About Me

My photo
Los Olivos, California, United States
You can reach me at fool4fabric (at) gmail (dot) com

Sunday, September 9, 2012

What's in the Suitcase?

I spent yesterday making my final decisions for the Sicily travel wardrobe. I tried everything on, on Friday, photographed the outfits, removed a few items, added one, then packed them all in my suitcase. They fit with room to spare! I take a 25" wheeled suitcase, which I check in, and I carry on a medium size tote. No purses on my trips.

Here is the final storyboard:


I added back in the black twill ankle pants...the Eileen Fisher slim knit pants are quite dressy, and the microfiber pants are fairly wide. I normally don't take white items, but this trip promises to be a little more "civilized" than usual, we are staying in just a few good quality hotels with laundry facilities, and I have armed myself with a Tide-to-go and a bleach pen!

Some outfit pictures:



























These items are all RTW from my daily wardrobe.
Since quite a few people have asked how I determine what my travel wardrobe will consist of, here are a few determining factors:

1. I wear on a trip what I wear at home. No clothes set aside for travel only.
2. I tend to "dress up" slightly; when I began traveling in India in the '90s, I found the best way to
   connect with the women (which is a huge reason why I went 7 times!) was to wear pretty clothes
   and jewelry. You don't need to speak each others' language to express admiration for color and style.
3. I don't take expensive jewelry or clothing; Chico's from eBay things work just fine! and I take scarves for color...
4. I usually wear black and white (you noticed?) with another color...lately red, in the past, a burgundy
   or plum.
5. I rarely wear anything that is heavy or stiff; the soft cotton, rayon or silk items pack easily and don't
   weigh very much.
6. I wear my passport, credit card and currency around my neck, under my clothes, in a lightweight silk
    neck pouch. I keep a small wallet in my tote for small amounts of currency. Nothing that would be
   devastating to lose.
7. I wash out undies in the shower. I usually take 2 bras, 4-6 pair of panties.

These are the items I've made, which you probably have seen on my blog already...





My jackets and vest have lots of pockets, inside and out, some sized to fit specific
things, like boarding passes, passport (when I have to have it ready
to show), lipstick, sunglasses, etc. 




I often wear a lightweight shirt over a tank top or shell; I find it's cooler and I spare the world the sight of my upper arms!


















Just the shirt is going...linen doesn't pack too well, IMHO...rayon, cotton and silk, on the other hand, 
hang out nicely, sometimes with help from the shower steam.

The shoes that made the cut...they're all pretty light weight, rigorously tested for comfort, and go with all the clothes. The red ECCO's on the left are what I wear every day to walk my 4 miles.
The scarves, including a black pashmina that I take on the plane in case it's too cold.

And my bracelets (not ALL!) which are lightweight and don't set off the airport alarms...

This is what I'm wearing on the flight to Rome:
The pants (RTW) are knit ponte, the tee (also RTW) is silk knit, and I will put the jacket in the compartment above for the flight. I intend to be comfortable for 9+ hours!

If this looks too match-matchy for your taste, it could have been worse...I could have taken this tote
and this purse

I'll be starting up my travel blog, Where in the World Are We?, in the next few days...come along for the trip!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

One more thing... and Happy Anniversary, Fool 4 Fabric!

Well, this is definitely the LAST thing I sew before I leave next Tuesday! It is, once again, a travel jacket with mucho pockets...based on, of course, my beloved TNT, B5526, View C; I made it in a favorite fabric, a black and white stretch denim from Sewing Workshop. Coincidentally, my FIRST BLOG POST, a year ago this month, was a tote made from the same fabric, although I got the fabric for that project from Emma One Sock. Obviously I loved the fabric, wherever I could get it!





I used a wonderful, at least 25 years old, red with white polka dots rayon crepe for the lining; I have been saving this fabric for the perfect thing, and this was it!

 I added all my favorite travel pockets, inside and outside, and am happy to announce that THIS one is going to Sicily, on my back!






I tried something new for analyzing my travel wardrobe; I made a storyboard, which really helped to find the holes and duplicates in what i had planned. Here is a rough picture of my storyboard:


It also helped to have my friend Sharon, from Communing with Fabric, eyeball this several times and give me her opinion...sometimes I get so caught up in what I'm doing, I can't see the forest for the trees!

I hope to take pictures of my final wardrobe in the next few days; I'll be finalizing and adding/subtracting until the last minute, I'm sure!  My travel blog, Where In The World Are We?, will begin next Tuesday, in case you're interested in following me (and my clothes!) on our trip to Sicily!