What I wore all week: Taking. Control.

So this is what they mean by capsule wardrobe. A week in a carryon. And a game plan.

[Optional soundtrack for this post here.]

[Warning: If you are triggered by privilege, I think this could be triggering. You may want to slap the sh*t out of me. Skip and return; I will tell you when it’s safe and won’t be offended.]

Hi, my name is Rachel and I’m the only person who doesn’t relish the thought of traveling to glamorous locales. I’m nest-y. Case in point, when I was the creative director at M.Gemi, I often found myself traveling — to Rome, Sicily, Paris. And I dreaded it! Meanwhile, my husband had such serious FOMO he once elected to go with me. While I was shooting with the team he was taking lessons on biscotti making. We could not be more different in this way. I would prefer to stay put in one location — HOME — through thick and thin. I’d like to use a “travel budget” to fly people to me!

If you follow me on IG, you know that this past week we took a big family trip to Mykonos, in celebration of my F-I-L’s 85th birthday. And this followed closely on a trip to Maine and another to Miami and another unexpected and emotional one to Boston. When prepping for a trip, I prefer to do all the laundry, clean and organize like a madwoman, and luxuriate in the comfort that I’ll return to a big “ahhhhh.” But this patter of trips meant walking out on piles of laundry and leaving chaos in my wake.

But I packed really well.

I wanted having the right things on the trip to give me the sense of control I deeply crave in a situation involving travel, family (specifically my hub’s family — with my own, I can really let it all HANGGGGG out), and multiple generations.

I called a good week in outfit planning theme for starters: casual black and white. A tight color “story” (OY) is something I strongly recommend when traveling. Though in the future I would lean more into black and beige or gray or olive with pops of red. Less likely to get dirty, and even easier to make outfits.

I was also determined to do carryon only. The last thing I needed was the stress of losing luggage (Athens is notorious for it, we learned, and my niece’s luggage was lost.) Being pared down also helps me feel freer and more self sufficient. Inevitably there’s a part where you have to lift even rolling luggage (planing/deplaning the small Athens → Mykonos flight, in this case). I wanted to be able to do it, no problem. And I didn’t want to cut it close. I didn’t want to be sitting on my suitcase trying to close it. That’s stressful too. At the end, I got super realistic and asked — “What is this piece doing for me? Do I have something else that’s doing this same function, even if it’s different?” I removed a few pieces and didn’t miss them at all. In fact, I still had several things that went unworn.

Packing really well, having the creature comforts (like socks on the plane) and things that make me feel like me, these helped a lot.

The outfits …

Monday

What: La Ligne Andie T-shirt dress. Miu Miu sandals. Jil Sander bag. Used Brunello Cucinelli necklace via TRR.

Why: This dress was the one thing I really bought specifically with the trip in mind (along with a replenishment of basics). But I has been looking for a T-shirt dress since well before the trip, especially one I could layer in interesting ways. I jumped on this one because it’s layerable, yet stands on its own, and flows so nicely. Most T-shirt dresses aren’t made for a body that brings together small shoulders plus substantial hips/bum, without clingy. We were going on a boat ride to another island, sneakers suggested, but and the sandals are rubber bottomed with a tread and served perfectly. (I didn’t pack sneakers at all or miss them.) The bag was big enough for my swimsuit, SPF, hat, and pareo, which also worked as a layer for the breeze.

Outcome: Good form and function. A First Pancake — tasted good, fine. Not quite in a groove yet. This outfit wasn’t necessarily splitting any atoms (something someone once said about a college classmate of mine!), but I felt comfortable and like me. I like that this necklace feels like a true layer I can add in summer.

Tuesday

What: Preloved Loro Piana linen shirt from castanet Boston. Secondhand Hermes sportsbra thing-y from TRR. Homme Girls boxers. Jil bag. The Row lace up sandals.

Why: A totally low-key day, and we took a van to a gyro shop (confirmed: it’s “YEE-RO”) we’d heard good things about. I packed the boxers even though they weren’t in my color scheme, because they were so light and small and I imagined that even if I didn’t wear them I could sleep in them or easily throw them over a bathing suit. I was glad I did! I really just enjoy wearing these. They’re comfy and feel like fashion, and speak to my inner surfer nephew ala

Allison Bornstein

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Outcome: This one, as opposed to the day before, really felt like SOMETHING to me. Do you know what I mean? That body rightness I get from being a little closer to my DNA, a little more pushed. I call it Lofted Settledness. This had it for me.

I’ll show you the one below, too, to prove my point, I wore it the Sunday after we arrived but later in the day than I published. Different elements but a similar vibe.