| Okay, so now you have the list and I am hearing from the frugal �less is more� side of you a load piercing scream saying �Are you crazy?�. But really, it looks like a lot but it�s not. The majority of the items are accessories or foundations (shoes, undies etc). Most people do not realize that they actually pack a lot of these items because they are thrown in as an afterthought, or stuffed along the sides and outside pockets of the suitcase. Also, If you are traveling with a companion or family, there is no reason for them to bring duplicate wash or emergency kits. And many items in the makeup kit will not need to be duplicated such as nail polish remover or nail file�s. Now that you have the list, let me explain what you have, what type of clothes you might want to bring and why. One of the best pieces of advice that I could give you, concerning your clothing choices, is to pick a base color ahead of time. I recommend a neutral base color such as black, brown, navy, or taupe simply because it is very easy to coordinate with these colors, but your base color can reflect your personal taste and choice. Jjust remember whatever you choose, you will need to co-ordinate many other pieces with it. I personally always choose black because I am a heavier woman and black is slimming. Also, for European travelers, it has been my experience that black is always in fashion and is the preferred base color of fall/winter. My travel companion likes navy, so all her accessories, from shoes to belts and scarves have some navy in them. Finally, I make many suggestions in explaining this list. These are only suggestions, however, if you are trying to choose clothing that works well together and you want the most mileage, try to follow some of those suggestions. This list is tried and true, in other words, it works! Item #1 Travel outfit � These are your 1st day travel clothes. You will be wearing these on the plane and I recommend that you choose a nice casual outfit made of loose clothing for comfort. I always have a nice relaxed pair of dark pants and a roomy long sleeve shirt paired with a short sleeved cotton crew pullover underneath. If I get hot, I can remove the outer shirt. I also wear my black walking shoes. This is a must for me. I found that in walking in airports and getting to and from hotels from train stations, I simply must have on a comfortable pair of shoes. My walkers are not athletic shoes, they would be considered as nice casual flats to pair with any pants or jeans. I love Easy Spirt Motion casuals. They look dressy enough to wear with a skirt, but also casual enough to wear with jeans. And they are comfortable walking shoes. My other rationale is that walkers take up much more room in your suitcase. Why not wear them and be comfortable traveling. I do not require a coat, ever, but I usually bring a nice long black cardigan sweater on the plane, just in case I get cold. If you need to bring a coat or sweater, do not pack it, rather, fold it over your carry on. Items 2-12 Foundations. These are your foundations, i.e. your underwear and lingerie. I recommend on a 7 day trip that you bring 6-7 pair of underwear (remember you are wearing a 7th pair). The 3-4 bras are just a suggestion, but remember the 7 day goal of no washing. I always bring one long slip that I can interchange with the skirts and also wear with the dress. That slip is always in a neutral skin colored dark cream ecru (by ecru I do not mean cream, that is much to light). This darker ecru color can be worn under light and dark colors without showing through any lighter colors, because it blends with my skin tone. If you are darker, latino or black, you might want to consider a dark brown or black. The key here is to blend it with your skin tone so that it does not show under light colors. The amount of socks, hose and accessories (scarves, belts etc) are up to you and should be based on how you like to accessorize. My suggestions on the list are what works for me. There is room allowed for a quite a bit, so don�t worry about being thrifty just yet. I recommend that you bring several pairs of neutral and black socks and hose in black or taupe. (Suntan is not popular in Europe). If your base color is different, substitute that color for black. Items #13-15 Shoes. This is another item that is personal to you. Along with the black walkers I wear on the plane, I include three other pair of shoes, a pair of casual black flats, a pair of neutral taupe or brown flats, and a pair of dress shoes. My dress shoes are a pair of opague dark black velvet pumps with 1 � inch heels. This is a deliberate choice because it goes with my dress pants, my dress, and can be worn with both my skirts. Once again, the key is co-ordination. Bring a pair of dress shoes that will work with all your dress looks. Items 16 - Shirts. This is the most important selection of your list. You need to choose that base color 1st, and then all your choices should be with that in mind. I always bring 1 shirt for each of the 7 days, excluding what I wear on the plane. Now these shirts can be a mix of colors and types, but my recommendation is the following: 1. Two multi-colored shirts with long sleeves, button down the front with collars. I chose them slightly bigger so that they can also be worn as over shirts. 2. Three casual pull on shirts in solid colors, one in your basic color (I chose black), a bright(such as a teal or cranberry), and a neutral (a taupe, brown or bronze). They can be a mix of long or short sleeves depending on the current weather. They should not be T-shirts, but of a nicer material. I recommend rounded or crew style necklines. They should not be tight, but should be long enough to be worn by themselves or under other shirts for different looks. 3. One long lightweight black or neutral mock turtleneck. 4. One nice dress shirt in a shiny or opaque fabric in either your base color, white, or cream. The key to picking shirts is to always pick mult colored shirts with your base color as one of the colors. I choose black as my base, so my multi colors are usually a small geometric or patterned, with black, cream and/or bright colors that are good for me such as fuchsia or teal or cranberry or bronze (I am a fall/winter mixed). Here�s where you want your style to show. For me, those choices help minimize my size. I tend to stay away from large or flowery prints as they do not minimize. For the dress shirt, I found a cream colored long silky shirt that has wonderful slimming darts on each side front and back. It has a drop princess style neckline with lace at the neckline and on the cuffs. This looks wonderfully Victorian, sexy (even for a full figured woman) and can be worn with my any of my base pieces and some of my day pieces for a dressy day look.. You could just as easily choose any color, but make sure it can be worn with most of your basic dress pieces. Item #17 Pants. I always use the following list: 1. 1 black lightweight jeans 2. 1 dark blue lightweight jeans 3. 1 dressy black pants 4. 1 brown or taupe pants 5. 1 optional pair of pants in a neutral or base color. Remember, I am also wearing a pair of casual lightweight black pants as part of my travel outfit. Item #18 Skirts. I always bring two. One is always a slim three quarter length lightweight wool skirt. It is dark opaque black and can be made to be very dressy or, depending on what shirt and shoes I wear, semi-dress. I always bring a favorite multi colored paisley "A line skirt" that can be paired with my dressy shirt for a dressier look, or with my casual shirts in neutral colors for a day look. This skirt was chosen because it has black, dark mauve, cranberry, teal and bronze in a paisley pattern. My choice of casual pullover shirts all match that multi colored skirt in some way or fashion. Your solid skirt choice should be whatever your base color choice was. The length is optional, but just make sure it can be dressy. I recommend the black or dark navy, because the very color dresses it up. For spring and summer, instead of wool, chose a lighter weight fabric. If you choose to wear a skirt for your 1st day of travel instead of pants, substitute a 6th pair of pants for one of the skirts above. Item #19 Dress. I always bring one dress with me. Not too formal, unless you have a special formal occasion, but do select a dress that would be considered evening wear. For my choice, I use a dress I found a couple of years ago, an empire waist, � length velvet, with antique gold tone buttons all the way down the front of the dress in dark opaque. I have gotten more evening looks from this one dress alone, paired with my other selections, than any other dress. If you are going for just 7 days, you probably won�t have more than one occasion to use this, but on a longer trip, you would. Another good choice is always a basic black slim dress or slim dress in your base color. This can be paired with many of the overshirts and also your dressy shirt as an overshirt with accessories. If you are in good shape, you can't lose with a basic black slim dress. It goes with everything and always looks dressy and classy by itself. Item #20 Sweaters. During any Fall/Winter travel I always bring along sweaters. I do not like coats but sometimes the weather can be quite cold in the evening. I usually carry a sweater on the plane, a long black (thigh length) cardigan. I choose another cardigan in one neutral lighter color and a lightweight pullover sweater in another neutral color. The neutral cardigan coordinates with my paisley skirt, other pants, at least 2 shirts and can be worn with jeans. Using this gives me a nicer casual evening or day look, depending on the shoes and accessories. That 1st black cardigan pairs well with my black pants, my black jeans, and my black wool skirt and cream shirt for another evening look if necessary. The neutral pullover sweater is a crew or V-neck and goes well with at least 3 of any of the other shirts, either the multicolored or the lightweight pullovers and can also be worn with my jeans. I use that sweater primarily during the day for warmth. Using the solid colors with the cardigan and sweater, I can use scarves to dress these up for evening also. Items 21-23: The Kits. You will notice that included in the packing list are three kits, the Makeup/cosmetic kit, the Wash kit, and Emergency kit. These kits are pretty well self emplanatory. The wash kit and emergency kit are pretty well standard and do not really need explanation, but the makeup/cosmetic kit may require some rules. In my last 4 trips, I brought the same items over and over again. Each trip, I found I would forget something and ended up having to head to the pharmacy or store. Each trip, half of what I brought, I never used. I finally narrowed it down to one simple rule: bring what you would normally use in a given week. Remember that rule that good friend told me about. It works here also. As you use items in a 2 week period or over a month period, write them down. Then take a look at them and see if you would normally use them in a given week. If you would include a travel size sample in your pack. Makeup is what you would normally wear, regular sizes. The makeup kit should all fit in one gallon ziplock or medium size flat cosmetic bag. The others should fit in � gallon ziplocks. Item #24: Cloth Shopping Bag/Big Purse. I do not recommend using a formal carry on suitcase or a normal size purse. Why? Because that is all you really can use it for and most carry on suitcases are large enough that the flight attendants want you to store it above rather than have it out. I also believe that ladies handbags or purses are just targets for pick pockets. What I do recommend is using a nice, decorative, medium weight, medium size, cloth shopping bag or what I call �the big purse�. You know the kind you might use as just a great big purse, or the kind you would use to take to the beach or a day of shopping. It should not be divided, but have at least one security pocket with zipper on the inside. Most airlines, especially international, will only allow you a purse and a small carry on. As far as they are concerned, this is my purse. When returning at the end of my trip, I will have it and the next item, a cloth duffel type suitcase, usually filled with my trip purchases and breakables. When I get to my destination, most of the items in this �big purse� will go in my outside pockets of my suitcase, once I am sure that it has arrived. The cloth bag at that point becomes my shopping bag which I use through out each day activities . To find out what is packed in this bag, refer to the final packing instructions. Item #25: Foldable Cloth Duffel Bag. You are going on a trip and probably with a full suitcase. On the trip, if you are lucky and have enough money, you will be coming home with lots of goodies. Where are you going to put all of them? I have determined that, rather than bringing an extra suitcase or having to carry a lot of shopping bags, if I brought a medium size foldable duffel bag, it works better for my purchases. It is also small enough that I can carry on the plane during my return trip as a carry on bag. Item #26: Small Flat Travel Purse and Small Dress Purse. Okay, ladies, here�s one of my most important suggestions. Leave your medium size purses or shoulder purses at home. They are simply too much temptation for pick pockets. I recommend you find a small multi-purpose organizer style purse. One that has long removable clipped straps and can easily fit in one hand. I have found the best to be one of the least expensive ones, a small purse, retangular in shape. You can find them at Wal-Mart. Find one that has a small pad of paper, several compartments for credit cards and id�s, a zippered section for change, and an inside security section for cash money. The straps need to be long enough to fit across your body from shoulder to hip. Along with this purse, you will probably want to bring a small dress clutch purse. Items 27-30: Optional items. These items are ones that I would consider optional. If wear a coat, bring it but do not pack it unless you have room on the inside of the top lid of your suitcase. Also, you may want to bring several books or magazines to read on the plane or late at night. I know I will because I am somewhat of an insomniac. I also recommend bringing for the plane ride a few light snacks such as crackers, candy bars, nuts, etc. I am a smoker so lollipops and gum are my friends during flight. And finally, most of us bring a camera. Make sure to bring plenty of film. In Europe and in other countries, film is very expensive compared to the states. I would rather bring too much, than to have to pay the prices overseas. Item #31 Travel Papers. Okay, we all leave home with about the same type of papers, Passport, ID�S, Visa�s, Credit cards, Airline tickets, Confirmed Hotel Reservations. All the things we need to get into another country, get our hotel room, and purchase great stuff during the trip. But at most major tourist areas you have a terrible pest. Pickpockets! And they are working hard every day just to ruin a travelers piece of mind. Make sure you have a plan for backup. Make several copies of everything, including your passport. Check out the travel tips for suggestions concerning credit cards and money! There you have it. The list explained. I really would like to say that this list has worked well for me. I know individual styles and colors are different for everyone, but if you stick with choosing a basic or base color and work everything around that, you should have no problem. |
| The List Explained! |
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