Packing for Europe

I'm back from my adventures abroad, and since I haven't yet uploaded my photos from the trip I thought I'd present an analysis of the wardrobe I packed and how well it worked for me during my travels. So without further ado, here's what I took with me:

3 Dresses:

3 Tops (this doesn't include a couple of layering tees and a tank):

2 pairs of pants (not shown: one pair of leggings and one pair of tights):

4 cardigans:

2 coats (the short one has removable sleeves, which also came along):

And last but not least, 3 pairs of shoes:

This capsule wardrobe was somewhat of a challenge because of the fact that I had both work and vacation portions, as well as several different cities. The low-heeled boots and flats got lots of wear when I was out walking around in Lisbon and Paris; the studded boots were great for making my outfits a touch dressier when I was only walking short distances for the work and conference portions of the trip.

Overall I did really well with the packing this time around. Everything I brought was worn at least 2 to 3 times and in multiple configurations, and at each stop on the trip I had enough clean clothes to last until the next time I did laundry (which I did twice). The patterned dress got worn as both a dress and as a tunic over jeans, while the short gray jacket was worn both with and without the sleeves. It was great having a couple of versatile pieces like that in the mix.

Here are a few different combinations I planned out while I was packing, all of which got worn as shown:

Shown above is the patterned dress worn as a dress; I put it over leggings when it was cold, and on one warmer day I wore it with bare legs and a pair of orange sandals I picked up along the way.

At left is the same dress configured to be worn as a tunic. I thought it looked great with the red pants.

The floral coat went particularly well with the purples, yellow, and neutrals I brought, but I also pushed the envelope and wore it with the red pants once or twice.

One thing I'll say about packing for somewhere like Paris is that bright colors make you stand out much more than they do over here. Parisian women stick mostly to neutrals and generally wear loads and loads of black. But frankly I've long since ceased to care about trying to blend in with the locals; I knew the weather was mostly going to be dreary for this trip, so I brought bright colors to look springy and to make me happy. And despite it looking fairly out of place, the floral coat still garnered several compliments even in Paris. It just goes to show that you're better off being yourself than trying to adhere to a norm.