Summer capsule packing
When I was a little girl, my mom would have me roll up each of my thoughtfully curated outfits and place them into a labeled (by the day) gallon sized ziplock bag. I’d stack the bags into my giant suitcase and we’d be off to our destination. This process was super organized and thought out, but it was definitely not the most space-effective, and I strongly remember a sense of feeling disappointed when I pulled out a ziplock bag of pre-styled clothes that I didn’t feel like wearing in that moment. All of my looks were independently styled and none of them worked together. I was stuck.
Now that I am a grown lady, my general packing goal is: how little can I bring while feeling prepared enough to dress for any mood. As I was prepping for a 10 day family trip to the Jersey shore a few weeks ago, it dawned on me that packing a tiny capsule wardrobe would be an interesting approach to any trip. Imagine feeling ready for anything without having a ton. How nice!
The agenda
10 days at the Jersey short with a casual outfit for the mornings (coffee and some sort of kid’s activity) and a nicer outfit (dinner in or out) for the evenings, so 20 looks not including beach looks, workout looks and cozy stuff to stay warm (sweater and sweatshirt). As I said above, I didn’t want to pack 20 specific outfits, but I wanted to have enough looks to fit my mood without overpacking.
I started with the nicer bottoms
The trick to making outfits look entirely different is to bring a few bottoms in different colors, lengths and shapes. I brought a cream barrel leg, a black wide leg floor length linen trouser and a maxi olive bubble skirt. I folded all three bottoms up and placed them on the floor.
Then the casual bottoms
I brought two pairs of jean shorts (a long Bermuda blue jean and a short black cut off) and a couple pairs of pull on shorts. Depending on the top and shoe, these bottoms could double for day or night.
Next up the tops that travel well
In the summer I lean on racer backs, cropped tees and stretchy cowl necks or boat neck knit tops that travel well, meaning they don’t take up a lot of space and they can be washed. I folded two-ish tops per bottom and placed them on the bottoms they could be worn with, keeping in mind that they could be worn with any of the bottoms I brought. Long story short, that was about 15-18 outfits right there.
Last up, shoesies
Shoes always dictate the vibe of a look, so I pulled out 4 pairs that touched on different moods. With my black slides, red mesh flats, jellies and platform nude sandals I felt prepared for any occasion that the trip would throw my way.
The trip was a success and I mixed and matched pieces in ways that I hadn’t even considered. All of my clothes fit into my Calpak and my accessories fit into a canvas tote! I’d say this was a win!
Video of the whole process!
In case you missed it, here’s the video of the process!
Shop what I packed
It’s all here in my shopmy account!