I recently took a business trip to Geneva and, thanks to my finally-optimized wardrobe, packing was extremely simple and efficient. I thought I’d run through what I packed and wore during this trip.
What I packed
Clothing-wise, here is what I packed / wore while I traveled:
- Black silk artist’s smock (wore for travel)
- Black jeggings (wore for travel)
- Poetry cashmere cardigan (wore for travel)
- Black Lucky boots (wore for travel)
- Black cashmere sweater
- Charcoal cashmere tunic
- Marled Loft dress
- Black ponte skinnies
- Black leggings
- Black down coat (not pictured)
- 5 Uniqlo Heattech shirts (not pictured)
Additionally, I brought two necklaces:
All of this fit easily into a packing cube. The other cube had underwear, pajamas, socks, and workout clothes. I packed in this great eBag backpack-style suitcase I bought last year. It is small enough to fit in any overhead bin, even when traveling within Europe, but fits everything I need for most trips (only exception might be skiing.)
I also brought my leather work tote, which held almost nothing when I left, but was great for stuffing my down coat into once I was through security and not going outside for a good long while.
What I wore
Sunday / Monday
For travel days, both coming and going, I wore the artist’s smock, black jeggings, and the Poetry cardigan. The skinnies were great because they are super comfy, with a wide-band, non-binding waist, and paired with the artist’s smock, I was dressed enough to hang in the business lounge or wander around the streets of Geneva and feel totally put together. The cardigan was also a nice layer to add on or take off, depending on how warm it was in the airport / on the plane.
When I landed on Monday, I had some time to drop my stuff at the hotel, and do a little exploring around the city before grabbing some dinner and heading to bed.
Tuesday
I was in all-day meetings Tues-Thu and started the work week off with the black cashmere sweater and black jeggings. You just can’t go wrong with black in Europe. Plus, I was nice and warm in my cashmere.
Wednesday
Wednesday I went with the charcoal tunic and black ponte leggings.
Thursday
Thursday was our last day of meetings and we had a team dinner in the evening. I went with the Loft dress and black leggings.
Friday
Friday I traveled back in the same outfit: artist’s smock, black jeggings, and cardigan. Here you can see the size of the tote and my suitcase. I like not having to drag a wheelie bag. Makes it easy to take stairs, navigate through crowds, etc.
A few non-clothing MVP’s
The three most important things I brought for travel-happiness were: eyeshades, my Kindle, and my Bose headset. I was happy as a clam reading my book, or, if I wanted to relax even more, listening to an audio book or watching a movie. The eyeshades were perfect for sleeping even if the lights were up in the cabin.
Travel wrap-up
Obviously, I’m not much of a re-mixer. I pretty much brought separate outfits for each day and didn’t really mix and match. I also brought three black, skinny layers for bottoms. Redundant? Maybe. But I don’t think the pieces are really interchangeable in my outfits. Either way, they don’t take up a lot of space, so it’s no problem to bring them all. If I were to have stayed another week, I don’t think I would have packed any more than what I had. I never wore the artist’s smock or the cardigan to the office, and I easily could have, so I think I would have had plenty to wear, even for two weeks.
I was completely comfortable the whole time, both physically and from an appropriateness standpoint. These are some of my favorite pieces and they didn’t let me down 🙂
