Packing Personas

I'm out here at BlogWorld in Las Vegas this week. It's been kind of a crazy last few weeks between Fashion Week, then some work projects, the hubby traveling too and getting a new pup. Traveling again for the BlogWorld New Media Expo kind of crept up on me and I left my packing planning to the last minute.

As I was making up a list (because I always have to make a packing list), I realized I was packing for a persona.

When you get up for the day or plan outfits for a trip what are all of the things you take into account as you go. For me, it's a whole variety of elements from the weather, to something in particular I want to wear, if I'm walking a far distance or not and even the environment I will be in. Of course you want to have a level of appropriateness that you take into account so you can feel comfortable physically and emotionally happy and confident.

But do you ever feel you are dressing for a particular "side" of your personality too?

My wardrobe barriers are not very static. I feel pretty comfortable wearing most of my clothes to the office, depending on what day it is. I do tend to buy or plan outfits with different perfect scenarios in mind but I usually like my clothes and accessories so much I don't want to tuck them away to wait for some "perfect" situation. If I did that I wouldn't be able to wear most of my stuff!

But I do notice that I think of some outfits as projecting more of certain elements of my personality. For example, this would be a pretty typical work outfit -





A comfortable fun dress that's not to revealing with cute quirky element like the Pretty Good Things deer headband. This still reflects my personality but not too shocking, in case I get called to a new business meeting.

For Fashion Week, I packed with quite a bit of planning and care. I wanted variety and layering and fun prints and a few signature stand-out items. I wanted to look good when meeting some of the other stylish ladies that I know from online but still be able to walk around all day to the tents. There were pieces that could be mixed and matched to extend what I packed but what I brought were pretty much planned out looks.

As I packed for Vegas, a whole different set of outfits came into play. Not only was this going to be 3 days of attending conferences and speakers but there would probably be a great deal of walking with a few after hours networking-type events. It was also in a city where people dress a lot more "comfortably", especially the majority of the folks attending the expo.

I was more what I would jokingly call "hipster". By this I mean more denim, graphic tees, lots almost exclusively black pieces... oh yeah, and sequin Converse.





I did bring my sequin F21 jacket and Skovgaard heels to have an edgier outfit for night but during the day I'm wearing black ballet flats. And my best accessories? My iPhone, chargers and Vivienne Tam HP mini (which is the BEST THING EVER for traveling).

I actually find I need to be careful when planning for packing this way. I tend to get a bit unrealistic at times because I imaging all sorts of events and situations that I would need to dress for, then I WAY over pack because I end up not doing about 75% of what I imagine could happen. Hey, I could need to have a dress for tea with royalty when I go to London next time, right???

Do you dress and pack practically or is all about who you want to be that day?