Transitions

Travelling a lot is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, my desire to pack as lightly as possible helps me edit down clothing to the essentials. On the other hand, it’s hard to predict things like the weather or unexpected invites to more formal events. And one has to shop for extra pieces to accommodate changes in plans.

For example, last week I was in Miami, which in November is predictably hot and humid, New York, and Toronto (normally both cool but as it turns out, unseasonably cold and windy and snowy this week).

In anticipation, I wore a black eyelet dress which I wore as a tunic over pants while travelling and as dress with leggings, beribboned socks and fancier footwear at night  for travel. It was comfortable but probably underdressed by Miami standards.

This was my ensemble for travelling from Miami to New York. The cotton top from Uniqlo was nice and cool for the humidity…

… And when I got to NYC, I just had to layer up with this vintage Cacherel sweater. The  rooster tote was a great Miami-to-Manhattan, day-to-night bag because it held so much but is also so whimsical that people just treated it like a conversation piece as opposed to a sartorial faux pas.

The next day was action-packed, with dress codes that ranged from street style to cocktail. I had packed a sparkly skirt that I bought at a post holiday sale a couple of years ago and a meshy top (see the horrible photo booth picture above). But the nighttime temperatures were promising to plunge and as outerwear, the sweater was going to be harder to pull off. As was the puffy, packable jacket that I brought. So I bought a black blazer at T.J. Maxx. I am proud to say that this is the least amount of new clothing I’ve bought on a trip in a long time.

It was also a savvy purchase because the next day was so very cold and windy that I needed to wear almost everything I owned. I also feel like it was my most successful look of the trip.