Every time I go to Europe for a week with just a carry on suitcase (and a purse as my personal item) I get asked for a detailed rundown of how that’s possible. (There have been two times. That made it sound like I go every month.) But I’ve definitely worked out a packing method that allows me to travel lightly and have lots of outfit options that I love wearing. I even made a video to show you how my clothes for a full week all fit into just two packing cubes (really!). So let’s get into it.
I went on this trip with three friends: Elsie & Emma from A Beautiful Mess, and Elise from Elise Joy And yes, all old school bloggers know that we’re known as first name + the name of our blog. Ha! The four of us consider ourselves to be art and food enthusiasts, so our goal was to see some beautiful paintings in a few bucket list museums and galleries while eating our way around two gorgeous Italian cities (Florence & Venice). Mission accomplished! But the post with all of those trip details is up next. Back to what the heck I packed.
Where I Started
We used a travel agent to book this trip nearly a year ago, and she wrote in her little “Italy: Know Before You Go” packet that the clothing we pack should ideally be “smart neutrals.” It felt like when you get invited to a party with a theme like “seventies formal” and you have to decode it.
After some Googling, it appeared that people just dress up a little in Italy. Not a formal gown and suit situation, but for example, I didn’t see jean shorts or short denim skirts anywhere. Plus the mornings would be chilly, so I knew I’d like having my legs covered anyway.
It was typically more dressy jeans, tailored jackets, layers of things so you’re comfortable, and easy to wear (but not ratty looking) shoes. In my head I called it “Banana Republic outfits.” You know how they have dressier jeans you can wear to a corporate job, nice jackets, pretty tanks and tops? That’s what the mood board in my head landed on as “smart neutrals.” And of course by this point you know that I consider leopard print to be a neutral…
Maybe for rizz (that one’s for the kids) I should mention that there were at least a few times that someone assumed I was a local and came up to me and spoke entirely in Italian, so I don’t think I completely bombed the Italian wardrobe test. (Fantastico!) Anyway, here’s what I ended up wearing each day of the trip.
What I Packed: An Itemized List
Note: Many links in this post are to similar items because I love wearing clothes for many years, so lots of mine are no longer sold.
- 1. Leopard coat (similar)
- 2. Tweed blazer (similar)
- 3. Leopard sweater (similar)
- 4. Red tank, black tank & tan tank (similar)
- 5. Black sweater (similar)
- 6. Blue sleeveless top (similar)
- 7. Floral mesh top (similar)
- 8. Denim wide leg jeans
- 9. Brown wide leg jeans (similar)
- 10. Wine maxi skirt
- 11. Leopard maxi skirt (similar)
- 12. Small gold hoop earrings
- 13. Large gold hoop earrings
- 14. Green sunglasses (similar)
- 15. Black leather boots
- 16. Brown suede zip boots
- 17. Small sling bag (similar)
- 18. Crescent sling bag
I LOVED the flexibility of having a few of each item in each category. Depending on the day’s itinerary, I could choose a thicker blazer or my thinner leopard jacket, my extra comfortable rubber sole boots or my low heeled black boots, some jeans or a long silky skirt, my larger purse for holding more stuff or my smaller crossbody bag. So many choices!
How I Fit It All In My Suitcase (on Video!)
A video is worth 1000 pictures, so John stood on a chair and recorded me from above as I attempted to show you how I got all of these clothes into just two packing cubes. I also shared how I make the most of every square inch (I have a sock trick I love) and demonstrated how I roll my skirts on camera. Just excuse my brain fart when I’m showing you brown jeans and saying I wore them on the plane (I wore my blue ones, and packed the brown ones). But you can easily see how it all fits with room to spare!
Note: You can also watch this video on YouTube.
Putting It All Together
Since I traveled with one set of boots on my actual feet (along with one pair of jeans, a black tank, and a jacket) and because silk skirts and tank tops are SO SMALL it’s incredible – I just roll them and they take up literally no space) I had room to spare in my suitcase! Which came in handy because I actually bought myself a purse and lots of cute little things for the kids and John along my travels.
In fact everything in my suitcase fit into two of the largest size of the packing cubes in this set! TWO! I also had a toiletry bag in there (and some adapters and chargers in my personal item, which is a large weekender bag, but we’ll get to that in a second).
Back to the clothing items I packed. You can see the outfit combos below that I landed on for each day of the trip (the last three had to be recreated at home in my room because I got progressively worse at remembering to take photos each day). Pasta brain… amIright?
Packing For Weather
Since I was there in mid-October, the mornings started somewhat chilly but then it got nice and sunny and around 65 to 70 at the midday point – which is why layering comes in clutch.
Above you can see how a red tank made that outfit feel a little more fun – and it’s just so flexible to add a jacket or sweater if you’re chilly.
By the middle of the day it felt downright warm! Which explains why in the photo below, I just had a tan tank top on while getting another tiny tattoo (Elsie and I got one them together in France, which started the tattoos-when-we-travel tradition. Emma got one with us too this time!). They had a little coat rack in the tattoo studio for everyone’s jackets, so that’s where all of ours were. Layers: they work.
As you can see in the little collaged graphic of my outfits that I made for you, 5 out of the 7 days had a jacket (like this one or this one) layered over a tank or a tee, that I could remove to adapt throughout the day. The other two days I had thin sweaters on (like this and this), and just rolled the sleeves, which was great in the fall climate.
Packing For Style
I also included a few more interesting pieces in my suitcase – like a red tank top and a blue sleeveless top, along with a floral shirt, and a bolder leopard skirt and jacket. They added a little something extra to the other more neutral items I packed. From afar the collage of all my outfits might look somewhat drab, but up close a lot of items had more interest – like my plaid blazer that has brown, black, and bright blue streaks in it. Plus maroon! Literally every color of everything I packed basically.
While I went for some more interesting accent pieces, I aimed for “basic” when it came to my bags (like this one and this one) and shoes (these are my exact black boots and my exact brown ones). Choosing something classic and not too wild for those two categories made them all interchangeable for the most part – which just made things super easy for me.
Oh and for a dose of the unexpected (in a very low stakes way, which also took up like zero packing room), I added in some green sunglasses (these are similar). They were a neutral enough tone that they worked with everything I had – and sometimes it’s nice to choose one accessory that doesn’t match anything else for a little bit of whimsy or surprise. (*She whispered “live a little” as she tucked her green glasses into her purse*).
If you want to test if your one little unexpected item works with everything else, just lay that item on the bed when you’re packing and you can pretty quickly see if it works or absolutely does not. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my green glasses looked good in the mix, so into my bag they went.
I also packed two different sets of gold earrings (the smaller chunky gold hoops that you see above and the larger gold hoops that you see below) just to give myself a few more options along the way.
Those earrings were both in my toiletry bag in a little pouch (I love using these to stay organized). Otherwise, I had my default everyday earrings in my ears (for travel days and some days of the trip where I didn’t opt for my bigger gold earrings). This blurry cropped photo below shows you what my normal earring situation is when I don’t swap out the first hole for something that makes more of a statement:
Packing For Comfort
Comfort is at the root of every packing choice I make, and both boot options were extremely easy to wear because the pointy toe boots have a verrrrrry low heel (like I almost feels like no heel at all when they’re on) and my zip boots are squishy platforms with a great rubber sole that almost feel like sneakers when they’re on.
You can essentially get the drift of my method from this grid of photos I’m including again below for your convenience, but almost every day I alternated my shoes, just to give my feet a refreshing shoe change instead of pounding the pavement in the same pair over and over again.
Every trip I’ve taken to Europe ends up being a ton of walking, so I think every footwear option you pack should be “peak comfy.” It’s not a time to test out new shoes you got just for the trip (I know, the urge to get new things for a vacation is strong – so maybe go with a clothing item, but stick with tried and true shoes). I always pack what I know my feet like and have walked a lot in already, and I ended up walking for miles each day in both of these shoe choices (we averaged about 8 miles a day and even did over 10 miles one day!).
I knew from the itinerary which day that extra long walking event was happening (we walked many miles in the hopes of good thrifting), so I strategically had my platform boots and a silk skirt on, and felt great all day long. Literally, they’re like a sneaker and a silk skirt is so breezy and comfortable to wear, even though it looks nice and tailored.
There is a certain easy brilliance to basically doing this outfit twice in the week, but with a different skirt and top. Same ease and comfort (and exactly the same boots!). And again, silk skirts roll up to be SO SMALL in a suitcase. (I’ll show you that in a video later in this post). Like I think you’d need to pack 5 of them to take up the space of one pair of jeans.
A Quick Thesis On The Pitfalls of “More Options”
It seems like the best outcome of packing for a trip is to arrive there and feel like you have a lot of comfortable options that you actually enjoy wearing and feel great in. “Options” seems to be a key phrase, right? People worry they’ll forget something or not have “enough options.” And in the name of “HAVING MORE OPTIONS!!!!” I think the urge can be strong to pack a ton of different things due to it feeling like that gives you… more options. Why not bring a variety of things that are showstopping stand-alone items?!
So for example, you might toss a pair of gray snakeskin boots and a bold black and white dress and a purse that’s cream and a purse that’s brown. Lots of colors and patterns! That means lots of items, right? I absolutely see why that’s an instinct someone might have – but sometimes it just gets more complicated (and you end up with FEWER options) because certain pairings don’t really work together at all.
For example, you might be like… crap my gray snakeskin boots would go better with a black bag, but I packed a cream bag and a brown bag. Or you might want to wear your bold patterned dress with simple black(and not snakeskin) boots. Or you might think through how every item has specific pieces that only go with that item… which is exactly why you can’t get seven days of clothes into a carry-on (because you’re bringing 7 stand-alone outfits without reusing a single bag or shoe or jacket or jean). Strategic layering and mixing and matching really is the key to packing light.
It’s nice and brainless to add shoes and a bag in the same color so they always go together effortlessly. These are the things that tie your other items together, if that makes sense. Instead of having a cream purse you keep not wearing because you’re like… it doesn’t really go as well with everything else I packed.
In this case, I packed brown boots and black boots, along with two black purses (this one and a similar smaller one). Why? Because I looked at the clothes I wanted to bring and they basically all go with both brown and black – in fact, a lot of them have black & brown tones in the same item (the leopard jacket, skirt, and sweater all have black AND brown in them – along with the plaid jacket!). So I knew either boot or bag would tie right into basically everything in my suitcase.
Why I Aim For “Harmonic Packing” Instead
So instead of going for “a variety of options” that feel all over the place when it comes to color and print and style, I aim for things that can literally go with ANYTHING ELSE in my suitcase. My skirts and jeans could be paired with nearly any of the tops I packed. It’s delightfully brainless and that feels like it’s THE MOST FLEXIBLE.
Because if you want to get mathy, with 4 tops and 4 different bottoms to choose from I had 16 different outfit pairings in my carry on! And then if you add in the fact that I could layer 2 different jackets to each of those combos if I wanted, that’s 32 different looks! You might say “well you wouldn’t put the leopard jacket with the leopard skirt – or the leopard skirt with the floral shirt” and you’re right. But pretty much every other combo is something I have and would wear!
Which means there were around 30 options for me in my suitcase (actually 60 if you count the 2 shoe options and 120 if you count the 2 purses – but let’s not get crazy). All of this is because I embraced harmony and items that can easily be paired in many different combinations instead of aiming for “so many different styles and colors and pattern options!”
Can someone pack a carry on with a ton of different colors and patterns and do it flawlesssly and have gobs of cool layered fashion-y outfits to wear? Yes, many very stylish people can. But I do not have the brain power for that and I like this method for myself because it feels easy and effortless. I don’t have to think too deeply about outfits, so I can focus on the important things. Like the pasta.
Packing & Travel Must Haves
I mentioned there were other things in my carry on suitcase (and my purse) besides just clothes and shoes. So here are some of my favorite travel items that make everything easier & keep me feeling extra efficient:
- Hard shell carry-on suitcase (we LOVE this)
- Similar weekender bag (I always use one as my personal item)
- European outlet adapters
- Portable charger
- Compact umbrella
- Plane snacks – shelled pistachios & protein bars
- Noise-cancelling headphones
- Toiletry bag
- Packing cubes
- Jewelry pouches
- Sleep mask
- Airtag
- Pashmina (I use one as a plane blanket)
Most of that is self explanatory, but I love small comforts on long flights, hence bringing a sleep mask, snacks, and a pashmina that rolls up so small but makes a great plane blanket. Noise-cancelling headphones are also A MUST for me. I tossed in the compact umbrella because fall in Italy can be rainy but we didn’t have a stich of rain. I think it’s because I brought it (ha!) so bring one and it hopefully won’t rain on you. That all fits easily into my weekender bag which I always like to use as my personal item.
We’ve had this suitcase, these packing cubes, and this toiletry bag for a while and LOVE them all. They just make packing easy and I always feel efficient (I swear packing cubes keep me much more organized and allow me to fit a lot more). And I love these jewelry pouches for stashing things like my two chunky gold earring pairs in my toiletry bag. They’re also handy to keep necklaces from tangling, for keeping earrings together, etc.
Bringing European adaptors is another must (even though I don’t travel with any electric items like a hair dryer or straightener, I always need them for charging my phone and my portable charger). Speaking of which, it’s always wise to have a portable charger in your purse every day when you’re travelling (I take so many more photos and videos so my battery drains a lot faster than it would at home!).
Oh and I mentioned I even had room in my suitcase to get some souvenirs for the kids and for John as well as buying myself a purse in Florence. The leather there is unbelievably gorgeous – so here’s the purse I bought!
We met a nice local man in a coffee shop, who recommended a few amazing dinner spots and later told us he owns a leather store after we bumped into him multiple times (he was like a kind grandpa, not a creepy dude). He was so sweet to offer us so many recommendations, that we stopped into his store and I couldn’t resist buying that bag. And surprise, surprise – it goes with everything else in my suitcase.
Other Trips & Travel Tips
Looking for more travel posts, including guides to some of our favorite places we’ve ever visited? Check out the links below and explore our complete travel archive.
- How I Packed Light For France
- Our Trip to Mexico with Kids… and a Dog!
- Costa Rica with Kids
- A Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina with Kids
- Palm Springs, California with Kids
- New Orleans With Kids
- A Girls’ Trip To Sedona
- 5 Things We Loved In Dallas, Texas
- Hawaii with a Toddler
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