We’ve done a few of these capsule wardrobes over the years, but I’ve never done one about my summer holidays. Manish has, but most of the time my family holidays have been covered in the ‘Holiday snaps’ series. Do look at those for more inspiration.
This capsule collection is for a family vacation such as we usually take to Portugal every year – off-duty, no tailoring required, in the proximity of a swimming pool and beach. Dealing with the heat is a priority, and suitcase space (given there are five of us) is at a premium.
The aim is efficient packing, creating a versatile wardrobe where everything can be worn together. And, providing some menswear interest in what will otherwise be a fashion-free fortnight.
Above is what I took recently – set out on the bed before we went, as I usually do in order to assess it all.
Some things I always aim to have are:
- Two or three tops and bottoms that all work with each other. You end up with up to nine outfits rather than three.
- At least one pair of trousers, no matter how hot it is. Nice to put on in the evening or going into town. Also good with bugs at night.
- One shawl-collar cardigan. It goes with everything, it’s what I put on at night when it gets chilly, and it’s my dressing gown in the morning.
The biggest thing I noticed about the capsule when I put it together was that most of the tops and shoes were neutrals – white, cream, grey, black – while the bottoms were warmer coloured ones – brown, olive, beige.
This wasn’t intentional, just a result of fiddling around with everything to make all the tops go with all the bottoms. But you can see why you’d end up with it – neutrals go with lots of things, but not necessarily each other. Browns and greens can be really great together, but if you want a range of pieces that will work, neutrals are easier.
The two shoes I wore the most – the tennis shoes and the espadrilles – are cream and black too, neutrals separated by the bottoms from the often similar tops.
The exception to this is the sandals, but that tan’s actually pretty nice with brown and green, and being the same colour as the shorts is fine.
On top, the exception is the chambray shirt, but that denim/chambray colour goes with everything.
The hardest thing was finding outerwear to go with it all, but in the end I picked my vintage jungle jacket because it was different to everything else, and I know from experience how versatile it can be. It would pretty much only be worn on the flight there and back anyway.
For headwear, my Cal cap was a nice pop of colour to brighten things up – I’ve worn Holiday Boileau ones in a similar way in the past. It is nice to stop everything being too everyday. And the hat is a straw one from Chamula – it’s soft and casual enough to look great with shorts or denim, which is not an easy thing to do.
Now, what would I have packed if I had more space?
I know readers will ask about various things I could have taken, and I know Manish would have taken far more, being (in his words) a hopeless overpacker.
I would have loved to bring:
- A smarter linen shirt and trousers
- These would have been nice for dinner time or going to restaurants, but we were staying somewhere remote and I knew there would be a maximum of two such dinners, possibly even one
- A PS Cotton Crewneck
- I love these so much, both for wearing over things and for just draping around the neck, but there just wasn’t room. With this wardrobe I think I would have taken a black one
- A lighter-weight shawl cardigan
- This old Drake’s one is a little warm, though only a little. A cotton or cotton/wool one would have been nice, but the RRL one I have is very heavy
- Some more colour
- A brighter piece that would have only gone with some things, but that’s fine because everything else already provides so many options. Perhaps a madras shirt
- Jeans
- It makes no sense, they’re too hot the vast majority of the time, but I do miss them. I’d wear them for travelling and for a couple of evenings, but that’s about it
Here are all the clothes in order. I’ve linked mostly to the places where they have been covered before on Permanent Style, rather than the company pages, but if you need the latter and can’t find it, let me know.
Accessories:
Tops:
Bottoms:
Shoes:
