Gayle HWe spend a lot of our time traveling. We travel to Rj’s Art Shows. I travel for Thrive Global presentations. We travel to our vacation destinations. We travel as our vacation destination!
Whether by train, plane or automobile (or our feet!), we are on the road in some way shape or form six months out of a calendar year.
We hike. We ride for hours in a truck. We walk Disney World. We explore Paris. We lay on a beach. We go out for dinner. We set a mobile gallery up and sell fine art photography. I stand in front of a dozens to hundreds of people and help them Thrive.
We cover a lot of ground – literally and figuratively.
For anyone who has ever travelled anywhere for any reason, you know how important the right wardrobe is to the success of your trip!
When packing one needs to consider:
- Comfort
- Size of suitcase
- Travel medium – plane, train, automobile, feet
- Type of wardrobe requirements – professional, athletic, beach bum, dress up
- Access to washing machine opportunities
- Weather
- Other variables specific to your trip
Over the years, we’ve gotten pretty good at the travel wardrobe game. There’s nothing like a 365 day trip around the world with just a backpack that helps one become an expert at wardrobe versatility and packing in very small spaces!
I have found a few clothing brands that pack easily, do not require a lot of fussing (i.e.: ironing, dry-cleaning, etc.), are so very comfortable, can be dressed up, used for a travel day, work for roaming around Paris or hiking in the Alps AND are my ‘show clothes’ when on site doing Art Shows.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Athleta
Athleta brand covers a lot of ground. What started as a lower cost competitor to LuLuLemon for yoga/workout clothes has become my go to brand for pretty much any activity I may have planned on any given day.
Their leggings are fun! And fun leggings serve multiple purposes – looking good but feeling comfy while traveling on any train/plane/automobile, hiking, exercising, yoga class, or simply doing a day of errands on a longer art show road trip. I also wear these for the art shows – I can do tent set up and tear down in them, then simply change from a t-shirt to one of their more stylish tops and look very ‘art chick meets over 50 professional life coach selling my husbands art’.
Their city line covers almost anything you may need for a day of city exploring (think museum to walking through parks to having your cocktails to then going for dinner) – and look great with a comfortable pair of shoes.
And last year I added their hiking pants to my line up! These pants are amazing – light, easy to rinse out at the end of a dirty day, large waistband with zippers/buttons/snaps so that buckling a back pack belt round your waist is easy (and yeah, that waistband accommodates the extra bread and cheese you invariably eat when hiking!).
Fabletics
I want to look like Kate Hudson. But since I’m not sure that will happen, I am at least happy to wear her clothes.
I really only use Fabletics for leggings because I find her other clothing to be a bit ‘young’ for me personally. But I buy enough leggings every year to also benefit from the VIP specials she offers – which are usually free bags or coats for $20.
As noted with Athleta, the funner the print on the legging the better they are for versatility! Additionally Kate’s leggings come with an option for a higher waisted legging that has some pretty amazing ‘suck it in’ abilities. I think her patterns are even more fun than Athleta – for those days when I’m feeling more hippie chick than work out girl.
And her bags are great (when you get them for free because you bought so many leggings) – fashion backpacks and weekender bags have helped me travel in style at no cost.
And her coats? I wouldn’t pay full price for them, but for $20 (on clearance or with VIP points), you can easily fill out a missing wardrobe link that may not be a necessity, but a nice to have.
DSW
I am NOT a shoe shopper! Ask anyone who used to work with me back in my corporate days – I always had the worst shoes in the room. No kidding. Jimmy Choo and I just never got along.
So when it comes to shoes I need a wide selection and an easy place to shop for them. I need to find those shoes that make me look somewhat stylish but have outrageous comfort. I need to find shoes I can wear walking around Paris without being run out of the country, but then be able to wear those same shoes through the airport – oh yeah, and hopefully they look good with leggings!
Because not only do I hate shoes but shoes take up a lot of room in a carry-on bag.
I admit – I do all of my shoe shopping at DSW (except my running sneakers that I order off of Amazon because I’ve worn the same style for 10 years). They have a huge selection at the right price.
I am not getting paid by Athleta, Fabletics or DSW for this post (though I’m hopeful they will pay me in clothing someday!).
I’m simply a 52 year old woman who travels a lot, likes to look good, be comfortable, not spend a fortune on wardrobe, pack light, have loads of options, hide a few body parts, and take up as little packing room as possible.
Gayle H
