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Travel Clothes: What To Wear On Your Next Flight 

Travel Clothes: What To Wear On Your Next Flight 
Carly Jacobs

I’m constantly searching for the perfect travel clothes. I’m not the type to wear yoga pants outside of the gym but I want to feel like I’m wearing yoga pants while still looking semi-presentable and that’s a pretty tough balance to strike sometimes. I also like to do acrobatics in my seat on the plane so I need to allow for a lot of movement.

I do so admire women who dress up for the airport. Every time I see a paparazzi photo of Posh Beckham teetering around Heathrow on her giant heels in her teeny tiny jeans, I think she’s pretty freaking ace. I love a good high heel but I’m far too lazy and easily irritated to wear high heels on a plane. Plus I like to get everywhere super quickly – off the plane, to the front of the taxi cue, to the toilet – and high heels just slow me down. Not into it at all.

Here’s my typical plane outfit. I like to wear a roomy dress and pack layers like a light jacket and shawl or scarf.

travel clothes

Wearing

Dress from a random store in Moonee Ponds I’ve forgotten the name of. Soz.

Birkenstock Amsterdams 

Coin necklace from Poppy Smaggle

Earrings gift from Hair Romance and Mr & Mrs Romance

Nomad shawl made by me (learn to make your own here!)

 

Wear breathable fabrics 

I cannot stress this enough. Synthetics tend to get a bit stinky on planes and if you’re travelling all day without the chance of a shower, you’ll want to make sure you’re wearing natural fabrics. The changes in temperature when you travel are just too much for your poor armpits to cope with. Help them out. Wear cotton.

Dress in layers 

I can go from shivering under a pile of jackets to fanning myself with my boarding pass in a matter of minutes at an airport so I always layer hard when I’m travelling. I’ll usually start with a cotton maxi dress, add a cardigan, a leather jacket and a wrap or scarf. I never travel without a wrap because they can double as little lap blankets if I get cold on the flight and you can wrap them around your shoulders in chilly airports.

travel clothes

Make it jersey 

My admiration for women who wear heels at the airport also extends to people who wear fitted clothes. I saw a guy on a long haul flight wearing a skin tight hipster suit. He looked fabulous and wore the damn thing for a whole 20 hours flight. What a legend. Having said that, it’s so not necessary. If you don’t feel comfy in your clothes, it’s just going to ruin your flight.

Wear flat shoes

You have to walk so much more than you think at airports and when you travel so flat shoes are definitely the go. For me, travel never really goes according to the plan and I somehow end up dragging my suitcase up a hill in 30 degree heat because there was an accident on the road and no cars can get through. I like to always be prepared and wear shoes comfy enough to walk quite a distance in. I also like walking and when I travel I’ll try to sneak an extra 20 minutes in whenever I can.

Make sure it’s something you’ll wear on your trip 

I’m all about the minimalist wardrobe so I’d never wear something on a flight that I had no intention of wearing on my trip. I find a simple black dress in a natural fibre is one of the best things to pack. You can dress it up or down, add tights if it’s cold or just wear it on it’s own if it’s hot. I’ve had this dress for about 8 years now and it’s still a winner.

This outfit was worn for a mad dash to see My Favorite Murder at the Sydney Opera house. I already saw it in Melbourne but Chrissy needed a date for the Sydney show so she bought us meet and great tickets. I actually got to HUG Georgia and Karen. I hugged each of them about three times each. It was such an amazing evening.

travel clothes

We strolled around the harbour, had a lovely snacky dinner with wine and then fan girled on the ferry all the way home. I had lots of client meetings in Sydney (old and new!) so it was a great, quick trip. I’m in Sydney a lot so it’s not really a novelty being there but this trip was really lovely. I spend most of my time in Balmain with the Romances and it’s starting to feel quite like home there now, I know all the puppies that get walked in the morning and their local cafe is becoming one of my favourites. I don’t think I’ll ever live in Sydney but it’s definitely my home away from home.

I’m looking forward to a very chilled out weekend. My last few weekends have been out of control so I’m going to have slow mornings, lazy walks and hibernate a little. What about you?

What are you up to this weekend? And what are your favourite travel clothes?

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18 Comments

  1. Missy D 7 years ago

    I see we might be having nice weather in Melbourne this weekend so thought I might take a drive out to the countryside and do one of the hiking trails. 🙂

    I agree, natural fibres are the way to go on flights. I usually go for a stretchy jean/or cargo-style pants and cotton top with a cardy with my flats.

    It’s probably okay for someone like Victoria Beckham to glam up for a flight – fairly certain she’s flying in the section of the plane that allows for wardrobe changes and she probably goes from cushy lounge to her seat directly to her private car with people to carry her stuff. 😉

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      You know what? The weather was mildly disappointing last weekend. I expected so much more. Maybe that’s my issue, I’m not fancy enough to look fancy at the airport. 🙂

      • Missy D 7 years ago

        Even yesterday? Aside from the wind, it was a beautiful day. Pretty sure it was the first solid day of blue sky I’ve seen since moving to Melbourne. 😉

  2. Michaela 7 years ago

    I’m a big fan of the maxi dress when traveling. I usually wear a t-shirt style one with casual sneaker or flats and maybe add a cardigan. The addition of a scarf or wrap is genius though, and I might have to incorporate that tip next time I board a flight….(which will likely be sometime in the NEXT decade, but alas.)

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      I totally forgot this dress existed and now it’s back in regular rotation. I’m all over the scarf/wrap. So versatile. I even ended up wrapping a scarf around my feet once because I was cold. Best.

  3. Christina @ Hair Romance 7 years ago

    Your mid-week trip made it feel like a weekend here! So much fun xx

  4. Kurrawinya 7 years ago

    Great piece! Looking gorgeous as always ?
    Dresses aren’t my thing so my favorite travel clothes are nice stretchy wrangler ultimate riding jeans, a Goondiwindi cotten shirt or cotten blouse, I usually take a canvas coat with me which is nice and breathable but keeps out wind chill I don’t how that thing works because it always seems to be as warm as I need it to be lol.. shoes are always my twisted x boots, they slip on and off easily and are comfy enough I’ve actually gone hiking in them yet they are dressy enough I can wear them with a dress for that Taylor swift (early days) look which I legit would meet the queen in lol.
    My biggest tip though is to wear non- underwire bras, I have some crackers from KNOBBY that I can sleep in or ride horses in they are unbelievable.
    Oh and this weekends plans? Mustering cattle ?
    Damn my comment was nearly nearly big enough to be a blog post ?

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      Thank you! I’ll look up those bras you mentioned. I’d love non-underwire bras but I exercise very heavily and need a bit of support but if you can horse ride in them, that’s good enough for me! Do you live on a farm?

      • Kurrawinya 7 years ago

        No worries ?
        Yep I sure do, it’s a small stud farm so I do have a full time job outside of that too ?
        Knobby are good with well behaved boobs they certainly are better than el cheapo target crops, I’d put them on par with lorna jane with a bit better shape and a lot more comfy…. and a lot cheaper too…. be warned though the colours are pretty out there lol.

  5. Lisa Fourman 7 years ago

    I also make sure to wear flip flops when I go to the airport just to make sure my shoes are easy to pull on or off when going through security. Knowing my “luck”, I’d be searched by TSA before my flight to my destination and going home. I’ve had it happen before so I know better than to not prepare for it.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      I’m a fan of slip on and off shoes but I do have a phobia of having my toes exposed at an airport. Too many feet and wheelie suitcases… too many opportunities to lose a toe! #overthinker

  6. Hailey 7 years ago

    Your crochet dress in that last photo is just superb!

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      Thank you! I made it, I just have to draft the pattern up and then people can see it properly! 🙂

  7. Judith Westhoff 7 years ago

    Just packing ready to go to Bali. First time for me (Bali that is, not flying), so super excited. This post is really timely, I was wondering what to fly in and a dress sounds like it might be just the thing. I usually travel in jeans, but then again my usual flights are less than 2 hours rather than 12.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 7 years ago

      Jeans are just too hardcore for flights but I never find jeans comfortable anyway.

  8. Al 6 years ago

    You got to meet Georgia and Karen! Gah!!! SSDGM! X

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