A Few Larger Travel Recs, Still Under $100
Part 2!
Hi you summer babes. I’ve just woken up from my recovery nap after a red-eye flight from Reno back to New York City. I am bleary-eyed and slow-moving today, but my cup is very full (I swam in the very cold lake! Hiked across state-lines! Tubed down a very active river!). My seatmate, who boarded the plane wearing an In N’ Out paper hat (which, notably, he wore the entire flight, whilst enjoying Jet Blue’s free and unlimited sports coverage; I know this even as I was chasing sleep in a full eye mask), looked at me at one point and said, “Tahoe?” I nodded. “We gotta go back.” Indeed!
And now here I am, complete with a Teva-tan, returning to your inbox to shout out some of the larger hero pieces from my trip to the west coast. As I mentioned in Part 1, a busy and condensed work week prior to this trip had me packing in a hurry. Tahoe can have a temperature swing of ~40 degrees in the summer, and this, plus our slightly up-in-the-air schedule, left me guessing on what to pack. In the end, I went with a high ratio of my “regulars”, which I threw into my suitcase the night before we left with both love and haste.
So! What follows is a post-vacation recap, shouting out precisely those regulars that proved the most versatile across many scenarios. The creme-de-la-creme of my suitcase! Shared with you now as an ad-free exercise! I like to imagine the end of summer as a time for impromptu weekend travel (for those who can swing it), and my hope is that some of these recs might shorten your future packing times, and increase your personal odds for spontaneous getaway. Life is for living!
In no particular order:
1.) This T-shirt.
I’ve linked to this guy before (I’m wearing it in “Kalamata” in that issue). It’s a little oversized. It’s sheer without being too sheer. The weight is great for summer, unlike some of my thicker, boxier tees. And it’s nice enough that I could wear it with slacks or a skirt for dinner and feel easy/chic. Check, check, check.
2.) I know I said no ads, but I hype these pants so much Aritzia should really start giving me a kick-back.
I’ve talked about them a million times, but just to say, I wore these pants on the plane, I treated them like sweatpants on colder mornings, I wore them with a cropped vest, then with sandals and a button down. I really like that they pool a little bit, length-wise, so I went one size up, but otherwise I’d say order your regular size. (Ed Note: I *just* got a second pair of these in the taupe color, in the same size, and the fit is NOT like my first pair—the leg is both shorter and slimmer, similar to how it looks on the model. So if you order now, I actually DO recommend sizing up if you have long legs and don’t want the pants to flood.)
3.) It doesn’t have to be this bodysuit, but wow is a bodysuit good in a pinch.
Nice color, nice neckline, good weight to this fabric. [Can you believe it’s A&F????—but they make a nice bodysuit these days, what can I say? Here’s an article about the “unbranding” from their toxic past, if you’re interested.]
I was late getting my act together to leave for dinner one night, but I threw this on with jeans, a belt, some basic jewelry, and nice sandals in .5 seconds and was out the door! Which is why I don’t have a full outfit pic, sry, but here is me (on the right) two weeks prior, so you can see the full suit.
4.) This tank with nice lines.
Look at me pointing you towards another sale on accident! This tank has a nice shape and weight, which pushes it a touch above casual. IMO, a handy quality for items in a summer suitcase! Despite its name, I actually think it runs a little big—I am wearing a small above, and I think it fits like a medium. I am also going on a JOURNEY, apparently! Thank you to my SIL Julia for this photo story! Another outfit made possible by straight-leg jeans, a belt, a little jewelry, and a nice sandal. Speaking of…
5.) A delicate sandal.
I love TKEES. I love that they are simple and chic enough to wear with formal wear, and that they also dress up a casual outfit in a subtle way. I also like the very cushy soles! I kind of think you can’t go wrong with any pair—although a friend of mine with cute little feet says the toe loop sometimes slips off if she is sitting on a bar stool. (That would be about the pair on the far right. Those of you with tiny toots, you’ve been warned.) The ones I have (middle pair) are sold out in this color way, but there’s a bunch of good stuff on the site; take a little look around!
6.) A vintage leather blazer
Okayyyy this is vintage so I can’t link to the exact one! But I picked up this leather blazer at a vintage pop-up in my neighborhood in the spring, after adding “leather blazer/shirt” to my list two months prior. Sometimes with vintage you just have to wait for it to come to you!
I love this because it’s such a versatile outer layer—IMO, leather jackets in general make casual looks a little more polished, and formal looks a little more unexpected and cool. I think a longer line in the jacket (covering the tush or longer) makes a leather outer layer easier to pair with formalwear, too.
This is something I would not buy new! Buy it vintage! There is a treasure trove of 90s leather jackets out there that have already proven they can stand the test of time. Here, I did a little Etsy trolling for you: check out this one, or this guy in navy, or this which looks similar in cut to mine, or this pretty lady who’s only slightly over our $100 budget. Be sure to measure, measure, measure if you’re shopping vintage online! Or just come to Brooklyn, we have the jackets here.
7.) These jams!
A Christmas gift from my hip sister-in-law (Jules strikes again!), I love this set because it is really thin and I am a hot sleeper. It is sort of chic and slouchy and cozy all at the same time. Great for an AirBnB situation where I’m wearing my jams deep into the morning. Lol.
8.) A basket bag
I hope this isn’t annoying to plug because mine is no longer on sale, but my basket bag is really making my summer outfits sinnnggggggg. Jane Birkin had this right!
Mine is Bembien, and I got it for $65 at their sample sale in June (my steal of the summer!). If you are in the market to spend, they have some really beautiful bags, but a little digging on Etsy also has some good returns on a cheaper investment—try this, or this, or this, or, a little over this week’s $100 limit BUT, maybe this?
I love the basket bag for summer/spring in general because it adds great texture, is label-less, can work casual-to-formal with a little styling (I carried it to a wedding and a bar hang in the same weekend), and can hold quite a bit (I like something deep enough to hold a book and a small water bottle).
To pack a basket bag for travel, I start by filling it with my regular daily items—so, everything in last week’s newsletter—and then top it off with a sweater/something soft. I then put the basket in a larger tote/carry on, where I can add my computer/toiletries/etc. The soft topper helps the basket keep its shape (and bonus, you just brought an extra layer), and then you can pop it out whenever you arrive and it’s already packed to go.
Fin! That’s my list for you. Coming up next week: the most amazing CLOSET SWAP; truly I am so excited. Until then, go escape somewhere fun, travelers! Xx.
Costume Change is a styling newsletter (vs. a shopping newsletter). There’s no spon-con above—any references to clothing/shoes/shops, etc. are purely honest-to-goodness recommendations. As always, I hope that as a publication Costume Change first and foremost provides you with inspiration to re-style inside of your own closet. Thanks for reading, and reminder to keep those comments kind!
Birkin had it so right (& now I need to track a cutie lil basket bag down pour moi) !!!!!!!