Grab a Suitcase

In my family, traveling was a pretty normal part of life. At least once a month for several years of my childhood, we would pack our bags, hop in the van, and go away for days. Back then and up until recently, I would use the same method for packing. I would count how many days we'd be gone and then grab that many items of each clothing category plus a few extra pieces for safety. Going away for five days? I'd grab about seven tops, six or seven bottoms, then I'd realize I would need five different pairs of shoes for the pieces I had picked, and I could barely get it all in a suitcase. As if that wasn't a train wreck enough, while on vacation, I would find myself only wearing three of the bottoms and not actually have something to match one of the tops, and I wouldn't bother changing into different shoes. I wasn't packing outfits; I was packing individual pieces, and that doesn't really work.

It seems so simple now, but I have finally developed a better method for packing. This is not revolutionary, but it has helped me and maybe it will click for you too!

The first step is to think about any main events of your trip. For instance, are you traveling for a wedding? For outdoorsy stuff like hiking? Or, in my case, for a baby shower? Having the main focus of your trip in mind will give you a starting point. Since I bought the Lily Dress from Loft, I've known that it would be my boy baby shower dress, so that is the first thing I decided on for packing. Once I had that dress established, I knew blue would be one of my main colors and that I'd need my tan sandals.

Once your have your main event piece picked out and you've picked jewelry and shoes, the next step is to find outfits that will reuse some of those pieces. I decided to bring in my Mosaic Tunic dress which I'll wear on the plane and can be worn with the same shoes and purse. Next, I selected my Teal T-back Top because it's brand new and I'm dying to wear it. For that top, I need my black sandals. Everything else fell into place to match those sandals that I'd already have with me. I'll grab a black sweater which will match most of my outfits if I get chilly, and I'll wear a heavier blazer on the plane with me since planes tend to be cold.

Now I know exactly what I'll wear, when I'll wear it, and I don't have a million pairs of shoes to weigh me down. :)