Tips for Travel Clothing

Travel clothing should be comfortable, practical and good looking. It is great to look stylish and attractive as you stroll around a strange new place, but you don't want your appearance to make you stand out as a tourist. Travel clothing must also be easy to clean, stain resistant and hard to wrinkle. If you spill something all over your travel outfit, you don't have the ability to just run home and change.

Types

When choosing clothing to take with you on a trip, consider your needs. If it is a business trip you may need to take suits with you. If it is a weekend at the beach you may not need anything more than shorts and a couple of bathing suits. If you are backpacking for three months in Europe or sailing on an extravagant cruise you will need a variety of clothes. Regardless of the type of travel you are doing, the principles of travel clothing are the same. You want to get the most use out of the fewest articles of clothing. This reduces the amount of luggage you must take and gives you more outfit options.

Size

It is not a good idea to wear skin tight clothes while traveling. When choosing size for your travel clothing, select roomier sizes. Travel involves long stretches of sitting and marathon walks. Pressurized airline cabins make bodies swell and you might gain a few pounds as you indulge in travel food. It is a lot easier to tighten your belt a notch than to let your clothes out in a foreign place.

Features

Travel clothing should be made from easy-care fabrics that are hand-washable, dry quickly and don't wrinkle. If you can wash your clothing in your hotel sink and have it dry by morning, you can pack fewer clothes. Even if you don't do that, you want to be able to wash out stains easily on the run. Choose garments that all go well together so you can mix and match. Layer your clothing so you can add and remove garments as temperatures require. This way you can leave heavy jackets at home.

Considerations

Limit the number of shoes you bring. Shoes are heavy and take up a lot of room. Black shoes make great spares since they go with everything. Convertible clothing is ideal for travel. They feature pants and coats that have legs and arms that zip off to create shorts and vests for warmer weather. They are perfect for chilly mornings that turn into hot afternoons. Pockets are important in travel clothing. You always need places to keep things when traveling. Large zippered interior pockets are ideal for passports, tickets and money.

Warning

Unless your goal is to attract attention to yourself, avoid travel clothing that make you look out of place. Don't wear especially suggestive or revealing clothes, especially in places where it is against social norms. Don't wear T-shirts with vulgar or offensive images or words. Bright colors and exotic patterns might be fashionable at home, but in another culture they could advertise you as a tourist. The same goes for "Indiana Jones" gear or zippered safari vests. Real people don't dress like that. It makes you a target for rip-offs and crime. While traveling, make your wardrobe functional--not a fashion statement.