April 9, 2020
Bright colors tomorrow, I promise! But I’ve got this scarf and it’s colors on the brain right now, so I wanted to think about how I would accessorize this heroine’s wardrobe for a longer trip…
First up, let’s remember that she’s starting with this scarf. It’s SO intriguing…
scarf – Klement
Packing isn’t easy – you want to be prepared for everything possible, while at the same time not lugging your entire home with you in 37 suitcases! You can’t “get away from it all” if you take it all with you…
I’ve tried to think of a relatively logical, methodical way to look at what accessories to pack:
Let’s start with the accessories that our heroine is already accustomed to packing for her long weekend trips; I’m assuming that she will want to include all of these in her larger travel wardrobe:
gold knot earrings – Bony Levy; sunhat – Uniqlo; tiger eye hoop earrings – Beck Jewels; sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; brown print cotton scarf – Brunna.Co; watch – Olivia Burton; lava & tiger eye bracelet – Made It!; crossbody bag – Andi; green & beige linen pareo – Madewell; loafers – Seychelles; sandals – Comfortiva
Looking at these accessories, arranged by category, gives me a few ideas:
tiger eye hoop earrings – Beck Jewels; gold knot earrings – Bony Levy; sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; sunhat – Uniqlo; watch – Olivia Burton; lava & tiger eye bracelet – Made It!; brown print cotton scarf – Brunna.Co; green & beige linen pareo – Madewell; loafers – Seychelles; crossbody bag – Andi; sandals – Comfortiva
We’re going to have to look back at the clothes that our heroine is packing, so that we can choose appropriate accessories.
Natural cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; black cardigan – Eileen Fisher; olive cardigan – L.L.Bean, striped tee – Madewell; cream tank – L.L.Bean; rust tank top – Patagonia; olive camp shirt – L.L.Bean; black linen wrap dress – Banana Republic; olive tank top – Lands’ End; black tee shirt – Lands’ End; natural tee – L.L.Bean; olive canvas pants – L.L.Bean; beige shorts – L.L.Bean; olive shorts – Lands’ End; rust pants – Lands’ End; black jeans – Lands’ End
Our heroine decides to think about how she would like to get dressed each morning, choosing outfits from her travel capsule wardrobe that she knows that she will want to wear. Then, she thinks about what will need (or want!) to accessorize her outfit. Knowing that most jewelry is light and doesn’t take up much space frees to her include more pieces that she might have expected…
The texture of this sweater doesn’t need much to look great:
hoop earrings – Coco Mango Jewellery; sweater – L.L.Bean; horn bangle bracelet – Akola; pants – Lands’ End; loafers – Vince
She already has her sandals, sun hat and sunglasses packed, but she tucks a necklace into a wee fabric pouch, and then into her evening bag, for days when she wants just a bit of sparkle on a simple outfit:
sunhat – Uniqlo; sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; necklace – Kendra Scott; striped tee – Madewell; beige shorts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Comfortiva
Why NOT bring her favorite earrings? Carefully wrapped, and tucked into her bag, they will travel well! And her sandals are simple enough that she can wear them day or night:
Earrings – Mamba; evening bag – Ted Baker London; cardigan – Eileen Fisher; black linen wrap dress – Banana Republic; sandals – Clarks
She’s starting to realize that she’s in pretty good shape for accessories, at least for outfits for being outside in the warm weather:
sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; green & beige linen pareo – Madewell; gold knot earrings – Bony Levy; olive tank top – Lands’ End; olive camp shirt – L.L.Bean; olive shorts – Lands’ End; sandals – Comfortiva
Cooler days, or days that she plans to spend in a museum or other indoor adventure, are also not tough to accessorize:
hoop earrings – Coco Mango Jewellery; crossbody bag – Andi; natural tee – L.L.Bean; necklace – Kendra Scott; olive cardigan – L.L.Bean; loafers – Seychelles; olive canvas pants – L.L.Bean
She’s been looking for a necklace in olive and black for a while, but she’s happy with her gold and black necklace right now…
gold knot earrings – Bony Levy; olive camp shirt – L.L.Bean; cardigan – Eileen Fisher; olive canvas pants – L.L.Bean; necklace – Chico’s; loafers – Seychelles
Someone else might think that the need to pack olive sandals, or maybe even rust sandals, but she feels pretty comfortable wearing beige. They’re neutral, they’re comfortable, they’ll be great!
hoop earrings – Coco Mango Jewellery, sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; rust tank top – Patagonia; olive camp shirt – L.L.Bean; olive shorts – Lands’ End; watch – Olivia Burton; sandals – Comfortiva
It seems like a lot when it’s all spread out like this, and it IS quite a few pairs of shoes. But they’re all flat, and most of them will pack down pretty compactly. The jewelry will all fit into her evening bag, and the scarves take up very little space. She will wear her sunglasses, and probably fold her sunhat into her tote bag, so all of this adds relatively little bulk to her suitcase!
hoop earrings – Coco Mango Jewellery, gold knot earrings – Bony Levy; sunhat – Uniqlo; sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana; tiger eye hoop earrings – Beck Jewels; lava & tiger eye bracelet – Made It!; horn bangle bracelet – Akola; filigree earrings – Mamba; watch – Olivia Burton; brown print cotton scarf – Brunna.Co; ggreen & beige linen pareo – Madewell; heart necklace – Kendra Scott; cord necklace – Chico’s; crossbody bag – Andi; evening bag – Ted Baker London; square scarf – Klement; loafers – Seychelles; rust loafers – Vince; sandals – Comfortiva; black sandals – Clarks
I love planning travel wardrobes – right now, when I can’t even easily or safely leave my apartment, the dream of unpacking a perfect travel wardrobe into some distant hotel closet makes me smile…
love,
Janice
p.s. Back in 2011, when I first started The Vivienne Files, I wrote a post about having strawberry shortcake for dinner – I even included my biscuit recipe! So in honor of my older sister, who fed her grandchildren strawberry shortcake last night, I’m linking to that post….
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Janice,
I love those earrings by Mamba ! They remind me of an antique chatelaine pin that I once gave to a friend ! Thank you for breaking down your thought process— that is always my favorite part of your posts !
Yesterday, as I was unpacking and hanging my warm weather clothes, I made some pairing discoveries for tops with toppers. Late last season I had purchased a set of a solid colored tank and a topper in an orange sherbet color, and found that it exactly matched the color in a print top that I had bought in a thrift shop and had forgotten about ! Happy dance time !
Those kinds of cool coincidences happy often when you’ve got a general color palette in which you shop. I’m already finding that the very few pink garments that I have are nice together…
hugs,
Janice
Thank you for sharing your tips and thoughts on accessories. Planning your travel activities is important because there’s no point packing fancy jewellery if you aren’t going to have an opportunity to wear it. I often end up taking more jewellery than I have days to wear it.
On family holidays, I found myself torn between the holiday activities I would like to do and the reality because we has kids and were staying in self catering accommodation. Now it’s just the two of us we are having more long weekends away staying in hotels or high quality bed and breakfast. So now I have more occasions to dress up.
The earrings by Mamba are stunning!
I would probably add in another necklace and some dress rings as I wear those every day.
Thanks for the shortcake biscuit recipe – I shall let you know how it turns out. I was planning to make some biscuits to put in an Easter hamper for my socially isolating in-laws. This will be perfect with some strawberries.
Good luck with the biscuits – I find the recipe pretty much fool-proof. I bake well, but I don’t cook other things with any particular skill.
And you’re so good to help someone out with some food – we must all actively look for ways to be kind and helpful at this time (and during the rest of our lives, I’d say!)
hugs,
Janice
Thank you, this is so helpful! Looking forward to bright colours, soft colours, florals, geometrics ;) Just kidding, love all your posts, and will take what I’m given and be grateful!
I loved the carefully thought out accessories and although I’m not a warm colour capsule person this is so well done. Several redheads I know would look amazing in this capsule as well as the accessories. Wow!!!
The numbers are SO perfect. When I pack for a cruise (someday soon again I hope – we are booked for another Panama cruise next winter) I always include 4-5 pair of earrings plus a necklace or 2.
No less than 3 neck scarves not including a beach pareo. Scarves keep my plain tops from acquiring salad dressing splats & spots & come in handy if the dining room is chilly or the waiter seats you under the air conditioning vents.
I always like to fly with one of my cashmere shawl scarves as well as the pareo & 3 regular scarves. If things turn chilly in flight or I need extra warmth one evening it’s just so comforting to have.
A clutch for evening wear helps amp up a nice top over the pants du jour. So do dressy sandals— which continue to work on the cocktail dress or dresses for formal nights.
I like a tote (Longchamps or similar) that works for flying days, folds to NOTHING in the cramped cabin quarters- then works for poolside essentials or the beach when the ship stops for the day at an island or a resort area.
A watch and a pair of sunglasses plus hat that can squash for packing but bounce back and look great. The watch set to ship time is essential for getting back on time before sailing.
A good pair of loafers for travel, a pair of light sandals I can walk around in all day in comfort and a pair of flat thin light flip flops for pool, beach and hotel room carpets.
Thank you Janice for letting me enjoy my packing list routine all over again and think about that Panama cruise!
Bon Voyage to all of us who are imagining our favourite trips ahead.
So many good thoughts here – thanks for sharing them all!
Yes, let’s all hold fast to our plans for travel, some time in the future…
hugs,
Janice