Secondhand Stories: the travel one

 

Today in our joint Second Hand Stories series, my blogging partner Sarah London and I will share out latest preloved finds.

And for me it has been all about the holiday wardobe.

I am about to go on holiday abroad for the first time in nearly three years.

And for me the holiday begins by planning what I will wear.

I have a little notebook where I plan what I will take and also journal the trip too.

This is an entry from March 2010.

I will be taking this book with me to Marbella tomorrow as we celebrate my daughter's Hen.

As it is a Hen Do the days and events are planned out in detail, even down to colour themes: Black Day, White Party, Supper Club etc.

It has made planning a lot easier and I was determined to take as much second-hand stuff as I could.

I also bought new items from the proceeds of my Vinted sale.

I have been scouring the preloved sites since January and I have found some great buys.

About half of  my holiday wardrobe is preloved and here are some of my favourites.

The pink Seafolly costume is from Vinted and the black costume from Top Shop via Vinted.

The Top Shop white shorts and black New Look shorts are both from Vinted.

These beaded Top Shop bag was £3 from Vinted and the BNWT Zara bag also Vinted was £10.

This gorgeous white Reiss Dress still had the £238 tag on it and I paid £40. Again from Vinted.

And my absolute favourites are these leather and wood Mulberry Sandals which came with dustbag and box and had never been worn.

I paid £40.

In the first picture I am wearing a sarong I bought yesterday for £3 from a local charity shop with the Top Shop costume and preloved Dolce & Gabana sunglasses.

I am off to see what Sarah has added to her preloved collection this month.

I will be back soon to share the holiday snaps.

Have a great day,

Jane.

Postcards from Spain: The Holiday Capsule Wardrobe

 According to a survey by Debenhams, women only wear a third of the clothes they take on holiday and on average take 150 items and wear around 50 during a fortnight break.

Staggering.

I know I only went for 12 nights but I packed 20 items (not including travel outfit) and wore 20 items after making a last minute swap of a swimsuit for my daughter's Top Shop dress.

I also bought a blue top in Zara.

Even if you included underwear which I washed daily it would still come in at under 25 items.

I wore the same sandals every evening and each dress twice.

During the day I wore a bikini and sarong or cover-up and the same Birenstocks sandals.

Another dress that doubled as an evening dress and cover-up.

The cover up dresses I took double up nicely for walks around the town, dressed up with a hat.

So good I wore this dress twice.

The denim skirt got three wears - with the pink top.

With the too tight top I had to tuck into my bra.

With the blue vest I bought at Zara.

 The black dress I swapped for my red swimsuit.

Joe Brown white dress, worn twice amazingly - although I did spill red wine on it the second time.

The skirt I wore to travel to the airport was worn with the orange vest during the holiday and as a return home outfit too.

For more information on my holiday capsule see here (although I did swap a swimsuit for a dress).

My holiday capsule formula:

5 dresses

2 cover-up dresses that can be worn on the beach or for sightseeing

1 sarong

4 swimsuits (bikinis and/or tankinis) that can be mixed and matched

Two skirts

3 tops

Flat Birkenstocks for day

Flat dressy sandals for evening or day out

1 multi-way bra

3 pants (make sure you can wash and dry undies daily)

Total items: 23

All of my items were packed in a carry-on suitcase although I did squeeze my toiletries into my husband's case!

Holiday Capsule - A Work In Progress

I am putting together my holiday capsule and here is the story so far.
We are going back to the same campsite we stayed at last year near Barcelona.
Our days are spent walking along the beach, lazing by the pool, long lunches, the odd sight-seeing trip and generally chilling out.
I usually start my day with a run and my running kit is carried in my hand luggage.
The evenings are spent socialising with the children and the friends we have made over the years.
This sometimes includes a beach picnic, games of table tennis and lots of card games.
I know my wardrobe is dress-heavy but separates always seem so fussy and hot.
My holiday will be 10 days as I have to fly home early to start my new job.
Any suggestions - additions or deletions would be must welcome.
If you want to get an idea of how my holidays are usually spent here are the last few - just click on the date.
2008
2009
2010
The Capsule List
Blue FCUK Dress
Red American Apparel Multiway Dress
White Joe Brown Dress
Multi New Look dress
Leopard print halter neck dress - Dorothy Perkins
Blue and white Mantaray Dress
Blue and White Striped Beach Dress - H & M
Aqua halter neck - Matalan
2 Black and White print beach dresses - Matalan
White Kaftan - H & M
Blue Kaftan - Jasper Conran
Black and white sarong - very old
Red and white Jasmine Guinness Swimsuit
Blue and white Accesorise Swim suit
Pink and Cream Swimsuit - John Lewis
Red and White striped Tankini
2 Black and White Bikinis (Matalan & Tesco)
Tan Heels
Tan Flats
Brown Flip Flops
Can't wait to hear from you.
Jane X