There is always that one person who can pack cleverly for their holiday, but that person is not me. Oh, to pack minimally, and float about the resort in clothes and accessories that look good. Everything goes into my bag ‘just in case’, and the result is a bulging bag filled with random items, most of which never see the light of day. To get that pulled-together look we asked local personal stylist and Image Consultant, Karen Degg, to offer us some top tips to help us pack like a Pro.
Karen’s Top Ten Tips for a Stylish Holiday Wardrobe
- Like all things in life it’s always best to prepare and plan in advance where it is possible. This makes your holiday packing a pleasant and fun experience.
- Think about where you are going, what you will be doing and length of time and duration of holiday.
- Good advice is to gather inspiration and ideas for your holiday wardrobe from magazines and online. Once you go to your own wardrobe you are sure to find something very similar that you can work with and re-create to bring up to date. Shop in your own wardrobe before hitting the shops.
- Choose a main colour you would love to wear on holiday – a colour you would not necessarily wear at home. This will give you the feeling you really are going on your holidays and give you that feel good factor.
- Use this core colour and then introduce a neutral base to complement and bring out the colour – ie neutrals would be great in white or cream. As a consequence, this will allow you to create lots of different outfits by mixing and matching.
- Overpack your accessories rather than your clothes – this makes it easier to re-create your outfits and accessories don’t weigh as heavy as clothes.
- Think about ‘demoting’ your clothes as the holiday goes on ie wear your floaty top and dressy trousers on the first evening and then wear then same floaty top dressed down with casual shorts or skirt on a day trip further into your holiday.
- Flesh coloured underwear is ideal as it works with everything. A super product for washing underwear/swimwear on holiday is called ‘Soak’ – you literally soak garments in warm water for 15 mins – no need to rinse – just hang to dry.
- Shoes – ballet pumps, trendy trainers or sandals for travel & walking. Kitten heels or a wedge a current go to for the evening. Recommended shoe colours are nude, white, silver or gold – again these colours work with almost everything. There are only so many shoes that will fit into a suitcase and you definitely do not want blisters!
- Bags – a good size hand luggage comes in very useful. Due to luggage restrictions a bag working for you day & evening would be best – preferably a cross-over bag so you always know where it is at any time. Again, a suggestion would be to stay with a neutral shade.