Travel Fashion: My Minimalist Wardrobe

Hi. Yes, that's my "I leave the country in ten days!!!!" face. It's part trepidation and part a hunky load of excitement. I am sorry I haven't been blogging recently! My new job as Mary Poppins has been going wonderfully well, but I'm learning that all those people who complained that work left little time in which to blog were 100% correct. My days off are filled with the pressing business attending my days on and I'm still learning how to juggle it all. It's fun though. The girls and I get along so well, and their parents are fabulosity itself. But I decided to drop the news that I'm leaving the country again for a 17-day missions trip to Romania with a huge fat post full of the topic about which I've been dropping broad hints. This topic? 

A "minimalist" travel wardrobe

 In Romania last year, I packed far too many clothes. I was still under the 50 lb. limit for the checked bag, but along with that bag, I was toting my huge Baccini and Thomas (Barrow), my utterly confused carry-on suitcase. Somehow I made my way through two weeks of lugging around far too much luggage. This year when I knew I would be going back, I wanted to take far less. It's going to be summer so I wouldn't need gobs of clothing. We will be traveling in the mountains, but the most I will need in Romania in May would be a light jacket and jeans. With this in mind, I started thinking about packing. Pinterest can be a huge time-waster, I know. But far oftener than not, I find it a beautiful cause of inspiration. Sometime in the fall, I came across the idea of minimalist packing and I was hooked. This pin is the inspiration for my insanity:

8 items of clothing to make 22 outfits? Seriously? Could that even work? The closer I scrutinized the system, the more I thought it looked like something I wanted to do. When I heard that we will be traveling within the country with limited luggage space, I was decided. I looked at some of the items and colors I already had in my closet and settled on a palette of coral, cream, navy and sage:

Because I felt crafty that night, I made a cute little thingamajig to help me shop. It was more fun than it was useful, but it made the whole thing feel legitimate, which was lovely. Haha. I am a sucker for lists, doodles, and artistic bents on tasks. By God's provision through my job, I was actually able to shop for quite a few things; Shrinkage has been going well which means that I have lost weight and instead of being an 18, I'm a pretty solid 14 (and I got one skirt and some shorts that were 12s!). Most of my summer clothes from last year are way too big, so I needed new stuff. I shopped sales and thrift-stores, bought a couple of full-price (but still reasonable) things, and put together my wardrobe for Romania.

My minimalist travel wardrobe consists of:

• 2 maxi skirts
• 1 pair of cargo capris
• 1 pair of  dark-wash jeans
• 4 blouses
• 2 pull-over/shrug things
• 1 scarf
• 1 belt
• 2 camis
• 1 pair of sandals
• 1 pair each flip-flops and walking shoes (not pictured)

Plus, your average set of pajamas, underclothes, and a light-weight jacket. As a list, it looks like a lot, but in practice, as you shall see, it's fabulously tiny. Could I really make that many outfits out of these items? Yes, I can. I had assumed I'd be able to make enough to carry me through the seventeen-day trip with only a couple repeats, but I hadn't tried making outfits till today. Apparently this whole "Choose colors that coordinate infinitely" thing works pretty darn well. Observe:

My four tops and four bottoms

My "accessories": navy shrug, cream-lace shrug, belt, scarf

All of it (sans camis and shoes) laid out on the floor

 This? Really? All of this could carry me through the entire trip? I was loving the size of this pile--so dinky!--but would it really serve me for both church outfits and casual travel/hanging-out clothes? I started working outfits. Wouldn't they at least start looking identical? I can't even wear jewelry while in the Romanian churches, so how would I shake up the looks? See for yourself: (and while you're at it, pardon the sometimes-foggy mirror-selfies. It's harder than it looks. XD)

No. 1

I started casual, with my jeans.

No. 2

These are the most comfortable sandals! Got them from Payless and though I paid $24, they are worth it.

 No. 3

 No. 4

Switched to sage cargo-capris after 3 options ...

 No. 5

We get tired of making the same faces, preciousss

 No. 6

Switched to my striped navy maxi skirt ... 

No. 7

Love this sage Henley I found at the Salvation Army for $1.50!

 No. 8

 No. 9

This anchor-top is my favorite ever! Bought it on clearance at Belk for $10 (had been $37)

 No. 10

Switched to my blush maxi skirt.

 No. 11

Funny face and hair-shot. I don't think I've showed my new glasses or haircut here, so voila! I love both. ^.^

 No. 12

A dozen outfits, and I am nowhere near to having made all the combinations I could think of! (I just got tired of posing and taking clothes on and off! ;) Packing a minimal amount of clothing (eight main items, four accessories) takes a load off your mind when preparing for a trip.

This stack? Yeah, it includes pajamas (sweatpants and two t-shirts), the camis, and a slip. The only thing missing is my jacket and undergarments. And you do realize I will be wearing some of this to the airport? So the packed stack will be even shorter.

I am in love with packing this way, though I know that I had a little leeway because I was able to purchase some items I needed to pull it off this well. I know that whatever I bring will match with whatever else I bring so I could quite literally pull any top and any bottom out of my bag and wear it with pride. I am so glad I ran across this tactic on Pinterest, and that my friend, Jill, had led me toward something like this too. Not only will I have enough variety for my trip, but I'll also have a couple dozen styles to mix and match all summer long. Thanks to travel bloggers everywhere who gave me inspiration to try mini-luggage, I shan't have any trouble fitting my bags on a plane, a car, or a train at any point in the journey. <3