February 6, 2019
Monday we chose some clothes for our heroine to pack on a springtime cruise to Italy and the islands near there; we used this lovely painting as our inspiration:
We left her with these clothes:
white cardigan – Lands’ End; grey cardigan – J.Crew; lace jacket – Fracomina; jacket – Lands’ End; navy short-sleeved shirt – Uniqlo; striped top – Lucky Brand; striped tee – Uniqlo; wrap dress – Lands’ End; floral paisley tee – Lucky Brand; grey tee – J.Crew; metallic cardigan – J.Crew; blush tee – J.Crew; tee shirt dress – Uniqlo; navy pants – Uniqlo; jeans – Lands’ End; navy skirt – Eileen Fisher; gingham pants – Uniqlo; white sleeveless shirt – Uniqlo; white pants – AG
So let’s start with shoes! They’re always the most difficult thing to pack – they take up a ton of space, and they make a great deal of difference in the appearance of an outfit. Dress shoes especially…
The dresses she is packing – and the navy skirt – can be worn with any of the 2nd layers. The lace jacket is quite dressy, and of course the denim jacket is quite casual. What shoes will work?
(of course, lots of tops can be worn with the navy skirt – I’m just using the navy top for illustrative purposes…)
lace jacket – Fracomina; metallic cardigan – J.Crew; white cardigan – Lands’ End; grey cardigan – J.Crew; denim jacket – Lands’ End; wrap dress – Lands’ End; navy short-sleeved shirt – Uniqlo; navy skirt – Eileen Fisher; tee shirt dress – Uniqlo; sandals – Nina; pumps – Pelle Moda
Similarly, our heroine has 4 pairs of pants, which could (in theory) support 4 pairs of shoes… If anybody was ever going to pack a ton of shoes, a cruise might be the perfect time; you can bring large luggage, and not have to move about and unpack repeatedly…
But for illustrative purposes, let’s try to just choose 2 pairs for her, okay?
navy linen blend pants – Uniqlo; gingham pants – Uniqlo; blush jeans – Lands’ End; white pants – AG; navy slip-on sneakers – Dansko; blush slip-on sneakers – Naturalizer
Okay, what else does she need? I think that there are 4 essentials that pretty much any travel capsule wardrobe should include:
earrings – Dana Rebecca Designs; hat – Rag & Bone; sunglasses – Oliver Peoples; watch – Skagen
And handbags! When I’m sightseeing, I particularly like to carry (wear?) a cross-body bag. Free hands are… freeing! Since we know that this heroine is going to be dressing up, a pretty evening bag is a nice thing to include, too.
nylon day bag – Longchamp; evening bag – Ted Baker London
Realistically, this might be plenty of accessories. But I love the really pretty things – the scarves and jewelry that don’t take up much space, and that add quite a bit to any ensemble…
necklace – Latelita; bracelet – Kendra Scott; blush earrings – Kendra Scott; pastel striped scarf – Nordstrom; rose gold stud earrings – Karine Sultan; navy print scarf – Kate Spade New York
Putting these images together is kind of a project, but I love how much more complete these travel capsule wardrobe look when you put the accessories with the clothes!
Maybe the best approach to ensuring that you’ve packed enough accessories – and the right ones – is to look at your planned outfits and see how the accessories fit in:
Wouldn’t it be fun to pull one of these outfits from your little cruise ship closet, and spend the day sightseeing, dining, and enjoying life?
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
I think you could leave the pumps at home and still be completely covered for all occasions.
This color scheme just does not look like the Mediterranean to me. It’s very drab. Maybe it’s just because of our long, awful winter but I am craving bright color (and I ordinarily choose muted colors). I recently thrifted very nice orange and turquoise pieces for a trip to Mexico. Not a big cash outlay and they can be donated back again. Just my two cents.
Talk about a great rabbit hole I just went down looking at the cross bodice dress – got it in coral AND a pair of wide legged black cord pants because black cord. :-) PS and just wrecked my no shopping commitment . . . oh well . . . tomorrow is another day.
Nice selection for a cruise. We cruise a lot so I would suggest a couple of items:
– a gauzy dress to wear as pool cover up, very casual dining, robe.
– a swimsuit
– tank top and shorts for daytime sea days
– a pashima or large scarf for air conditioning theaters
– swap navy kitten heels for metallic wedges (kitten heels and moving ships are not a good combination), metallic wedges elevates the jeans to dressy casual
– swap navy clutch to metallic crossbody bag
– best non- clothing item to pack is battery operated tea lights for night lights in cabin.
I like the mixing and matching possible in this wardrobe and there’s a definite nautical vibe. But as a frequent cruiser, I agree, Annie, with your suggestions. I always bring dressy sandals instead of heels, a comfortable pair of walking shoes (for both touring ashore and exercising on board), a caftan (for pool cover up and robe), a multi-use shawl, and a small crossover or wristlet dressy bag for evenings (only one large enough for room key card and reading glasses and a lipstick) that’s easily worn for dancing. I also look for fabrics that are easy to wash and quick to dry, especially on long cruises. And I always bring at least two very different pairs of sunglasses, the best way I know to change a look with the least amount of luggage real estate.
Ideal and great choice of accessories !
Thank you, Janice, it’s a pleasure !
The only things I would add for a project like this one are :
– a raincoat (marine blue, for example)
– ankle boots
It can rain even in Italy.
When packing a minimal wardrobe, choosing accessories is the most fun part, for me. Earrings, scarves, bangles and necklaces — but especially scarves — can ring the changes beautifully without adding much weight. I think you’ve chosen excellent pieces for this pretty collection. And I’m impressed by the (to me) unusual choice of blush with navy. There is always food for thought at TVF.
There is an Edouard Manet in the Art Institute of Chicago that I would love to see as a summer wardrobe inspiration: “Seascape, Calm Weather,” 1864-65. Greys, sea-greens, blue-greens, white or pale grey… just extraordinary possibilities there.
And the above image by Caillebotte is very sweet, with pink and perhaps a lot of taupe in the background? I can see this as part of a ‘romantic’ story, with bows and hearts, very Valentine’s Day. Or going with the taupe, sea glass green, and ivory (of the pitchers and bowls), very cool summer colors. Thanks for the inspiration, but there is no way to stop buying when the inspiration is as good as this.
Blush and navy is probably my all time favourite colour combination and definitely the one staple I go to when I don’t know what to wear.
Great picks! I especially love the pink trilby x
The blush is lovely. I like the blush, navy, white groupings but the gray seems wintry and dull for a Mediterranean cruise in spring; I would prefer a pale green instead. I agree absolutely with Annie — best not to wear skinny heels on board a ship— I would substitute comfy metallic sandals (and evening bag) for the navy heels.
A lady on a cruise always needs deck shoes, and both pairs would be better than one. She’ll be walkng a lot on excursions.
I love all your capsule wardrobes, but this is EXACTLY what I need for a trip to Italy in May!!!
Thank you for all your suggestions. LOVE the colors & combinations & outfit recommendations!!!
You’re welcome! How nice to look at comments for a few moments on my vacation and see that you’re happy…
hugs,
Janice
I love this wrap dress, it’s perfect. I always put socks or other small items in shoes to use up the space.
I just love this whole wardrobe so much. I would pack it all and exactly as shown.
A word of caution to my fellow readers: I am 5’7” and I bought the navy wrap Lands End dress. It’s too short. I WISH I had bought it in TALL.
Among my people, 5 foot 7 inches is TALL.
Good advice…
hugs,
Janice
This is so helpful! Going on my Caribbean cruise in a few weeks, no idea how I can put everything in 1 luggage)))