Packing for a short trip can be a difficult task. I went on a 4-day trip to London in October with the challenge of chilly weather and packing everything in hand luggage only. Creating a versatile yet compact wardrobe that keeps you warm and stylish is quite the packing puzzle. The key is to make sure your items mix and match without creating a repetitive look. In this post, I’ll talk about how I put together my mini-capsule that was both stylish and comfortable during my trip.
Planning out your outfits
I like to create outfit sets, mixing and matching the chosen pieces to ensure I have a complete look for every day and occasion. For example, I plan sets for exploring iconic sights, cultural outings, and casual days for shopping or dining. Here’s some tips to consider when curating your travel wardrobe:
- Core Pieces: The first step is to choose your core clothing items. Maybe you have a statement blouse, or a pair of pants you really want to wear. These core items serve as the foundation upon which you then can construct the rest of your capsule wardrobe.
- Supporting Pieces: As London weather can be unpredictable, layering is essential. I make sure that each clothing piece can be layered for warmth or stripped down for comfort, depending on the day’s weather. The easiest here is to stick with a color palette that complements each other, usually neutral tones like black, white, gray, and navy. This ensures that all your pieces can easily mix and match.
- Eliminating Redundancy: To keep your mini-capsule truly minimal, avoid packing similar items that serve the same purpose. Once you have finished your capsule, go over it once more and check whether each piece has a distinct role in your wardrobe. If not, see if you can replace the item or leave it out all together!
This is my capsule wardrobe for a 4 day trip to London. The red blouse is my core piece, it injects some color to the wardrobe whereas the other pieces are more neutral. I made sure that all items can be combined with each other. The dress is for more fancy occacions and can be combined with both blouses, and the sweater can be layered on top for more warmth. The wide legged trousers are for more active days, and work well with both the blouses, and the other tops. In hindsight, I could have removed the maxi skirt from this capsule, as it is quite similar to the black dress. Ideally the skirt would have been in a slightly different colour or texture to stand out a bit more on it’s own.
Day 1: London at Night
Outfit: A Classy Night Time Look
For the first look I combined one of my favorite dresses (a slim fitting dress from COS) with a thrifted white Tommy Hilfiger blouse underneath. Especially during colder months, combining a dress with a blouse underneath is perfect for staying warm and wearing your dresses all year round. I combined this with some leggings, and some cozy white socks to match with the white blouse. Add on some trusty leather black boots, and the outfit is complete.
Day 2: Exploring the Iconic Sights
Outfit: A Comfy London Look
We walked over 30.000 steps this day, so I was quite happy with this comfortable sight-seeing look. I started with a versatile pair of light wash, wide legged jeans from Only and combined them with one of my favorite sweaters currently. The black and white stripes are timeless, and the material is really soft and comfortable to wear out. I recommend wearing a blouse or t-shirt underneath as layering is key with London’s unpredictable weather. To top off this look I added my long black coat, and boots.
If you have extra space in your suitcase, perhaps swap out the boots with some sneakers for an even more laid back look.
Day 3: Cultural Adventures
Outfit: A Chic and Sophisticated Look
On our third day, we were going to visit the beautiful Natural History Museum. To match with the Victorian architecture, I re-styled my black dress with a red balloon sleeve blouse. This is one of my favorite looks, as the deep red colour really pops against the black, creating a vampire-esque feel. And of course, I wore some leggings and black boots underneath.
Day 4: Enjoying Afternoon Tea
Outfit: Casual and Relaxed, with a hint of chic
For this last look I combined a black maxi skirt with a split on the side with a white top. The maxi skirt is from Vanilia, and is made from really soft and stretchy material. The t-shirt has a more boxy, juxtaposing with the tight-fitted skirt. I wore my sweater over my shoulders to tie in the black on top, and (you guessed it) wore my boots underneath.
