UK Trip: Travel Wardrobe

Inspiration struck today as I was contemplating my next trip. When I began this fun project, I mistakenly thought I was leaving in two weeks, bound for Ireland, Scotland and England. I realized halfway through that I fly out in three weeks. No matter! I still enjoyed staying in fashion mode today, and planning what clothes to pack for my next adventure.

There are two reasons why I wanted to lay out clothes this afternoon, and get an idea of what I would be packing:

One…although my mom, sisters, niece and I will be in the UK in early September, which is still very warm here in the US, it will be much cooler in Ireland, Scotland and England. It is cool and rainy, necessitating warmer clothes. Layering long sleeves under light weight jackets works well.

I'm watching the weather in all three countries as we prepare to visit. Their current daytime temps are in the 60s. Scotland is low 60s. And this is their summertime as well! We will be outdoors much of the time. I want to have appropriate clothing.

And two…I am smaller than I was last fall. However, as I sorted through long sleeved shirts and sweaters and jackets, I decided that rather than buy new clothes, I would play, and be creative, and see if I could make what I already have, work.

Playing the wardrobe queen, here are some of the outfits I put together for fall in the UK:

I love this lightweight, white linen shirt. I bought it in Italy. However, it's too big. I've enjoyed wearing it at night before bed, as a lounging shirt. Playing with it this afternoon, I discovered that if I gather the excess material and knot it, it looks pretty cute, especially paired with a cream colored boho jacket.

This lightweight sweater, purchased with the linen top above, is too large as well. However, it works when layered over a white fitted long sleeved T shirt.

And knotting the linen shirt inspired me to tie the ends together on this oversized knit jacket, snugging it up. It does well with a silky short sleeved T shirt.

I played with arranging complete outfits on the bed, to take pics. I've seen these outfit "boards" on Pinterest. While they were fun to create, it was more difficult to arrange the clothes than I thought it would be! And my cat Rilynn had to be put outside. She wanted to curl up on my clothes.

These outfits are perfect for crisp days, out sightseeing!

The linen shirt works equally well with a lightweight cardigan.

I'm excited to wear the plaid poncho. It's not my clan's tartan, but it will serve me well on chilly evenings or rainy afternoons. I can easily fold it away if the weather clears. In fact, I intend to carry this wrap onto the plane and let it double as a blanket. I get cold during the flight.

I had fun today, thinking of new ways to create outfits that will travel well. As I did when I visited Italy, I'll only be packing a carry on. I tried on and played with a variety of clothes today. A few were simply too big and I'll be donating those. I couldn't do anything with them. However, the rest will work. Twelve shirts, several light weight jackets, and two pairs of jeans made the cut. That's all I need.

In three weeks, the packing will begin, in earnest. I'm so excited about this next adventure!