Practical travel clothes
 

We will be travelling to Poland in September. The first part of the week is on an escorted tour, then a few days on our own to explore. What are practical travel clothes for that time of year? I figure jeans are a given....what else makes sense? I do not think we will be hitting any place too fancy for dinners.....some are included on the tour and some are on our own. I appreciate suggestions!

A good place to get clothes ideas is from travelsmith.com
There is a page that gives you an idea of what to pack based on where you're going and the time of year.

I don't have special clothes. I pack things liked I'd wear going out on the weekends at home ("dressy casual") from my own normal wardrobe, picking fabrics that pack well, colors that mix and match, and pieces that are right for the weather in fall, with layering options.

..just wear what you ordinarily would..no need for special travel clothes. I am not a fan of jeans..heavy, hard to dry if get wet. I tend to wear heavy cotton pants in dark colors with a bit of stretch (Banana Republic or Gap type things).

Jeans are not a given - unless you're students and never wear/don;t own anything else. They're very heavy to carry, take up a lot of room and when they get dirty take forever to wash and dry. You're much better off with something lighter weight that will take up less room in luggage - and be suitable for wearing anywhere - even out to dinner.

Take light weight slacks/skirts as the case may be, a mix of casual and better blouses, shirts, sweaters and make sure you have 2 pair of waterproof walking shoes and a good folding umbrella as well as a light weight jacket.

I am a huge fan of the Chico's "Travelers" line. They come in so handy if you are washing in the sink, as they dry in hours.

They also come in several weights, so you can wear the thinner weights in hot humid places, and the heavier weights in cooler locales.

I wore the pants and tank tops in 100 degree weather with high humidity in Cabo a few years ago.

I most recently spent two weeks in Europe with a pair of the long "no tummy" slacks, a pair of the regular slacks, and a pair of the capris. I also took a long cardigan, a shorter tie cardigan, and an open swing cardigan, along with 5 tanks of varying colors.

You can dress these up or dress them down, depending on where you are going for dinner. They are wrinkle resistant, and pack down to almost nothing.

I washed these in the sink when I needed to and hung them dry, and washed them in apartment washers when we had them. (What is with the no dryer thing in Italy?) We also took two pairs of shoes and a pair of flip flops each. I highly recommend ECCO shoes.

We females managed to do a 16 day trip with only a small wheeled carry-on.

Regarding Travelsmith. Don't those clothes look OK in the catalogue and on line? And, I'll say this, the slacks I bought don't wrinkle, but without exception, the zippers have this problem becoming stuck or have broken teeth about 1/2 way up...the waistband lining is not sewn "down" so it wants to flip outside the slacks.
Everything else was OK just the slacks were a "waist" of my money!
I'm going to check out Chicos again.

Ditto to Chico's Travelers! Love them. Great on the plane too - never look wrinkled or slept in. And so comfortable.

Just a side note...

The clothes from Chico's are a bit spendy. If that is not an issue for you, go down to any Chico's store and try them on.
Chico's sizing is different from normal sizing, so unless you are familiar with them, it is hard to order out of the catalogue.

I am a single parent, so spending money on myself is hard, and spending lots of money on myself just doesn't make sense. So I head down to the nearest Chico's Outlet store, or find wqhat I want in the regular store and then buy it on eBay. I buy them new with the tags on, just like at the stores

I'm another huge Chico's fan, especially the Travelers' Collection. If you begin with a few of the classic pieces in black--skirt, pants, tank, capris, or dress--there are a myriad of coordinating Travelers pieces in prints or colors that you can continually add for some spice and variety. They also have another collection called "Ottoman Urban," I believe. This is a heavier weight, and I swear the pants have a fabulous hold and fit that take off five pounds! I wore these pants a lot during my recent trip to Rome.

No, I do not work for Chicos, just give them a lot of my money!

I have and like a pair of Travelers pants from Chicos, but they are spendy, and they are WAY synthetic (for folks into natural fabrics you probably won't like the feel of 'em).

I have had extreme mixed results from Travel Smith. Two things I own have lasted for years and are absolutely wonderful pieces (summer jacket and silk cardigan). Others stuff was horribly and cheaply made, so bad that I couldn't believe they had the nerve to sell it at that price (and that I had to pay shipping both directions to order then return them)!

Jeans are fine. Sometimes I don't understand the no jeans people here.
I have worn jeans forever and taken them on every trip I have been on. Never have a packing problem and you can get by with a few wearings so no laundry on the road. So if you wear them at home no reason IMO to leave them at home.
By the way, there is a Chico's in a mall near me and I could never afford those prices. The clothes are not quite my style either. Too much layering and fabrics I don't normally wear.
As a child of the 60's I guess I will always be a jeans person.

I don't get the no jeans people either. I mean hellloooooooooooo everytime and every place I've been in Europe, I see people from all countries wearing JEANS. Look around, people! haha My guess is that the anti-jeans group is older. I'm not saying older people don't wear jeans, because my parents are young 60 somethings and wear jeans and look great. I just think that on the boards some of the "no jeans" people might be older and/or more conservative? Just a hunch. :) Melissa

..I liove in jeanes BUT when I travel and have a small suitcase I just find I do better with plack cotton pants or chinos...or better yet some black jeans with a bit of stretch in a light cotton. I just seem ot get so much more use out of them..and I am a slob..coffee doesn't show on black but it does on my regular jeans..ditto the red wine.

sorry ..a European keyboard so excuse the typos..live, jeans, black

I wear Jeans on the weekends at home. I don't take them to Europe for the following reasons

1. They take up too much room in my suitcase. I can do a 3 week trip to Europe (including hiking in the Alps) in a 22" so I have to be "greedy" about space.

2. They strech out... so about the third wearing they are falling off LOL ... this is directly related to #3

3. They have to either be washed in a laudry or you have to pay for laundry service to do them. My Girl Scouts got SOAKED while we were in Switzerland. It was LATE when we got home and they hung thier jeans up to dry, came home from our outing the next evening and they were still WET (not just damp WET) and this was a very nice day....

The last thing Mommie wants to do on holiday is wash jeans.
Denim does not dry easily without the aid of a dryer. Jeans are bulky and take up a lot of room in a small bag, not to mention being heavy.
Much easier to carry along linens, modals or microfibers, all which can be easily rinsed in the sink and hung to dry - and dry in a flash.
I love my jeans - but stopped traveling with them a long time ago due to exactly my sentiments above.

I like stretch jeans because they aren't as heavy as regular jeans and fit me better.

I also like the Chico's line but can't afford their prices. As an alternative, I look for clothing made from the same spandex and acetate fabrics as Chico's. I now have several tank tops, tees and pants to add to the two Chico's jackets I bought on sale.

Thank you, thank you , thank you!!! Believe it or not, this helps tremendously. When I wear jeans at home, and sometimes to work, I tend to dress them up, not down. But I can see the down side of travelling with them - and you are right-the new stretch ones look like heck by day 3!!! I just looked at Chico's travelwear - coincidentally, I just received a flyer in the mail...but it would be a bit beyond me to buy multiple pieces...BUT, it does give me a very good idea what to "go for" in preparing for this trip!

PaulaLou, no need to buy multiple pieces. Just start with two--a basic black tank and the "no tummy" pants. Chances are you probably already have lots of other pieces that can coordinate with these two. Or buy two tanks to give you some variety. Sometimes I just wear my denim jacket or a cardigan or a suede-like blouse with these two, and I'm set to go.

About the fabric, yes it is a polyester, but the pros far outweigh the cons in my book--ease of packing, washing, lightweight, no wrinkles. And about the price--I actually have found that they are a lot cheaper than most of the similar pieces in Travelsmith. There is also a line on QVC, that is very similar and low cost (sorry, can't remember the name--maybe City Knits).

For the numerous times that I have worn and washed these classic pieces, they are still my "go to" basics that have more than repaid the investment I have made in them. Can't go wrong! jg