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Thinking about a travel capsule

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Soon I will need to pack for our holiday trip back to see all the relatives. I was browsing Imogen's website and saw this simple capsule wardrobe which seems like a good place to start: http://www.insideoutstyleblog......rson-big-w

For cold weather I am thinking the following:
2 top layers (cardigans?)
4 bottoms (cords and jeans)
6 tops (turtlenecks and sweaters)

I'll probably throw a dressy outfit in there for church, but other than that I think a mix and match set would work well. I need to pull out the suspects and see how they all go together - the big challenge seems to be making sure that all the tops go with all the bottoms.

Anybody else thinking about packing?

Dressing

16 replies

Latest reply was from Freckles

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Not at the moment, but I did sort of do a version of winter capsule to bring here to FL, realizing I could not wear most of my Tahoe stuff in this climate. I ended up with 5 pants, 2 boots, and 4 light jackets. About 8 long sleeved tees & tops and 3 light sweaters. For the whole season, mind you. It's working great so far, with most things except for the long sleeved tops and one jacket being worn already.

carter

Veteran

Always interested in packing capsules! How long will you be gone? I assume you'll have access to washer and dryer?

MsMary

Veteran

Alas, I am homebound this year, but I am always thinking about packing and travel wardrobes. In fact, I even have a Pinterest board devoted to the subject: http://www.pinterest.com/mrskp.....obe-ideas/

Carla

Veteran

Another travel capsule fan. Don't think I have any trips until March, but you just never know what life might throw your way.

How many days are you planning to be away from home? What will the weather be like? What events are planned?

ATLynn

Veteran

How long will your trip be? I'm a carry-on only traveller, so I typically do 1 dress that I can layer with a topper, 2-3 bottoms (knit skirts can roll up tiny), 5-8 tops depending on length of trip (if I need more than that, I'll plan on laundry), and leggings that can be worn with either the dress or longer tops. And 2-3 pair of shoes depending on destination or climate. One for all day walking or navigating special weather, one dressy, and usually a spare pair of flats that can go with anything or are comfy to wear around the house.

As a former very frequent flyer, my biggest tip for travel capsules is to to pack what you already reach for most when you're not traveling. Bring 2-3 of your favorite complete outfits, and then throw in a few other top options that go with those bottoms. Except for special event wear, don't bring things that you think you might like to wear just because you're on vacation. It makes getting dressed so much harder, often things don't mix the way you envision, and you end up packing more than you need. Visiting family is a great time to show off your most fab FFBOs.

Oh, and if your bottoms are mostly pants/jeans, make sure they're all hemmed to the same length to go with the shoes you're packing.

minimalist

Veteran

What ATLynn said.

Plus loungewear/pajamas, if you're staying with family. Unless you're all of the clothing-optional-at-home ilk.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Depends very much on the weather for me & I always take X 3 pairs of shoes/boots or sandals. I find rotating my shoes really stops any foot problems when I'm walking a lot.

Great board MK.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I'm packing soon! I have one short trip on Monday (about a week), followed by another the next week.

But my destinations and activities will be quite different -- so I'll pack quite differently as well.

One trip is a city trip. I'll need a variety of footwear because I will be walking a lot but also want to look good for some theatre and dinner outings. I'll need some dressier clothes, as well as some warm clothes for long days outdoors on the streets walking and sightseeing. And since we're travelling partly by car and partly by plane, I'll need some very easy, comfy pieces that won't stretch or bag out. I will attempt a mix and match capsule -- but might end up thinking more in terms of discrete outfits for my varied activities.

My other trip is to relatives. The dress will be much more casual and my activities more consistent over the time I am away. For sure I'll come up with a small capsule for that trip. I might only need two footwear options -- possibly only one, depending on weather.

Different trips, different needs!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I'm heading to stay with my mother for the holidays... I always over pack. We will be taking two cars as dh and I don't always get the same days off, and have family in different cities, so we can be a bit independent. Also means another car for my siblings who fly. So no issues with space! I'd like to be a bit more careful this time though, with my rediscovered interest in clothes.

Great board MaryK. I also have a capsule board, and hadn't see many of your pins. For anyone interested, mine is http://www.pinterest.com/eliza.....-articles/

Shirley

I went away for 4 days during thanksgiving. I had one pair of jeans and one pair of corduroy. 4 long sleeved tops, one cashmere hoodie, one Jean jacket and one puffer. Temperature ranged from 32 to 72F. I layered a lot.for coldest day I had cashmere hoodie, jean jacket and puffer on. Also one pair of taupe ankle boots and one pair of black tennis. Jeans are dark indigo and cords are cream colored.

Dee

Veteran

I'm going to visit family/friends for two weeks at Christmas. My capsule will probably be similar to yours, but I'll probably replace one of the bottoms with leggings and add two tunics/dresses for travel/lounging. Shoes usually include one pair boots, Converse, and one pair flats to be dressed up or down.

Not sure if this will be helpful for you, but my solution to the mix and matching problem is to bring generally neutral tops (black, white, grey) and bottoms (jeans, cords), and combine that with a handful colorful or patterned toppers (jacket, cardi, sweater) and scarves or vice versa, so they all go with each other. It's a little less exciting, but as much as I like my colored cords, I find thay they are much harder to match with limited space in a travel capsule.

E

Veteran

My general travel capsule formula is 3 bottoms (in 2 different styles, all 3 neutrals but can be different neutrals), 4-5 tops (variety of colours and patterns and cuts, doesn't matter if they go together, as long as they all work with the bottoms, I usually include at least one with buttons down the front because they're very remixable), 3 toppers (either neutrals or colours, as long as they coordinate with everything else, at least 2 are cardigans since they can also be worn buttoned up alone), and 2-3 shoes. That includes my travel outfit, so not everything gets packed in my backpack, and I always wear a pashmina-style scarf on travel day too (and the biggest shoes).

That's similar to what you're doing; I'd recommend another topper vs top if you enjoy layering, because I usually end up wearing a topper almost every day, so if I only have 2 that's what's most visible in pics.

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I'm off to Germany this weekend to meet up with my aunt, so I've been working on what to pack. Everything will be pretty casual, I think, but I'm still debating whether to pack a dress or skirt. We'll be gone for about a week and I'm trying to keep it light enough to fit in a medium sized backpack. Quite the challenge! So far my thoughts are:

Burgundy sweatshirt, grey ponte knit skinny trousers, black and white cardigan, grey long sleeved tee, chambray shirt, possibly black skinny jeans, grey boots. I need a few other items in order to stretch this out but I haven't decided which ones yet.

I'd like to take only one or possibly two pairs of shoes, but my good jeans are all hemmed for heels and the boots I want to take are fairly flat. The skinny jeans I have are not that great because they slide down my rear all the time but they would at least look ok tucked into my boots.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

My trip will be 10 days, in cold climates, with access to a washer/dryer at least some of the time but not all. My main problem for winter trips is to fit enough warm clothes and shoes into the luggage, along with Christmas gifts etc.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

As always, wear your bulkiest stuff while traveling, so you don't have to pack it.

Freckles

Veteran

One tip I got from a travel website that worked like a charm for me last summer was to bring a placemat from home and use it in your hotel room to dump everything on. No more forgetting/losing things in the room when you pack up to move on.
I only lost one thing on the trip and that was going through security in the Dublin airport so all was good.