You’ll know that for a long tim I’ve been searching for the secrets to a perfect packed suitcase, and while the 5,4,3,2,1 Rule continues to help keep the numbers down, I’ve recently noticed an even more important factor for the perfect pack – colours. A while ago I talked about the concept of packing one set of complimentary colours, but over time I’ve realised that picking a single additional colour palette can be tricky in reality. Times like when you’re going away for longer, or when you don’t actually own enough of that highlight colour to pack it can mean limited choices and boredom with what you take. Which is why I recently worked out how to increase your colour options without throwing the whole concept of a curated pack out the window. Introducing, colour capsules. Pretty much just a fancy name for additional items you plan, match and add to your suitcase to give life to your simple basics, without the limitation of a single highlight colour. They act to add vibrancy to an otherwise basic holiday uniform.
Packing for a Holiday : How to Plan Your Colour Capsules
Start with key essentials in base colours
These pieces are going to be the foundation for all your outfits, and therefore you should feel comfortable in them and they should all go together. A simple mix of black, white and denim never fails, but if you want to you can also add camel, cream or any other colour that you wear as part of your essentials. Most of your suitcase will be taken up by these items – you won’r regret it!
Decide how many colour capsules
The length of your trip will determine how many colour capsules you should take with you. Anything less than a week you probably only need one colour capsule, but with more time than that two colour capsules will give you the right amount of variety. More than a month you may want to add in a third small colour capsule, so long as the items aren’t too bulky. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t have lots of items in a single colour, you can take less items for each capsule, and more capsules – it all depends on what you have in your closet – there’s no need to buy a whole ned closet, unless you want to :). Stay tuned in the next few days for a little more information about colour pairings.
Pick the right colours
For this trip and in the image you can see I’ve chosen blush pink and khaki for the colour capsules, because they’re key colours I’ve been wearing recently, they go together really well and are also complimentary to all the essentials I was taking. It’s important that you choose colours that suit you – what you have in your closet and your unique style. Maybe you’ll want to take a red colour capsule, maybe it’s a green or a yellow one. Either way, focus on colours that go with your essentials and also don’t clash too much together – this will ensure the most amount of outfit options.
Add complimentary accessories
Finally, and this one’s obvious, you’re going to want to choose accessories that go with both your essentials, and the colour capsule/s you’ve chosen for your trip. I always reach for black and tan, knowing that they can be worn together to match or mixed up without any drama, and they all go with the colours and essentials I pack.
I’m down in Australia at the moment and will be away 3 weeks in total, so two colour capsules were in order for my wardrobe. You can see I used black, white and blue for my essentials and pink and khaki for
Oroton suitcase, Vintage Levi denim jacket, sandals designed by me (stay tuned!), The Fifth watch, Kikki K passport holder, H&M bikini top, DIY pink dress, DIY pink top (coming soon), Market panama, Rayban round sunglasses, vintage DIY cut off shorts.
Oroton suitcase, Target sneakers ($5!!), Paddo to Palmy Dress, DIY cut off shorts, J Crew Jacket, Tory Burch sandals, Reformation dress, market scarf, Rayban sunglasses, Coach bag.
