Hi People!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for all of you choosing to lay your precious eyeballs on this email, even if just for a moment. Remember when we used to get a week off all responsibilities for Thanksgiving break? That was fun. I had an extremely hectic work schedule last week, so this week’s newsletter is short and sweet. I know many people are traveling less than they normally would this holiday season, but I hope my packing method of choice will be helpful to you at some point in the future!
A packing method for people who hate packing but love getting dressed
I have a very love/hate relationship with packing. I love helping other people pack for their trips. I know that probably sounds like a cruel and specific hell for most people, but I find it much much more enjoyable than packing for myself. Growing up, when my mom would take vacations, we’d spend an entire day planning outfits for her every excursion. We even photographed them and put them in a little binder, so she wouldn’t mess up my masterpieces. But I think this has more to do with my desperate need to give my opinion constantly than actually enjoying the process of packing. When it comes to myself, I have a much much harder time picking out my outfits in advance. As I’ve mentioned in many a newsletter, I mostly get dressed based on how I feel, so planning exact outfits for each day of a trip just feels wrong to me. Or maybe I’m just lazy and using this as an excuse. Either way, the packing method I’ve developed over the last couple of years remedies both of these issues, and that method is just throw whatever you feel like packing in a bag and go. If this sounds chaotic and impractical that’s because it is. Which is why I like it so much.
Maybe this is how most people pack to begin with, haphazardly throwing half their wardrobe into a bag, but I’m not advocating for over-packing. I think forcing yourself to pare it down to what you practically need without thinking through the outfit logistics too much is a better creative exercise. Here’s the math: if I’m leaving for a seven day trip, I will pack no more than seven tops and seven bottoms. Subtract one of each for every dress packed. I try to stick with no more than three jackets and three pairs of shoes (about half the number of days, but we know what a pain in the ass shoes are to pack). Two bags (one for day and one for night) is usually plenty, but pack as much jewelry/small accessories as you want. They take up very little space in your suitcase, and the right accessories can make almost any clothing combination you end up with work.
Realistically, I’ll probably still have more than I’ll actually wear, but at least I’m setting some boundaries. If you give yourself too many options, you’ll only be more stressed out when you arrive, losing the viable options in the sea of things that you panic packed. This practice is a little easier to illustrate when you have a readily inspiring destination in mind. A trip to the beach or the mountains or an iconic city evokes certain imagery you can play on in your wardrobe. My top seven shirts are going to be wildly different for a getaway to Tulum than a trip to Paris, but once you have that aesthetic in mind just grab the first things that jump out at you. Don’t overthink it, and don’t stress about how they’ll go together. At the end of the day, you’re the one who picked all of these things out, so they probably have more common threads running through them than you’d think. You’ll come up with better combinations than you could’ve imagined because you’ll be forced to look at things a little differently and step outside your comfort zone.
But what if I don’t have a closet full of clothes of varying moods to suit every destination? Aesthetics or moods or whatever you want to call them are a spectrum. You certainly have some styles that are better suited for Tokyo than Los Angeles, even if they’re just degrees of difference from each other. But if you truly can’t make decisions based on that premise, just go with your favorites. You want to feel good when you arrive at your destination, so when in doubt, stick with the go-tos that always make you a little bit happier just by putting them on. Again, by picking your favorite pieces individually, instead of with whatever items you’d typically pair them with, you’ll discover new ways to wear your usual staples that make them feel fresh and exciting again.
But what if I’m not going somewhere inspiring? Every destination is inspiring if you look hard enough!!! I faced this exact dilemma when packing up to head back to Shreveport for Thanksgiving. Out of pure laziness, part of me was tempted to pack little to nothing and just make do with whatever random stuff I left behind when I moved to Dallas, and it felt almost appropriate for a low key trip to work from home in my childhood bedroom. But I know that’s not how I wanted to feel on this trip, so I dug a little deeper. I wanted some casual, comfortable items for working during the day and watching Real Housewives of New York at night, but I also wanted some more festive pieces for celebrating Thanksgiving. Instead of coming up with specific looks for working from home or planning out my exact outfit for Thanksgiving day, I grabbed the first things that came to mind for each of those moods. Below is my virtual suitcase which I think turned out to be a nice blend of both. I’ll keep you posted on the new and exciting outfit combinations. And if you’re still reallyyyyyyy uninspired, go with your favorites as explained above.
My final words of advice: roll your clothing instead of folding it (thank you Mimi) and don’t forget to pack undies!
More gift ideas
A Piera Bochner candle for the person whose dog is “so ugly it’s cute.”
A chic and modern glasses chain for the person who loses their glasses even when they’re sitting right on their face.
A disco-themed Piecework Puzzle for the person who really really misses the clurb.
A Something Special subscription by Brother Vellies that delivers a different item from their international artisans each month for the person who won’t shut up about their semester abroad.
A P’Jimmies pajama jumpsuit by Alex Mill for the person who loves Jimmy Fallon but also loves sleep so much that they never stay up late enough for his show.
An Olive & June pedicure set for the person who really let their feet go during quarantine (or is trying to make a few extra bucks on foot pics).
Recs of the week
Watch The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. I have literally never ever had any interest in chess at all, but now I have an app to play it on my phone. (I never win.)
Follow @elizcardinal on Instagram in preparation for Black Friday. I have no official confirmation on this, but she usually posts great sale finds.
Listen to the Second Life podcast episode with Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies. She has been doing some incredible work to support Black-owned businesses and generally has a lot of wisdom to share
Read Haley Nahman’s latest Maybe Baby newsletter. The idea of performing versus existing and how it’s exacerbated because of social media is always intriguing to me.
That’s all for this week folks! Let me know what you think of my packing method and if you would embrace it for your next trip. If you’d like to go the more meticulous route like my mom and her binders, I’d be happy to help you out with that too. Thanks for hanging around for another newsletter, and as always, I’m open to any topic suggestions or questions you may have via email reply, comment, or Instagram DM. Happy Thanksgiving, and have a great week!
Cheers,
Maddy