I like to think of myself as a good packer. The actual act of finding and folding and suitcase stuffing less than on a hypothetical level: I like thinking about clothes, planning what goes with what when and for whom. I also enjoy famous people’s packing lists (see: Joan Didion; André Leon Talley). I have fond early memories of my dad’s pages of penciled out packing lists on yellow legal pads, a habit I didn’t even know I had been mimicking until I realized I’ve been doing the same thing in my email drafts for years. But my deep-seated love for strategy aside—and don’t kid yourself, this is strategy— this summer has thrown me a hurdle, in that we’re really going to be keeping it moving from today pretty much until September. Luckily I will have strategic stops to switch bags and refuel, fashion-wise, but I don’t think I’ll be back in L.A. and with the majority of my belongings until the fall, and it’s an I’m-choosing-to-describe-as-fun puzzle to work out what to bring and where.
I’m basically packing three different pieces of luggage: one to see my boyfriend’s family (Great Lake life!). One to go to bounce around Europe for a few weeks, in a trip that includes city, island, and mountain destinations. And one to go to Nantucket with my family for August (which includes some travel around the east coast afterwards). There is some overlap—a core carry-on, if you will, of cosmetics and computer and chargers—but otherwise there are pretty distinctly different demands for each trip. (And a road trip to get to the first part, though the sartorial demands there are more comfort than anything.) And let it be known, I do not intend to check any bags! So space is at a premium!
This is not my first rodeo. I’ve done this before, for month-long fashion seasons (with coats and boots and statement bags, a nightmare) and last summer, when I did a month in Europe with just an ancient Away carry on (seriously, the first one they made, which airlines made you take the explosive battery out of), and a big ol’ tote. And I ended up not even wearing everything I brought! I was thrilled with myself for months. Bragged, even. But confronted with a similar case this year I am feeling all the familiar urges to overpack. The problem with a road trip to kick things off is that, as Los Angeles dwellers well know, your car is nothing if not a giant purse. Also my boyfriend wants to bring his golf clubs. (LOL.) I did a Round One of packing, in which I heaped everything I thought I might want this summer in suitcases and then slept on it, and it was, as you probably guessed, way too much. So I went back and culled, applying some life lessons I’ve picked up in my time hauling ass around the globe. And then I thought, in this season of travel, you may be finding yourself in a similar position. So here, I’m going to break down my packing practice, in the hopes it helps us both.
Without further ado!
The qualifications to make the suitcase:
1.) Whatever you’re packing, it has to fit right now, meaning both your body and your style. I’ve made the mistake of packing “optimistically,” before, i.e. “it’ll look better when I have a tan,” or “I’ll be in better shape in late July,” or “maybe I’ll like this more in August.” You know what’s not fun? Feeling stressed about something that’s supposed to make you feel good. Don’t do it to yourself.
2.) It has to have multiple uses/wears, ideally in multiple different locales/situations. Think: white jeans, black/white swimsuits, black or neutral flat sandals you can walk in, comfortable heeled sandals you can go out to dinner in (I get a real kick out of these, though you’d wear these more after summer’s over), button downs that can go from plane to city to beach cover-up, chic little dresses that can get dressed up or down, minimalist heroes like shirt dresses (I like this sheer one, and the price is right), and those strategic little accessories (sunglasses! belts!) that take up no space and can totally change an outfit. Whatever it is, it should be a material you can crumple up and re-wear without drama and/or launder on the road. And look, I do include hand washing in hotel sinks as laundering, in some cases. Some of the chicest fashion editors I knew had full laundry lines in their suites by the time fashion month rolled along to Paris. (Nobody likes having to justify hotel laundry fees to the Condé T&E department, especially for “smalls.”)
3.) Avoid the delusion that you’ll be someone else on vacation. This is sort of like number 1, but more so. If you don’t like the way that yellow knit hat looks at home you’re probably not going to wear it in Menorca.
4.) Less really is more. Say it like it’s your TM mantra: No one cares even 1/100th as much about what you’re wearing as you. Room in your suitcase is a blessing! You definitely need less than you think! It leaves you open to finding something fab where you’re going!
5.) Be generous with yourself. Be flexible. Other people’s plans and rules (even mine) don’t matter and you’re going to bring a stupid thing you love and may wear one great time or not at all and that’s important too, if it makes you happy. Sometimes you want a weird funky clunky shoe (or two) along for the ride, and that weird funky clunky shoe ends up making all of your outfits better. (See: Stylist Alison Bornstein’s “wrong shoe theory.”) Overall message: Relax! That’s what vacation is about.
Anyway, that’s how I do it. I also, because I’m crazy, typically write out a calendar of events and then what I’m going to wear so that I make sure I’m covered for each. (I.e. “7/4: Slvrlke shorts and floral button down. Loeffler Randall raffia flats.”) I will admit that I tend to over pack for Nantucket always (because it’s a ferry, not a plane, and that just feels like an opportunity for hauling!) and every time I’m there I just end up in my coastal grandmother finest anyways. Let’s see if this summer I can break the cycle.
One dress I am packing is from Sézane, because it ticks all the above boxes and is a ‘90s minimalist dream. When I wear it with these strappy chunky heeled sandals (which fit the “comfy sandals you can go out to dinner in” edict above, btw) I feel like a brunette Cher Horowitz. That is EXTREMELY high praise in my book. (FYI: I get a small percentage of sales if you shop from any Sézane links I’ve included here.)
I’ll update you further with what else made the cut, if you’re interested. So far this includes two patterned silk shirts, including this chic Mediterranean-ready one by Matteau. If you knew me two years ago, my owning, let alone packing, any number of patterned silk shirt would be an improbability verging on impossible, but these days they are my favorite thing and go well day to night. I guess L.A. turned me louche. It’s funny how your closet can be like one big diary entry showing you how much you’ve changed. I have all these flouncy dresses in storage that look totally wrong to me right now.
My friend Michèle recently left for an equally complicated multi-stop month abroad (London > Greek Island > wine country, France) and put her packing list on her Instagram stories, where I admired both its economy (looks light!) and its organization (chef’s kiss to the way she broke it down)! And so I asked if I could reprint it here for you. Because she is divine, she said yes. This is more for general inspiration than official edict, because I’m not bothering her for links while she’s on vacation. (Follow along on her on IG to see how she wears it, if you like, because it is very well.) So here, for your edification and mine:
What Michèle Ouellet Benson Packs for a Month in Europe in a Carry-on
Orange Dôen dress
Knit red dress
White Reformation dress
Black linen Reformation dress
Matteau dress
Kule set
Jean shorts
Vest
Gil Rodriguez tanks
White Ref pants
Baggy jeans
White button up
Black button up
Blue button up
Malene Birger jacket
Malene tank
Lindsey Thornburg jacket
Brown Ciao Lucia dress
Red Sessei shirt
Matteau belt
Sézane belt
Chan lu wrap
Havianas
Vibi Venezia
Adidas
Ayede mary jane
Swim:
Matteau one piece
Zonarch one piece
Cali brown two piece
Tropic of c two piece
Lido one piece and two piece
Misc
Adapter
Phone charger
Computer charger
Compression socks
Hand sanitizer
Passport
Headphones
Sunglasses
Book
Vitamins
It’s good, right? She’s the best. Now I’m shopping on Dôen, which is definitely NOT what I need to be doing!
Shall we take a break from packing? Actually, one way I’ve found to get myself to complete necessary if not immediately pleasurable tasks is to promise myself a little reward once I have. I.E. Once I finish I can go meet my friend for coffee, or watch that dumb fun thing on Netflix, or another similar treat. Which brings me to:
The Perfect Find (Netflix). Utterly silly pretty delightful and R-rated rom-com starring Gabrielle Union as the December in a May/December romance. It also does that thing I always find hilarious which is give the heroine a vague, powerful, glamorous and influential “fashion media” job. This used to be an editorship at a fictional fashion magazine, now it’s… online…retail? (I think?) I’m honestly not sure, but the office is a CGI’ed whole block of Soho that I’m pretty sure is one of those European bathroom fixtures stores where everything’s a million dollars under condos for around 10x that. There’s plot holes in this thing that you could drive a truck through, but hey. It’s summer! Time for escapism! Note: If you’re the type of person who likes to have something playing while you fold laundry or pack or organize your closet: this is it.
We saw No Hard Feelings (in theaters). I am very pro easy light big screen summer comedy with a heart, and that’s exactly what this is. You can imagine like, Kate Hudson or Cameron Diaz starring in it 20 years ago. (That’s a plus, in my book.) Dumb, hard-R raunchy, fun. Set in Montauk! Who knew! Hat tip to the best nude fight scene since Eastern Promises! Certain cameos—like Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti as a certain type of Montauk summer home owner—are so on the nose (down to his hairstyle) that I’m pretty sure I know the real life people they’re playing. Anyways, I’d say see it. It’s fun.
I wrote about the rise (and rise) of the ponytail for the latest issue of Vogue, now online!
Joni Mitchell is back, baby! It’s as good of a reason as any to resurface this wonderful old New Yorker essay by Zadie Smith.
We have been trying to spread out The Bear (Hulu) so as to not binge it all at once, and have mostly succeeded. I have to say that I am increasingly anti-binge model. I think, honestly, if they had dropped an episode a week they would have owned the summer. But hey, I don’t run Hulu! (YET.) This show is special, and spectacular, and the actors in it are so very good, but the writing really is tremendous. Everyone is talking about the star-packed indie film length episode 6, but it was episode 7 that had me sitting up and cheering. (And welling up. And laughing. And then singing along to a very important Taylor Swift needle drop.) God, I love this show.
More on the orca front! White Gladis hive, rise up! There have been “claims” that the orcas are not “out for revenge” but are in fact “just having fun.” I think they are having fun, but they’re specifically having fun destroying boats, and the more expensive the boat, the funnier I find that fact to be. Sorry, not sorry! There’s too many multi-million dollar yachts in the world, it’s a fact.
This article following the international crews fighting the Canadian wildfires currently darkening and thickening the skies (again) was the best I’ve seen so far at charting their breadth and ferocity for those of us tuning in from the west coast. Terrifying, but helpful to see. (Also heartening to see the crews from around the world who’ve showed up to help.) “Nearly every province in Canada has fires burning,” says the AP: a record 30,000 square miles have burned, “an area nearly as large as South Carolina, according to the Canadian government.” Unfortunately for everyone, Canadian fire season (July) hasn’t even officially begun yet. Ugh. Be careful out there.
That is all I have for you this week. I tried some affiliate links this time, did that gross you out? I’m trying to see how to best make this whole endeavor sustainable without losing the essence of it. Next time I will come to you with road trip revelations, I’m sure. I’ll be posting on IG, too, and probably putting out requests for dining recommendations in various cities between here and the east coast, which is one of my all time favorite uses of the internet. I hope you’re doing well and feeling summery all over. Let me know if you’re packing and found this helpful or what you’d like to see more of: I love hearing from you. It’s my favorite thing.
Thanks for being here. Love you.