A New Option in Travel Clothing

I've had multiple travel related chats lately with my friend Sheri, by phone and various electronic messaging apps. She'll embark on a year-long travel adventure in a couple of months, with only the allowable carry-on sized backpack and one personal item that includes her camera gear and MacBook. 

I wish Sheri and I were able to sit and chat in person here in Monteriggioni, in the Chianti district!
We're limited to electronic and telephone communications until September, when I'll join her in Barcelona.

That's a wardrobe planning challenge that I hope to never face. It would be a nightmare for me to limit what I wear for one year to so few pieces! However, I enjoy helping her figure this out, so in the process I've discovered a few new travel pieces to try for myself.

Merino wool clothing from Icebreaker is lauded as itch-free, stink-free, and comfortable in all climates. Despite having no need for any new clothing, I purchased their Villa dress (in a shade of lavender that they call "Abyss") on a 40% discount web sale to take with me to Andalusia in late May. It will be hot during the day, so I'll be able to test (and hope to refute) my assumption that wool is too warm to wear in such conditions. Here's the dress:

Image from icebreaker.com website, cropped.

As soon as it arrived, I tried it on alone, and then as a top layer over a turtleneck and leggings. The wool feels like a heavy cotton knit, and it really does not itch.  Next, I scrunched it into a quart size ziploc bag, and left it there for three days.

They're not kidding when they claim that it packs to nothing!

Happily, the dress emerged unwrinkled, unscathed, and ready to wear. I can't wait to wear it!

In addition, I discovered two items that I've decided are "must haves" for my future travels. They include what I hope will be the perfect pair of navy pants, and what seems to be the optimal choice for a personal item carry-on bag. I haven't purchased these yet, and will write about them in another post.

China

Soon we'll be on our way to Hong Kong, where we'll stay for a couple of nights before we take the train into the People's Republic of China (PRC).

In Hong Kong, we can visit one of our favorite shops, the flagship store of the elegant retailer Shanghai Tang. Last year at this location, Peter bought me a beautiful long shirt of sheer silk with an abstract pattern in shades of blue, plum, and grey. In the photo below, I'm on the right, wearing the shirt over my staple travel dress (I own this flattering dress in three colors, and wear it at home as well as when traveling).

Final evening aboard the Seabourne Odyssey.
Sheer overshirt by Shanghai Tang • Voyager Knit Seamed Jersey Dress in eggplant
Cole Haan ballerina flats • Antica Murrina glass bead necklace

Back to the December 2013 trip:

Our first destination in the PRC is Guangzhou, known as Canton in earlier times. Located on the Pearl River, just above the Pearl Delta, Guangzhou is China's third largest city. Here, we'll stay in an American hotel with familiar amenities. The rest of the time, we stay in "party hotels," (as in communist party), which are basic to subpar. Based on previous experience trying to sleep on hard, uneven beds (and because I can check three bags free with my airline status), I will take along my own lightweight memory foam mattress topper and cotton "cocoon" sheet in a small duffel bag this trip.

Taking photos at Prawn Farm 1, near Enping in Guangdong Province.
My trusted classic Ralph Lauren black wool overcoat • Naot "Matai" shoes 
Voyager Knit Seamed Jersey Dress in eggplant • Wolford Glam tights in eggplant

Similar to last year, we'll be reviewing operations of a Chinese agricultural company with which we're affiliated. Our trip, once again, will not involve any tourist destinations. I hope that we can see more of China on a subsequent visit, as I'm certain there will be more. This time, we'll spend two days on the Tibetan plateau, at 9000 feet above sea level, in Qinghai province. For that, I've packed heavy wool socks and thermal underlayers.

With my Donna Karan cashmere vest as an under layer, I was dressed for the -4°C (nearly 25°F) weather, but others were uncomfortably cold, so our hosts sent out for socks for everyone. My fleece tights and hand knitted socks kept me from freezing, plus I scored a new pair of wool socks from Xining.

The warmer clothing (sweaters and black jeans) will also be needed on our one day trip to Hunan, but back in Guangzhou I'll be able to wear dresses again and carry my coat during some of the day, I hope. I look forward to spending time with the international group of friends that are also involved with the company, and eating Chinese food!

What I Wore in England and Cornwall

Here's what I took to England and Cornwall:

And a few outfit shots. First, my Chanel jacket with lots of pearls, worn to Afternoon Tea at the Lanesborough Conservatory. Such a disappointing tea, extraordinarily overpriced.

Quite unexpectedly, we were invited to the Mehndi Lunch of a Pakistani Muslim groom and Indian Hindu Bride. This was held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in Hamilton Place near Park Lane. We were told that friends of the groom wore red, and our connection was to the groom, so I wore this outfit (being unprepared) but with my red jersey shirt, instead of the white one shown in my “tryout photo.” We walked the half mile from our hotel, and my feet were killing me! Never again will I walk in heeled shoes that haven’t been tested.

Here, I'm dressed quite casually for breakfast at our hotel in Bath ...

For our special day at Avebury and Stonehenge, I was able to wear my Alexander McQueen skull scarf with my red tunic and black leggings, both by Eileen Fisher, along with my favorite Naot ‘Matai’ shoes.

Starting to Plan for England and Cornwall

My good friend Caroline and I have scheduled a long weekend in London, followed by a few days in Salisbury, Bath and surrounding areas. Then we'll move on to Newquay in Cornwall for five days before returning home after fourteen days in total.

In London, we'll stay in a nice hotel near Bond Street. Each of us wants to be able to create several "city chic" outfits out of as few basic pieces as possible. We also want to wear boots, something that is silly to do at home in Hawaii. Because boots are heavy and large, we'll need to wear them while in transit, which is a bit of a hassle at airport screenings. But it's the only way we'll be able to achieve our goal to travel with just two small bags.

Two pieces of carry-on luggage -- that's the idea, anyway! I'll take my trusty 22-inch Tarmac bag from Eagle Creek (fits in overhead compartments, except on tiny commuter jets), and my Eagle Creek Tarmac large duffel for under the seat. The duffel has an external "sleeve" that slips over the retractible handle of the 22-inch rolling bag for easy wheeling through airports, on trains, and in cities. The duffel functions as an oversized purse, and will contain my actual purse (including wallet and other contents), camera, iPad, iPod, iPhone, chargers and adapters, in-flight essentials (a topic for another post), jewelry, medicines, and a very important addition, my Eagle Creek Getaway Tote, in matching Palm Green, that folds to nearly nothing, but can carry my purse, electronic devices, camera, jewelry and travel toiletries on the return trip as a third bag if needed. I don't plan to acquire anything, but who knows? I can always check my 22-inch duffel, and slip the getaway tote over the handle of the 22" Tarmac.

This is different from the way I traveled last October, when I carried an additional 25" Tarmac that I checked on 14 flights (8 domestic, 6 in Europe) and carried on 3 trains. It was much more work, but that holiday spanned six weeks in total, including three weeks in Europe that included climates ranging from bitter cold to very warm, from dry to wet. In this photo, taken with my sister on our first day in London, I'm wearing black travel basics, including boot cut black Not Your Daughter's Jeans, a lightweight black crew neck sweater from Jones New York, truly comfortable Keen MaryJanes in black nubuck, and a burnt orange v-neck sweater from Kenneth Cole. In my city backpack, there's a black water resistant oversized hooded windbreaker, pashmina/scarf, and gloves.

Last year's travel look (with Jill in London, October 2010)

During the first week of my trip (while in Michigan for my 40th high school reunion), my daughter spotted two dresses on sale at Macy's and encouraged me to to take a dress on my trip. After a week in Michigan, and a few days in Denver, I lightened my suitcases by leaving reunion clothing, and one dress at my sister's house near Lake Tahoe. The dress I took to Europe, an abstract print sheath with cap sleeves by AGB (a Macy's house brand?), turned out to be appropriate on several occasions. Below, it's paired with an August Silk cardigan, blackish brown patent leather belt, black hose, my B. Makowsky lambskin zipper hobo, and well worn Keen MaryJanes. Another time, it was topped with a brown cotton shirt by Glima that matched the brown in the dress, and Patra sandals by Crocs in solid chocolate brown (my favorite Crocs by far; alas they are out of production). Separately, I teamed the Glima top with a matching Glima skirt.

It strikes me when I look at the two photos of me that the outfits above would be greatly enhanced by complementary scarves. The style focus of our next trip will be fewer basic pieces with more scarves and other accessories that vary the looks.

It's too bad I don't have an import export business from the UK to Hawaii, because I'm able to check up to three 70 pound bags without charge thanks to my frequent flyer status. I wish I'd have remembered that last October when I shipped wine and olive oil from Italy to the USA. I would have saved a significant amount if I'd shipped it to my London hotel, and bought a couple of suitcases there to bring it home with me on the airplane.