Weekender Packing Trips From Alarna Hope

Knowing what to pack for a weekend away can be tough work when you want to pack light and look amazing!

This week, one of my beautiful readers asked: I'm going on a wine tasting weekend and only want to take one bag of luggage, what should I pack for a weekend away?

Ahh, wine tasting on the country side. I can almost hear the perfectly distressed leather brogues stepping towards you to open your door, while you pull away your head scarf to display that perfectly styled hair, which the wind didn't ruin on your way down. In my mind this is what it should be like, but in reality, most end up trudging around with saggy thighed jeans on and hair looking like that time Bridget Jones went away with the dangerously handsome Daniel Cleaver for the weekend. You want to be the effortlessly stylish woman that struts past Bridget Jones, that has Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy giving you the googlies. I'll show you how.

The good thing about packing for a weekend holiday on the country side is that you get to pretend you're a cultured traveller by the way that you dress. No one there knows that you did the hard slog to save your pennies to go, no one there knows your usual style and if you get a bit intoxicated and start slurring your words you can pass it off as verbal cursive, which is actually quite elegant when explained that way. It's all about dressing for a bit of comfort, style and intimidation. Once you've got those three down, you won't have to hide your expression when you realise the Merlot was a little too robust for your taste, your effortless outfit will distract the whole crowd.

So, what do you take? A range of entirely different outfits? Pinot! What about a few pieces of clothing that will survive wine spills and different events? Precisely.

You'll be putting together a capsule wardrobe of all the looks you'll need that can easily fit into one weekender bag while away, to ensure that you don't look like the woman who cares more about keeping up appearances, than the actual experience of being on a break from your normal routine. Creating the capsule only requires a little bit of thought prior to your holiday to make dressing during your holiday simple.

Lay Out Your Basics:

Your jeans should be on the top of that list, followed by a two or three mix and match tops. It's always good to pack that third top in case something gets spilled on it, imagine all those photos of your weekend away with a lovely picture of you with a big wine stain down your chest! No thank you! A jacket or two will be handy and one pair of shoes, usually ankle boots or flats will do the trick.

Create A Colour Scheme:

There is no point packing all the basics if all of your basics are the colour of the rainbow, pick three to four colours to base your outfits off to ensure you can easily mix your items around and make them interchangeable.

Accessories:

This is my favourite part of every morning, putting on the accessories that lift the entire outfit. This is why we pack the basics, so we can easily dress up or dress down our look with something as simple as a $20 necklace or scarf. My favourite weekender accessories are a watch, a belt and a scarf.

BONUS TIP: Fold, then roll your clothing into sausage shapes, this will help you to fit more (mini hotel shampoo bottles) into your suitcase.

If you've got a question you'd like answered, leave a comment and I'll wave my magic cocktail ring!