Vacation Planning: Packing
Spring break and Summer vacations are a truly amazing thing. I love Winter – Especially the accessories – And a snowy vacation can be magical. But there’s something so cathartic about losing the layers and spending some time enjoying sunshine and water after months of hiding from the harsh weather.
Bonus? Warm weather clothes take up SO much less room in a suitcase! 🙂
So to help you get ready for your next vacation or weekend getaway here are some helpful tips and great recommendations for everything from packing and products to Summer staples and styling suggestions.
How To Pack:
- Weekends Away – Styling, Deciding & Packing
- How To Pack For Travel from Dean Street Society {Miss Hilary Rushford is an amazing writer, stylist & mentor and I cannot recommend her site highly enough. If you’ve never checked it out you shouldn’t waste another moment!}
- A Lesson In Packing from The Man Repeller
- How To Pack For A Carry-On Vacation from Refinery 29
- Travel Smarter: Tips For Perfect Packing from Apartment Therapy
What To Pack:
- Reader Request: Packing & Traveling
- 15 Travel Stapes & 15 Ways To Wear Them from Damsel In Dior
- How To Pack For A Trip ~ Tips For Being A Smart and Stylish Traveler from Inspirations & Celebrations
- Tops, Bottoms & Accessories from Poor Little It Girl
- Essential Classic Luggage – The Garment Hanger Bag from Real Men Real Style
Another important thing to think about when it comes to travel is your luggage – I live for Longchamp’s le pliage line since it’s convenient to store, easy to clean, and stylish to boot. I have the weekender and the expandable tote in black and always tuck one of the mini totes into my bag since I will inevitably need it at some point during a trip – Check out my Wanderlust post for more details.
Getting ready for your next trip? Check out the first two posts in this series: Vacation Planning: Spring & Summer Hair & Vacation Planning: Spring & Summer Beauty Routine.
What’s your number one tip for traveling and/or packing?
MCLV Style: New York City
New York City BABY!
As I’m sure you picked up, I was beyond excited for this trip – Seeing my best friend, attending IFBCON, and getting the chance to spend some quality time in NYC, a city that I’ve been having a love affaire with for years now.
{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Embellished Striped Top – Zara, Zipper Detail Shorts – Zara, Ankle Strap Heels – Fendi, Oversized Crocodile Clutch – Express, Silver Art Deco Bracelet – JewelMint, Silver Bow Bracelet – Forever 21, Silver Chainlink Watch – Vintage & Ring – Tiffany’s}
{You can HYPE this look on Lookbook.nu}
Check out more outtakes from this shoot here – just log into Facebook to view
When I was packing for my trip to New York I found myself in a quandary – it was going to be extremely hot and humid but I’m a fairly formal dresser. Luckily for my internal body temperature this was the first Summer that I’ve worn shorts since Junior High, so I packed a few pairs for the trip. But how to style them? Shorts & a tank might be an appropriate bathing suit coverup, but for walking down the streets of New York City? Definitely not!
So with that in mind I paired my exposed zipper shorts from Zara with a striped tee with a rhinestone embellished collar, tons of chunky silver jewelry, ankle strap heels, and an oversized envelope clutch. I was comfortable temperature-wise, but still felt stylish enough to strut my stuff all over Manhattan! 🙂
Interesting in more fashion from my September trip to New York City? Check out these previous posts:
Did you have fun wearing shorts over the Summer? What’s your favorite style of shorts to wear when the weather heats up?
New York Fashion Diary
While I didn’t have the honor of attending any of the New York Fashion Week Spring 2013 shows – SOB – I was lucky enough to spend four days in the city that never sleeps right before the shows, parties, and FNO kicked off, and it gave me a unique chance to witness the city amping up to the fashionable frenzy that is Fashion Month.
And please believe me when I say that four days of glorious walking , exploring, shopping, eating, drinking, and aimless wandering are this city were four days very well spent!
{A little jewelry shopping at the MET – We definitely got some funny looks!}
{Yes, we are complete and utter nerds. Since 7th grade.}
{Lincoln Center, Far West Chelsea, Meatpacking District}
We also ate at three vegan restaurants, walked through Central Park twice, sprinted through Central Park once, and had a little quality retail therapy in Soho.
Check out my previous NYC posts to see what else I was up to during this trip: Weekends Away – Styling, Deciding & Packing, IFBCON Preparation, MCLV Style: IFBCON Day One, IFBCON – Trends, Styles & Inspiration, and MCLV Style: IFBCON Day Two.
When you travel to a city during a trip do you like to do “touristy” things like go to museums? Do you like to walk around a new city to get to know it and familiarize yourself with the neighborhoods?
Roadtrippin’
Happy Monday, I hope that everyone had a great weekend!
I was lucky enough to get out of the city for a few days and drove three hours North of San Francisco to stay on the coast in a place called Sea Ranch. A long, long drive with a couple of stops, lots of snacking, and some killer views.
It was the first time that I’ve pulled my boxes of bathing suits and sumer clothes out of the closet this year. Other than vacations, I rarely wear beach gear so I really only keep a limited supply on hand and if specific events come up I tend to head to Union Square… For me warm weather means patterned maxi dresses, sandals, sundresses, and sarongs.
The drive up Highway 1 was curvy and nausea-inducing, but the highlight – aside from the views – was a quick stop at the Candy & Kites shop. Barrels upon barrels of delicious salt water taffy flavors, tons of old-school candy that you haven’t seen in years, and all the kites you could possibly imagine.
Once we arrived at the gorgeous house the fun really began – great wine, lovely company, quality hot tub time, walks along the bluff, games of corn hole, climbing down to the tide pools, tons of food, sitting on the deck getting sunburned…
But what weekend would be complete without a trip into the tiny local hamlet for a taste of the real Sonoma coast?
One of only a couple restaurants nearby is Bones Roadhouse – a fun and eclectic bar & restaurant with views of crashing waves and an interior that’s guaranteed to keep you entertained for as long as you hang out.
Fried oysters and chicken fried steak for the boys, strawberries for me, and Bloody Mary’s all-around!
But as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a vacation until you’ve had a Mai Tai. Family tradition.
Mission completed.
The trip home was foggy so the views weren’t as spectacular, but we did stop at Whole Foods for road trip snacks. Salad bar, rice chips, and mini vegan chocolate chip cookies.
YUM
It was definitely a weekend to remeber, and one I hope to be able to repeat again in the future. Have to say a quick thank you Danny & Kelsey for sharing their family house – the weekend couldn’t have been more enjoyable!
Reader Request – The Chilly Tourist
I received a cry for help from a reader who was planning a trip to Washington DC and needed some cold-weather outfit ideas. Specifically, she had planned a day of solo wandering around historic Georgetown and needed something warm & comfortable, two days of hanging out with a friend, a low-key date night outfit and cute PJs for the PM.
Moi Contre La Vie to the rescue! 🙂
The number one thing to keep in mind about in this situation is the weather – This is going to be all about layers and winter accessories so that she can stay warm but keep her looks cute.
Girl About Town:
While Emily wanders around DC seeing the sites she needs to be comfortable and be able to lose her layers easily & stylishly when she heads indoors and the temp rises. This look is going to be centered around the perfect boots for sight-seeing.
Whether you go with knee-high hiding boots, combat boots or flat ankle boots, a comfortable, cute boot is a must. The two ways that I especially like to wear boots are either with slim pants or with a skirt – both looks can be “winterized” and both looks can go with most varieties of boot.
You can take either of these models as inspiration and pair a dress, tunic or flowy maxi skirt with riding or ankle boots. I specially like the look off thick tights and warm socks with a skirt or dress in Winter to make sure that you keep warm. If you choose to wear a dress, tunic or skirt & top combo and want to go for a more classic style wear a long coat (like below) and if you want a more fun & funky style, pair it with a cropped jacket at or blazer, maybe even a short coat layered over a cardigan for extra warmth.
Another way to pair your boots is with jeans, slim pants or leggings for a sleek daytime look.
Both shots do a great job of showing how to layer over pants – scarves, cropped jackets, ponchos, sweaters… The options are endless. It’s also a great idea to carry a larger bag rather than a small handbag, so you can carry gloves, a scarf, an umbrella and other cold-weather accessories.
Low Key Lady:
Whether you’re running errands, hanging out at the local coffee shop chatting or catching an exhibit at the local museum, a good trip always has some down time. So the question is, how do you dress for your less active days without sacrificing style?
My go-to downtime look is either a shift dress or a tunic over slim pants with ballet flats, both of which can easily be layered over to stay warm and tweaked to fit your personal style. Here are some of my recent acquisitions for trips to the farmer’s market and lazy walks along the Bay on weekends.
What I love about each of these dresses is that they can be worn a million different ways – just add tights, a pashmina, flats or boots, a cardigan or cropped blazer and tons fun jewelry – et voila!
The same goes for a tunic or oversized sweater over pants or leggings, you can wear this combination a million different ways and make the look as interesting as you’d like – brightly colored skinny jeans, corduroy pants, leopard leggings, a colorblock tunic, an oversized boatneck sweater or even a basic tunic with a jean jacket on top. Layer away!
Check out EatBreathFashion.com’s Candy Colored Legs post for more ideas on bright skinnies.
Date Night:
For a mellow night out when you’re traveling you can easily reorganize the pieces that you already packed to put together a cute nighttime look, all you have to do is mix & match and accessorize accordingly.
My suggestion would be to throw on either a dress, tunic, or slim pants with a sweater, add a blazer on top and then pumps or booties, fun jewelry, a pashmina and a sleek up do. Both a dress or pants with a blazer will keep you warm and they’re also both fun, flattering silhouettes.
It’s a perfect look, comfortable but cute, ideal for a low-key night out and using pieces that you’ve already packed for your daytime or traveling outfits.
Pajama Party:
Personally I’m partial to Victoria’s Secret and PINK pajamas & night-shirts, they’re soft and come in fun, funky colors and patterns. You can also check out Forever 21 which has some pretty cute sets, rompers and oversized t-shirts or Bloomingdale’s sales for great deals on Juicy Couture, Betsey Johnson, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta sleepwear.
So whether you’re in the mood for short shorts and a tank, old-school PJs or a girly silk night-shirt, there’s something for everyone’s comfort zone.
You can see other packing and traveling related fashion posts if this is a topic of interest for you: Reader Request – Packing & Traveling or Wanderlust.
And please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any styling or fashion questions that you may have.
Moi Contre La Vie 
