Do you travel with linen clothes?
 

I'm asking because, although I wear linen at home when it's hot, I've never taken it on vacation because of the rumple factor. I hate to iron at home and would never, ever consider taking a travel iron with. Plus, the types of places we stay are unlikely to have irons for use even if I were so inclined to spend my vacation ironing.

I'm asking because we leave this week for Turkey. I anticipate some parts will be hot and I would be more comforable in linen than in the more synthetic ex-officio travel capris I typically take. I learned the hard way in Vietnam this winter that synthetic fabric travel apparel may look nice and fresh, but it is not as comfortable. So, I am considering taking a couple pairs of linen capris.

If you take linen clothes, do you just ignore the fact that they will look awful after being compressed in a suitcase, worn for days, and then handwashed in a hotel sink? Just curious. Thanks.

You know what? I don't even wear linen in "real life" anymore. Can't stand how it looks like a wrinkled mess the minute you do something like sit on a bus for 5 minutes.

I love linen and linen blends in the summer and always take at least one linen sundress and a pair of linen pants or capris. I'm not too concerned about the rumpled factor, but I do usually hang them up in the bathroom, run the shower on hot full tilt for a few minutes, and smooth them out with my hands/fingers. Works well enough for me (but mind you, I'm not aiming for that totally crisp look and would probably not wear those linens out for fine dining).

Yes I do. But they must be made in a very simple fashion so you can press them by sitting on them, don't laugh, I do that or drip dry them and "Press the seams with my hand.

I love linen in all neutral colours. I wear it wrinkled and I like the look especially at the beach.

Yes, I wear linen blends most of the summer. They look fine. Good linen blends don't wrinkle that badly.
I try to avoid seriouly dressy occasions in the summer so I don't have to fret over a few wrinkles.

Yes, I do, linen blends-and in Europe, you see a lot of linen being worn, by both men and women.

I like linen in the summer, too. I never iron it when I'm traveling, but I always pack a small spray bottle that I can fill with water.
I hang my wrinkled clothes up in the bathroom, spritz them with water, and the wrinkles come right out. If I'm in a hurry I blow the hairdryer on them for a minute. It really works!

I wear linen a lot and also some linen mixed with lycra (say 2%) which seems to solve the rumple factor

Have you tried linen blends, or silk blends?

I try to buy natural fibers when selecting all my clothing. Both linen and silk can be blended with cotton and it has less of a wrinkle factor. Luckily since Hollywood is finally on the green kick, more designers are using these materials and there are more designs to choose from now.


But I do have to admit, I bring along my travel size steamer (made in Italy)It is compact and all you do is add tap water. Looks like an iron but is a steamer.

I could never bother with a steamer or an iron on vacation (part of the reason I do not look as neat as I would like) but I do often take black linen pants and shirts...I pack them with tissue paper and do not worry about the inevitable wrinkles.

I thought at first this was the same thread I responded to the other week asking the same question. I too am a linen lover and always wear it when traveling during warm months. I use tissue or plastic bags (like you sometimes get in stores with a new purchase, or from the cleaners) to pack it, which does help. I don't mind pressing a few pieces with my travel steam iron when needed. Our internist (who is also a friend) is a linen lover and told me one day that linen is chic even when wrinkled! I have to agree.

Once the temperature hits 70, I am into linens. I think linen always looks chic, even when wrinkled. When packing, I use hangers and cover with dry cleaner's plastic bags and they always arrive relatively wrinkle-free.

julies, rolling the capris helps too.

no
why would you want to iron daily?
don't do it

I take linen blends - so the wrinkling is much less. And I do the hanging in the shower to minimize wrinkles. Also- cotton is very cool, either woven or knit - and wrinkles less.

(No ironing. If it's some sort of special event that I MUST be unwrinkled I have the hotel iron the outfit.)

Always travel with linen and NEVER iron. I would rather be comfortable than worry about some wrinkles!

I can't tell you how many European men and women I've seen walking around Paris and Rome, Germamy in the summer and spring in wrinkled linen suits and separates-no one seems to mind that much.

Hi julies, yes I do wear linen or linen blend both here at home where it gets very hot and on vacations when the weather is hot. I have linen clothes I have purchased is Italy and they are still beautiful. All of my friends in Italy wear linen and they just don't fuss about the wrinkles. I don't like synthetic materials so linen, cotton or silk is my preferance.

yes, i am also a linen lover, wearing linen shirt and linen socks in summer, never think about the wrinkle, just wear it!lol

I prefer linen blends because it helps solve the wrinkle factor, but if you cover the capris (or whatever) in a plastic dry cleaning bag, then roll them up tight, like a jelly roll, they come out virtually wrinkle free.

Since I am really into fabrics that breathe, especially in summer, I'm into cotton (which also wrinkles), and with the exception of jeans, stay clear of anything lycra, spandex, polyester, or any other stretching synthetic that ends up feeling like a space suit.

I don't buy or wear any linen clothes because it looks horrible within minutes. There are other alternatives apart from either linen or synthetics. Cotton fabrics are just as comfy to wear. They wrinkle, too, but never as badly as linen.

Absolutely NOT!

However, there are fine, quality, garments, of linen "blend" which do not emerge from the suitcase with nearly the same "crush" appearance. Cotton/linen is a wonderful blend.

I have packed linen for road trips from home. A dual voltage steamer actually does a much better job at smoothing wrinkles than a travel iron.

I absolutely love 100% linen and traveled with it and have been traveling with it since the 70s. As to how wrinkled it will get, depends on the quality of it. I had a whole collection of it from Armani Express, back in the late 80s to early 90s, and it was as soft as cotton and didn't get wrinkled hardly at all. I kept all of the pieces up until a few years ago, then I replaced them with another collection, bought in Bangkok a few years ago. I now travel with those pieces.

To prevent it from wrinkling a lot, I fold it in tissue paper and then put pieces of it in big, freezer-sized, zip-lock bags and toss the bags into the suitcase. Happy Travels!

I'm also a linen-lover. I've found the more linen is hand
washed, the softer it gets and hence the less it wrinkles.
Also like a little rayon mixed in.

As said, there's linen and then there's linen! Cheap linen
is just dreadful, nasty stuff!

I couldn't agree with you more. As for washing, I throw it all in the machines at the laundromat, with my other clothes, and then pour in my Planet detergent, which is very gentle. I take the items out, shake them, hang them up, let them dry, and then use a steam iron on them to iron them very crisp. Then I wrap them in tissue paper and put them into a zip lock , plastic bag and pack.

And yes, "there's linen and there's linen" and high quality linen shouldn't be wrinkling so much. I love your statement line of, "Cheap linen is just dreadful,nasty stuff!". LOL! Ain't it the truth? I needed my laugh for the day!

As for some decent linen that I've found and washed to death, Chico's linen isn't bad. I've owned better, but it still isn't bad. I buy the short,sleeved, button down, fitted shirts and have had really good luck traveling with them. I'm on my way out today on a linen hunt as it's not that difficult to find it here in Los Angeles especially with our climate.

Immimi: If you're ever in Southeast Asia, the British India chain stores have some absolutely gorgeous linen clothes. The stores look like Banana Republic, just with that colonial, linen clothing look. I have a whole wardrobe of their clothes that I buy regularly when in Singapore and Bangkok. The company is Malaysian. Happy Travels!

I wore a linen dress to my son't college graduation. In the pictures I look like a homeless person who slept in the dress. That said, I once had a linen dress from The Gap, when The Gap was not all cheap crap, and it was a soft as butter and NEVER wrinkled.

After discovering the beauty of linen cloth, I have been searching for cloth made from this fabric. After intense search (calling up companies, going into numerous stores),I realize that there are different qualities (grades) of linen. Just like there are different grades of pearl, diamond, cashmere.

Wrinkle or not. See-through or not. You have to give it a try (ie. devise ways to test the grade of linen) as oppose to saying "linen wrinkles like a homeless person."

I agree that the GAP used to have very good linen. I used to buy pieces there, but back in the late 80s/early 90s before the CRAP came in. I find it beyond pathetic now. Happy Travels!

Love linen, don't care about wrinkles. It looks just as appropriate wrinkled, but I do stick to dark slacks. I find it relaxes anyway, unlike cotton which does not.
My alternative is synthetic fabric capris.

I love linen, especially JJill, Eileen Fisher and FLAX. I just steam it in the shower. I don't for travel bring linen shirts with alot of buttons because they do tend to need ironing.

immimi: British India finally has a website! I just looked. It's www.britishindia.asia. I've been wearing their clothes for many years. Linen works just fine in the tropics and people aren't worried about wrinkling. I have around 20, 100% linen shirts from them and also 100% linen short skirts. They also have great 100% cotton. Happy Travels!

I love linen & wear it all the time @ home & while travelling. I do what StCirq does: run the hot water in the shower...get the hotel bathroom all steamy.... & then hang my linen clothes there. The wrinkles disappear. I do this w/ cotton too.

I like marcy's idea...spritzing linen clothes & may try that. It probably works well on cotton too.

I also use drycleaners' plastic bags to pack my linen & sometimes I use tissue paper too.

Julies, Pack your linen, wear it, love it! B-) Did you enjoy Turkey! I see that you originally posted your linen question 3 years ago!! B-)

Two thumbs way up for Eileen Fisher linen. I have it,too. Well worth the money. Happy Travels!

"I like linen in the summer, too. I never iron it when I'm traveling, but I always pack a small spray bottle that I can fill with water.
I hang my wrinkled clothes up in the bathroom, spritz them with water, and the wrinkles come right out. If I'm in a hurry I blow the hairdryer on them for a minute. It really works!"

I do exactly the same. I love linen in warm weather and I don't travel without my small spray bottle. I use it on other clothes as well -- anything that gets wrinkled. Scarves, jackets ...

Another linen traveler!

Good for you grandmere. Smiles. Happy Travels!

I often travel with linen - but with linen blends - which don't wrinkle nearly as badly - and hang out in a hot shower. Also use silk for evening and light cottons during the day. I avoid synthetics - not just for travel, but for everything.

Guenmai - great, now I've got a bad case of Linen Envy and
I'm not going East any time soon.

LOL! Happy Travels!