A Voyager's Wardrobe
A Dive Into Capsule Wardrobes and What I Brought on Vacation
It is midday on a Friday as I sit down to write this. A little bit late to be starting a writing session but I have the whole day to finish. Recently my days have consisted of 7am wakeups, long breakfast conversations with my grandmother, and a relaxed morning routine. With a new destination every day and a limited number of options for food, it makes the days quite repetitive. To say the least, I am not sure that boutique cruiselines are targeting my generation for their audience.
Although something that isn’t repetitive is my clothing. While I was only able to bring one suitcase and a leather “weekender size” duffel, I was able to pack a variety of clothes that mix and match quite well. This peer into my small traveling wardrobe is not only a guide for travel but also for anyone looking to slim down their current closet or find new inspiration.
My thought process for this trip was quite simple: pack pieces and don’t pack outfits. When I travel for a weekend I normally plan out what I am going to wear before, on a month-long trip I do not have the liberty to do that. In order to combat this I decided to take a look into my closet and ask myself the following dreaded question:
“Do I really need this?”
And after using the power of my inner monologue to ruthlessly judge my clothing, I have ended up with some categories that I can divide the voyager’s wardrobe into:
Footwear
Shirts
Shorts
Pants
Sweaters
Jackets
Once we cover these bases and add in any other necessities, we end up with a complete capsule wardrobe.
(It is at this point in writing this I received a notification that J. Press is now, in fact, selling $40 boxer shorts. Even though this is absolutely ludicrous, I for some reason am not surprised.)
Starting with footwear, I decided to bring only two pairs of shoes with me on this trip due to the space constraints. Even when packing my socks in my shoes to mimic shoe trees and save some room, they still take up a lot of space. I have one pair of sneakers for walking and a pair of woven tassel loafers for everything else. I felt that during summer the choice to pack light on footwear would be a safe choice as inclement weather is more rare, and if it does occur I can always enjoy the day indoors. Something that made my traveling a lot easier was the discovery of Tacco sole inserts. They fit right into most dress shoes and provide arch support, I highly recommend them if you have enough space in your shoes.
When it comes to shirting options I was a bit more liberal. I took 10 shirts with me. Some button-down, some button-up, some cotton, and some linen. I also brought a variety of colors so that I could cover all of my bases.
Due to the hot weather I decided to bring a few pairs of shorts as well. They do not take up very much space and are good to bring with you for the hot days or if you gain the desire to get a little tan. In the off-season you can of course forego this inclusion.
Pants are important to pack with some variety. Of course I am only packing for summer here so I only brought cotton trousers and chinos, with some linen included. I made sure to bring a pair of jeans for a casual evening, and a fun pair of canvas pants that I should probably bring to the tailor after this trip. I could have done a better job covering the color palette here with another blue or an interesting green but overall, I think the light grey and array of beige colors work nicely.
I decided to take 3 sweaters with me, one linen-blend, one cotton, and one wool. I think it is smart to always have a wool sweater with you if you are ever going on board a boat overnight, just as a safety precaution. Sweaters are a great way to change up an outfit for the evening. Even if your garments otherwise stay the same, you can make it feel as if you swapped clothes, looking like a new man come dinner time.
The jackets I have with me are simple; a navy blazer and an unstructured linen coat, both of which can work with a bunch of different combinations. Perhaps exchanging out the double-breasted look for a traditional navy blazer would have been better but I liked it, so I brought it. If it is winter maybe swap the linen for a tweed and the mac jacket for a wool overcoat but the choice is yours.
The goal with each of the individual pieces is that they all can be worn with one another. If I take any shirt out of the closet and any pair of pants, odds are they will look good. The lighter color tones and simple blue, green, beige, and grey accents make it easy to style. The loafers can also be dressed up or down, part of the reason I chose these ones in particular. If you can keep a simple color palette, you should be able to manufacture an efficient wardrobe
In terms of belts and accessories I kept it pretty simple. One watch, a woven mahogany belt, solid brown belt, two pairs of sunglasses, and a tie just in case seemed to be enough.
While I do miss my larger closet space and a few items, I am pleasantly surprised at how many things I do not miss. Perhaps I should consider downsizing my closet and keeping myself more organized, take stock of the items I truly wear. Maybe we do not need such large wardrobes with stellar variety, and it is the essentials that truly matter. Okay, maybe I am just kidding myself.
But take this writeup as a reminder to take a look around your closet. Who knows what you might find.
Enjoy your weekend.
-Theo