Q&A about individual items, ensembles, and wardrobe

What to wear/pack for a trip to Europe

Dear Angie,

Since you travel a lot to Europe, I wonder whether you could give me some advises on what to wear or pack for a trip to Europe. I will be traveling to Sweden, Finland and Paris for totally about 2 weeks in May (between 2nd and 3rd week of May). The trip to Sweden and Finland is for a nine-day's academic program, and then I plan to stay in Paris for 4 days. I care less about the attire during my time in Scandinavia, but feel more conscious on what to wear in Paris since it is like the most fashion city.

I know it is still almost 2 months ahead of time, but I'd rather start planning in mind early and maybe look for something to wear for the trip. I read your post about some euro trend and had some thought in mind.

So far, I though about bring a trench coat, few dresses, 2 pairs of jeans (one dark color and one with some wash), few fashion tops, one or two pairs of flats, a pair black peep toe, a pair of sandals. This is what I can think of now. However, if taking weather in May into consideration, I'm not sure whether my dresses, mostly summer style: halter, strapless, or spaghetti, would work in the cool weather of May. I also want to look for a big fashion handbag that you suggested in the post on what to wear on a long flight, then pack 1 smaller handbag and maybe a clutch. Have you been to Northern Europe or Paris in May? If you do, could you give me some advises on what to wear/pack? Thank you!

The latest reply was from lilgoldfish . You can follow further contributions to the conversation through the RSS 2.0 feed.


5 Replies

Posted 2 years ago

Forgot to mention, I'm 25 years old. Still a student. About the half of the trip will be conference style with my fellow classmates and other european students, and those days in Paris will be purely devoted to touring the city. I am hoping that there is a efficient way to pack so that I could incorporate clothes in these two slightly different circumstances.

Posted 2 years ago

I used to live in Europe so I’ve been there in May! What you pack will be completely dependent on the weather. Western and Northern European weather is unpredictable. It can be Spring one day and back to Winter the next. You’ll need to pack 2-3 dress codes: casual, smart casual (and business casual perhaps)

What’s your dress code for your academic program?

Posted 2 years ago

Thanks for your recommendations on packing 2-3 dress code.
From what I heard, the academic program is more to smart casual (not confirmed yet). But we will be attending classical concert in Sweden in one afternoon, and possibility meeting with artists as well --we are an arts management program.
I am not sure whether this is enough information since the formal itinerary has not come out yet.

Posted 2 years ago

Lets chat again when the formal itinerary is out and we’re closer to the accurate weather forecast.

Posted 2 years ago

I will come back once I figure it out. Thanks, Againe!

Posted 2 years ago