Holiday Pack like a Stylist

Holiday time is here and many dread the packing. ‘I may just need this..’ is common as you chuck in more. Let me tell you a secret. On our honeymoon despite travelling around Tuscany for two weeks I witnessed my husband wheel a bag of my shoes. Yes a bag of shoes. It was ridiculous. I was totally embarrassed. Like many, I had this vision of multiple outfits involving dresses, heels, handbags to match. Instead I wore 20% of it and poor Karl lugged the rest about. Four years into our marriage we travelled for 6 months and Karl bought me 2.5 tiny luggage cubes and a small back pack. This is all you have love. I learnt and now love travelling light.

Extra flight costs are the perfect incentive to pack light and to embark quickly off the plane. As a Stylist who has packed 1000’s of clients suitcases for varying holidays here are my top tips to Holiday Pack like a Stylist.

Before you open your Wardrobe answer these questions:

1. Where are you going?

City Break, Beach, Active. Consider the style of your holiday. This will help you identify the suitable clothes in your wardrobe to take. A holiday in Salcombe will offer up completely different clothes in your wardrobes to a trip to Florence or a Greek Island.

2.Temperature & Weather

We are fortunate to be able to monitor temperatures and weather in any destination. This will enable you to work out what clothes you need to suit the climate. Over packing tends to be the denim jacket you never wear or the trainers you added in because you thought you ‘may’ go for a run when infact it was too hot to exercise after 8am!

3. Accommodation: Hotel, Apartment, Rustic Outdoors

This will help you decide on whether you are dressing for public to view (hotel) or just for your family. I always ask my clients ‘what they are going to wear at breakfast’ if they are staying at a hotel as this tends to be dressier. Self catering is much more laid back. Camping involves cooler mornings and PJ’s suitable for public loos and showers!

4. Itinerary

What are you doing everyday? Write a rough schedule. How many days travelling, on the beach, posh suppers out, museum visits. Write it down in order so you can start to prep outfits for each day.

Now you can open your wardrobe!

Buy a rail

Many of my clients have seen how helpful a hanging rail is for holiday packing and weekly outfit planning. The rail will help you create a space for ideas and then you can start to build outfits around this rail and edit accordingly.

Ask yourself who do you want to be?

This sounds a bit ridiculous as of course you just want to dress like you but holidays are a place for escapism and sometimes it is good to be a little bit braver on holiday than you would dress at home. I’ve witnessed many ‘holiday clothes’ boxes and they reveal the resort side to clients with clothes in there that wouldn’t be worn in real life! To help with this you could set up a pintrest board of looks you like - search up ‘what to wear in Venice’ or ‘Ibiza Style’ to give you some inspiration of how people dress in these locations.

Start to pick out your favourite pieces and add to the rail.

Select your favourite pieces that you think will match the style of the holiday you are going on. This can be a wide selection of new and old. Add shoes and jackets too. A top tip would be to go for pieces that you don’t wear all the time. Choose slightly dressier pieces if you are a city break or hotel resort. If your holiday is more active try to select your best quality casual pieces that make you feel good. What you want to avoid doing is wearing what you already wear. It needs to feel different than your day to day life.

Outfit build.

Get creative and start from the beginning.

Airport Outfit including bag & jacket & Shoes

Day 1. Hotel breakfast, beach day

Day 1: Evening supper meal

Continue doing this for every day with the aim to repeat outfits with some of the key players.

Take Photos

Take photographs of each outfit you create and start to edit out the clothes you don’t create an outfit for.

Colour & Style

Try to style within a cohesive colour palette. This way you are able to create a number of different looks with less items. Mixing in some print and some plain is a great idea especially when they fit within the same colour palette.

Accessories

When outfit building try on your accessories and shoes so you get a full picture of what you’d like to take. Remember to repeat shoes and jewellery to avoid bulk. Accessories can switch up a look instantly so they are integral to vamping up a dress or a pair of shorts.

Swimwear

For 5 days in Ibiza I took 2 bikinis. I washed each one daily and alternated them. I also allowed myself to buy a new one on holiday as you feel more confident and they are so much cheaper.

Leave space for shopping!

It is always great to buy a holiday piece when you away. Keep space for this so you can shop whilst you are away.

For more inspiration see my video on What I wore in Ibiza or read the blog here.

If you want help styling and packing your holiday wardrobe send me a message here..