How To Pack The Perfect Holiday Wardrobe
I don’t know about you, but when preparing to go on a city break or backpacking, I kind of know what I’m doing. I’ve gone on many a city break with just a small rucksack and 9kg did me for three weeks in Australia!
But a typical resort holiday, well…. I appear to have tried to buy a whole new wardrobe. I thought I was a capsule packer, but with no long-haul resort getaway for many years I clearly had no idea what I was capable of. There’s so much to buy, from bikinis to evening looks. My backpacking evening look was just a slightly sweatier version of my day look.
So, while it’s not exactly summery in the UK, there will still be people jetting off left, right and centre on lovely holidays, so I thought I’d help out, and show you my favourite items that got a lot of wear (out of everything I took) and let you know the must haves you should take and How To Pack The Perfect Holiday Wardrobe.
PACK THE PERFECT SWIMSUIT
Obviously, you’re going to need a swimsuit – perhaps even two. As lovely as bikinis are, they often cannot be trusted when snorkelling or jumping off the back of boats. The first time you swim with a dophin it’s probably nice not to flash it your boob.
Whether you actually go for a swim or not, the swimsuit is one of the biggest fashion statements you can make on holiday. Wear it with some denim shorts and it looks like you’re wearing a bodysuit, wear it with tailored shorts for a night out. Or hey go crazy and just wear it in the sea.
Finding a great cut can be hard for swimsuits. And when it comes to style, it will determine if you sink or swim! So if you’ve got a few curves I totally recommend the Whitefox Boutique St Tropez swimsuit. It depends on the Australian exchange rate but it’s around £33.00.
It’s a great cut, made with great quality fabric. It’s low (but not too low) at the front, low at the back and the bum is cut a little cheeky so it’s very flattering. I got one in black but they have lots of different colours available, I’ll be ordering the red one for my next holiday for sure.
GET A GREAT COVER-UP!
Since you sadly can’t just walk about in your bikini all the time, get yourself a great cover up and maximise the bikini’s usage as another outfit in your holiday wardrobe. This Aqualuxe cover up called Carmela is now in the sale for £48.00. It also comes in blue and there’s a long version and a short version available.
You need a coverup which is light and breezy but protects the shoulders from burning, that has a tie that cinches you in at the waist so you can either tighten the waist to show off your body or loosen it to hide that food-baby post buffet. This one was my favourite as it was light and cool in the sun and didn’t make me feel even hotter.
If you’re going for a second coverup, try and pick something more fancy or glam in an opposite colour, so it will give you different looks with the same bikinis or match with other bikinis the first one doesn’t.
This Aqualuxe Giselle coverup £79.00 is such a unique design, it has a stretchy bandeau top and then a long skirt with a dipped back and a split at the front. This is perfect if you want something more glamorous, perhaps if you’re at a very fancy resort, trying to impress that cute lifeguard or you want something you can pop on and go straight out for post beach pina coladas.
KICK ASS ACCESSORIES
Usually, I’m rubbish when it comes to accessories. I don’t have time, can’t work out what matches with what or I just can’t be bothered. But on holiday one of the things I love is that you can be someone else entirely. You can shed the dull work uniform and actually have time to think about what you’re wearing. If you do it, and do it well, you can even make old summer outfits look brand new. That is of course if you haven’t decided to buy half of Asos already….oops.
My accessories of choice were Vacay Hat, Zara Hat which I sadly can’t find online, Gold Coin Necklace, Pink Beach Bag, Ray Ban Sunglasses, and Elie Beaumont Pink Oxford Large Watch.
PLAN YOUR OUTFITS BY DAYS
When you’re not glued to your sun lounger with a daiquiri in hand, you’ll be running round town, shopping, exploring and living it up on a boat So, this calls for the perfect day outfits, something light and easy, but super stylish!
The dress above is classed as a ‘beach dress’ on ASOS for some reason, it’s perfectly fine for day in my opinion! It’s comfy and casual and very light and breezy. I got the tall version but there is a regular version too.
As always Converse are a staple in my holiday wardrobe, they do fine for me at the gym as I tend to just lift weights so having flatter shoes is actually better for me (I’m not about that running on holiday life) and they look nicer with dresses and shorts than regular trainers. Perhaps a black or white pair might have been more prudent. But I like khaki ok!
I also had some lovely bits from Sabo Skirt, but annoyingly they are all now all sold out and have been removed from the website. Since there’s no point sharing those if you can’t buy them I’ve picked some similar items that are in stock that would be perfect daywear for your holiday.
I’d never bought from Sabo Skirt before but on recommendation from Katie or vlogger LEXILIFE as you may know her (thank babe) I am now fully obsessed! I’d pick a size up from what you would normally take if you’re tall like me. Although the large in the dress I bought was rather too big it was fine as it was loose in the crazy heat. I’d probably get a medium if you are a size 10 for reference. I also now plan to buy at least 2 of the items below. It’s not good for me looking on shopping websites!
Teal playsuit, white tshirt style playsuit, striped dress
PREPARE FOR THE EVENING
The evenings are so much fun on holiday, the bathrooms in resorts are always huge so you can put on some tunes and dance about and really put some effort into some fantastic looks. My advice would be to show either your shoulder and legs or your chest and back – this way you can be sun kissed and sexy without being too much! I recommend taking both short and long options, in case you get sunburn you can just cover up what needs to be covered and nobody will know!
This dress is another Whitefox Boutique fave, it comes in so many different colours so there’s one to flatter everyone’s skintone. It’s comfy, silky and randomly matched perfectly with my bag!