The Travel Capsule Wardrobe Challenge
A while back, a friend gave me a challenge: could I actually build a travel capsule wardrobe?
But this wasn’t just any friend. My friend Claudia Mio is a fashion expert, professional stylist and fellow Trip Director who has spent plenty of time living out of a suitcase. Through her own styling business, she helps clients build wardrobes that work for their lifestyle, so she knows a thing or two about looking put together without bringing your entire closet along for the trip.
Her challenge to me was simple: pack smarter, pack lighter and make everything work together.
Not just talk about packing lighter. Not just say, “I really don’t need that much.” Actually pull the pieces from my own closet, put them together and prove that I could create enough outfits for a trip without packing half my wardrobe.
Well Claudia Mio...Challenge accepted!!
She gave me the basic formula, and then I had to make it work.
First: choose a base colour. Black or navy, or something neutral. I went with black...because that makes up most of my wardrobe anyways!
From there, I needed the foundation pieces: a great pair of black pants, two simple black “underpinnings”—a tank, camisole or basic top—and a black sweater or blazer. Nothing particularly exciting yet, but these were going to be the workhorses.
Then came the fun part: the inspirational piece.
The idea was to choose something like a scarf with a few different colours in it and use that to build the rest of the wardrobe. Pull a colour from the scarf for another shirt or sweater, and suddenly everything starts working together instead of feeling like a collection of random outfits.
Next challenge: the airplane outfit.
My friend had one rule here: don't look like a slob. You never know who you're going to meet on a plane!
So I went with comfortable wide-leg black pants, an underpinning and a lightweight sweater in one of the colours pulled from my inspirational piece. Comfortable enough for a travel day, but still put together—and every piece gets worn again on the way home. (Makes sense right?)
Then came shoes. Maximum three pairs....(sigh, 'only three?!')
One loafer-style shoe that is comfortable but still polished. One comfortable runner that actually looks nice. And one dressier option like a ballet flat or a heel, depending on the trip.
Accessories had rules too.
A simple pair of everyday earrings, plus one pair that plays off an accent colour. A belt. A hat. One practical casual bag and one lightweight dressier bag that can tuck into my carry-on.
I was also allowed ONE pair of jeans...but they had to earn their place. A good wash, flattering, and something I could dress up or down.
And finally, the little black dress.
Because apparently even a capsule wardrobe knows there are some things you just don't mess with.
Once I had everything laid out, I started mixing and matching.
And that's when I understood the challenge.
It wasn't really about packing as little as humanly possible. It was about making sure that everything I packed worked with something else. No random shirt that only works with one pair of pants. No shoes for one specific outfit. No “just in case” pieces taking up half the suitcase.
The goal wasn't to pack outfits. It was to pack an actual wardrobe.
Did I follow every rule perfectly? Well…I sure as heck tried! But I definitely looked at my suitcase differently by the end of it. And now comes the real question: could I actually travel this way?
Only time will tell:)
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