How To Pack to your traveling wardrobe – now that you have determined what you need, how do you get it in a single suitcase?
* Plan on wearing your bulkiest items, and consider wearing the same outfit home as you wear on your first travel day. This eliminates an entire extra outfit.
1. Roll softer garments and fold more rigid ones. Underwear, T-shirts, jeans, cotton pants, and knitwear won’t wrinkle when rolled tightly, says Judy Gilford, author of “The Packing Book” ($13, amazon.com). Items such as jackets, dressy pants, and skirts should be carefully folded.
2. Place shoes along the walls of the suitcase. You can use the shoes as storage for items such as phone chargers and socks/hose. Placing the shoes in plastic bags also provides a storage for your dirty laundry on the return home.
3. Place the remaining rolled items in the center bottom of the bag. These provide the base for the next layer of packing.
4. Folded garments come next. You will want to start with the longest items, like skirts and pants. Stack the garments on top of each other, alternating waistbands with hems which will keep your garments flush with the suitcase. Also include a layer of plastic between each folded item; dry cleaning bags are a perfect packing aide, they prevent wrinkles by allowing the fabric to move easily as your bag is moved from place to place. (FYI – wrinkles are not generally caused by folding and packing but instead wrinkling occurs when the garments are packed on top of one another. Also, as your bag makes its way to your destination the garments don’t stay in one place long enough for those unwanted creases to set in.) Next lay your long sleeve blouse or shirt open with the collar facing the hinge of the bag; simply fold the collar over toward the center and then bring each arm to the center and then fold the piece in half. This gives you a nice flat fold that also helps with keeping your suitcase manageable.
5. Snake belts around the perimeter of your bag. This takes up much less room than rolling and prevents creasing of your leather.
6. Toiletries – pack them in the corners of the bag or the outside pocket. Zip lock bags work great for preventing potential leakage onto other items.
7. Make up – ask your favorite cosmetic counter rep for samples of the items you use. Depending on the brand, you will often get foundation, mascara, blush and powder, these bottles can then be disposed of at the end of your trip(ask for a few extra in the foundation if you wear every day as 1 sample bottle generally will last 2-3 days). Another idea is when you get that free “gift with purchase”, yes we all tend to be willing to spend that extra money for that “free” gift bag, save the cosmetics for travel. If samples are not available – Evelyn Hannon, creator of journeywoman.com, a travel-advice website, believes in Japonesque’s Gotta Go Weekend Travel Bag ($20, amazon.com). This bag, which I own, is only four inches high by four inches wide and it contains eight clear containers for lotions, shampoo, moisturizer and other necessary items. Be sure when filling the bottles you only fill them three-quarters full, if your bag is checked it will be in a compartment with no pressure and the liquids will expand as the bottle is squeezed and can cause a major mess in your bag.
*As an added FYI – if you are traveling to or from cold or cooler weather, consider a cashmere wrap instead of a coat. It does not have to be packed, serves as a blanket on a chilly airplane and is so much more comfortable than those tacky airline blankets that you don’t know who has been sleeping under. Also, layered with sweaters can be as warm as a coat, especially if you are returning from a wonderful Caribbean vacation and you’ve forgotten that it is still snowing at home.
