Capsule Travel Wardrobe – How I Packed for 7 Days in London

My ideal travel outfit would look something like this: (p)leather jacket for warmth, a pretty lace shirt, dark-rinse denim and comfy espadrilles.

Jacket: ZARA (similar) / Shirt: Express (similar) / Shoes: Target / Bag: Chanel

However, when you’re going on a family holiday – sometimes looking stylish has to take second place to other considerations – such as packing light and choosing outfits that work for long and very active days.

We recently traveled to England for a week – 3 days were spent sightseeing around Central London, and the remainder of the trip was hanging out with my in-laws. Since we were staying at 2 different hotels, I wanted to pack as few items as possible – and I think I did pretty good job sticking to the bare minimum – I took 2 pairs of shoes, 2 necklaces, 1 bag (!!!), 4 pants and 8 tops.

TRAVEL OUTFIT:
The theme for my travel outfit was: “how to wear pjs without looking like you’re wearing pjs”! We were on an overnight flight – so I wanted to make sure that I got lots of sleep on the plane. My faux pjs consisted of charcoal grey leggings paired with long Chambray shirts. Wearing a long shirt helps disguise the fact that you’re wearing leggings – nobody can tell…you might be wearing jeans or really tight pants!

Shirt: Old Navy, Old Navy / Leggings: Costco (similar) / Flats: Old Navy / Bag: Pashli / Necklace: Similar, Similar

DARK JEANS:
I paired my dark-rinse jeans with pink blouses and tan flats.

Shirt: F21 (similar), H&M (similar) / Flats: Target / Bag: Pashli / Necklace: Similar, Similar

LIGHT JEANS:
For my light-rinse jeans, I went with my favorite combo – cream colored tops with gold accessories.

Shirt: c/o Romwe, F21 (similar) / Flats: Target / Bag: Pashli / Necklace: Similar

PRINTED PANTS:
To add some interest to my denim-heavy wardrobe, I packed these floral pixie pants. They were as comfy as jeans but worked well for days I wanted to look a bit dressier.

Shirt: H&M (similar), F21 (similar) / Pants: Old Navy  / Flats: Target, Old Navy / Bag: Pashli / Necklace: Similar, Similar

OUTFIT PLANNING TIPS:

I really enjoyed packing light for this trip – it’s definitely something I’d want to do again – and it didn’t take TOO much pre-planning. Here are some of my top tips for packing a capsule wardrobe:

•  Choose staple pieces depending on the climate you’re traveling to. I picked jeans and pants – but if you’re going on a beach holiday, perhaps your staple would consist of versatile maxi dresses.
• If you’re aiming for hand-carry only and/or you have access to laundry at your destination, you can reduce your clothing items even more – you definitely don’t need both dark and light wash jeans…and you can re-wear some of your tops.
• Pick a color scheme so that you can keep shoes and accessories to a minimum. My main colors were blue, white and pink. I packed both light and dark colored flats, while my taupe Pashli worked with both color schemes.
• Streamline your jewelry – I wore diamond studs and chose a chain link necklace and a pearl cluster.
• If you’re tempted to pack extra clothes “just in case”….remind yourself of times in the past where you’ve over-packed and never worn the excess clothes. And in the rare eventuality that you NEED something you didn’t pack….well – it’s a great excuse to indulge in some local shopping!

What are your top travel packing tips?

Linking up with More Pieces of Me and Sincerely Jenna Marie,