One Suitcase, One Week: Packing Dresses

A dress is one decision instead of two. That is the whole argument for travelling in them, and it holds up better than most packing advice.

Pick a fabric that forgives the case

Double gauze and washed linen crease and look intentional doing it. Crepe and ponte do not crease at all. Cotton poplin creases and looks like it needs an iron, because it does. Pack the first two groups and leave the third at home unless the hotel has a steamer and you are the sort of person who uses it.

Five covers seven days

Two you can wear in daylight without thinking, one that handles a dinner, one that handles weather turning, and one spare. Repeating a dress on day six is not a crisis. Nobody is keeping a list.

Roll, do not fold

Folding puts a hard crease along a line that then has to hang out. Rolling puts a soft curve through the whole garment, which drops out within an hour of being on a body. Roll from the hem up with the bodice on the outside.

Layers do the work of extra outfits

A blouse under a pinafore turns one dress into a different one. A cardigan over a sleeveless maxi moves it from August to October. The Bramble Blouse and the Ivy Blouse were both cut to sit under something else, which is why they are worth the space.

Wear the bulkiest thing

Whatever has the most fabric in it goes on your body at the airport, not in the case. A floor-length gathered skirt takes up a third of a carry on and weighs almost nothing on you.

The one thing worth checking before you pack

How the dress fastens. A back zip needs someone else or a good shoulder, and hotel rooms are not always shared. Pull-on styles and button fronts are the ones to take when you are travelling alone.