (coastal New England) and I wore a long sleeved sweatshirt dress with a uniqlo camisole underneath and tights and was perfectly comfortable.
I had the same experience in Paris and London in April. I was gone for 18 days and the weather forecast was for mid 50s temperatures. Since the group I was with would be outside every day, all day, I packed accordingly, only to end up with record breaking heat at the end of my Paris stay and in London. Fortunately we ran into COS and Uniqlo where I found a couple of short sleeved tees and linen shirts which carried me through. I had read, right before I left, always pack one outfit opposite of the weather you expect. I didn’t follow that advice but will for the future.
Hi Janice,
i have been reading your blog for quite some time now and really enjoy it. I travelled with you from your original platform to your intermediate platform and now to your new platform. There are now so many ads on this newest platform that it is almost impossible to read your blog. Keep up the good work. A day without the visual delight that is The Vivienne Files is like a day without sunshine.
Louise P
Also really enjoyed this review of packing; what was worn and what wasn’t. I have also had a trip where the weather turned out to be warmer than usual. A jean skirt is very adaptable to warm weather and cooler. In one weekend in Victoria BC I wore it with tights and boots, then later that weekend to the beach with a tank top.
Getting the right mix of casual and dressier is sometimes more challenging.
Me too, really enjoying your trip report and so glad you finally made it! I am also interested if you are willing to share your solutions around health issues since I have my issues with being tired and oversensitive and allways interested how to make life bearable during those times.
I was allways wandering why your capsules for warmer weather are so warm – now I understand! It is like there is no real summer as it is here, so hot hot hot and it even didn’t started yet!
Mistery solved. Another mistery was why capsules tend to be not dressy enough. (=Not dressy enough for my newly acquired taste – that I developed carefully following your starting from scratch procedure 10 times! LOL)
I don’t make a big deal out of it (of too hot clothes in warmer weather capsules), I switch seasons towards hotter in my mind ( all the cardigan in your warm weather capsules to short sleeved bottoned shirts and kimonos, and all tops to sleaveless), as well as I switch shorts for something longer. I was just curious why is the climate so much different and now I know. There is ton of other things that I study and enjoy in your capsules.
I learned so much from you and there is so much to learn. Thank you very much! God bless you for your labour of love, dear!
hugs
xoxo
The times I have mis-packed have almost always had to do with misjudging the weather, although last year I had no idea that white or cream jackets were de rigueur for weddings in Sweden, which came as news to me since I don’t go to a lot of weddings anywhere. But the rest of the time, I have misjudged or just been taken by surprised by weather. I have carried gloves and a hat to Iceland which is always cold, only to have the temperatures be warmer than expected. I have *not* packed hat and gloves and then ended up needing to buy yet another set. I knew ahead of time that Paris was going to be in the 90s last June and yet left behind a couple of good pieces that would have worked in that temperature zone, and was forced to wear the same 3 or 4 things over and over again, washing them in the sink. One garment did not survive my daughter’s apartment’s washing machine, and then I was down to 3 things. I have yet to pack the exactly perfect set of clothes, although I came pretty close once.
This gives credence to the old adage: “When traveling, bring half the amount of clothes you think you’ll need, and twice the amount of money.”