OK, so I recently took a business trip to Arizona for my annual AICI (Association of Image Consultants International) conference. Now you really can’t imagine trying to pack for a week when you know you are going to be around some of the top fashionistas in the world. Honestly, it’s like a fashion show every day! One of the services I offer is helping people pack for trips. My clients love this service because I help make sure that everything fits in one suitcase and everything you pack works together (called a capsule) so you have plenty of great outfits. SOOO, packing for this trip should have been easy breezy for me. It was not! When I weighed my bag it was 62 lbs. Yikes, I knew I had to remove a couple pair of the 10 pairs of shoes I had packed! I share with you now some tips for packing for your up coming summer vacations so you don’t make the mistakes I made. I should have known better!
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| 3 image consultants, 6 days = 20 pair of shoes! |
1. Purchase light weight luggage. This will save you some weight right off the bat. Briggs and Riley and Travel Pro both are top rated for quality and light in weight. I personally think Travel Pro is great.
2. Make a plan. Think through what you are doing on your trip. Are you going to nice dinners, lots of touring and walking, a wedding, or just taking a beach vacay?? Having an idea of what you are doing both day and night is key.
3. Check the weather! Just because it’s 100 and hot in CA where you live does not mean that it will be the same on your Alaska cruise. Sometimes making this mental switch is hard.
4. Create a capsule. Choose colors that are all in harmony with each other. By creating a capsule of clothing that all works together you will be able to create lots of interesting fun outfits with very little clothing. I recently did a presentation where I showed how I could make 30 outfits with 10 items of clothing.
5. Take pictures of outfits. I suggest you build outfits before you pack them. Lay out everything you want to take following the above rules and then play around with things to see what works together. Think outside the box – you may be shocked at some of the cute things you can come up with. If you have an odd man out, meaning it stands alone and goes with nothing you are packing, you may want to leave it home for this vacation, or slip it in at the end if you are under 50 lbs!! Remember, you want everything to work together. If it helps, take pictures so you remember the outfits and don’t have to think about it in your hotel room. There is a great app called "CLOTH" where you can do just this and even categorize outfits for events or vacations.
6. My biggest challenge, SHOES! OK guys, I am obsessed with shoes. I love them. I want to take them ALL with me. BUT, since we know this isn’t possible, what is best to take? I always recommend taking something in metallic color. They will give any outfit a little pizzazz but the metallic colors also go with EVERYTHING! Make sure you TEST DRIVE your shoes before taking them on a trip. You don’t want to have a brand new pair of cute shoes giving you blisters because they are not broken in. Try to limit your shoes to 3 pairs and maybe a slim pair of flip flops. Clearly, the 8 pair of shoes I took to AZ were a bit of a problem!
7. Accessories. This is where you can go crazy! Accessories make outfits fun and interesting. Plus, they are light and easy to pack. As we have talked about before, just changing accessories on an outfit can make it look completely new and different. For example, if you are taking a sun dress you can make it fun for the sight seeing or shopping, and completely transform it for night with a jacket and totally different accessories and shoes.
Now, it’s time to put everything in the suitcase. There are many ways to do this but picking some kind of system will be the most helpful. If you are worried about the weight of your bag you may want to consider purchasing a handheld luggage scale that you can find at many travel stores or even the Container Store. If you feel a little overwhelmed packing for you next trip I would love to help.
