A Forensic Analysis Of My Suitcase

Hi, peeps.  Your Dip today is in bold font plus the pictures. 
Should you have the time and the inclination, then your Dive is all the rest!


Those of you who've got to know me well might have guessed this would be coming up.
Yup, The Suitcase Police making a guest appearance here with a forensic analysis of my suitcase.

I've been analysing holiday pack v. worn for some years.  With the intention of learning from it.  You'd think I'd be good at it by now, then.
But 15 years plus on ...  is it working?   You tell me!!!


What I packed

This lot, plus shoes, 2 bags and 2 jackets.  Oh, and a pac-a-mac.

What I wore

 For Travelling

Grey Peacock jeans (3+), Next grey print sleeveless vest (3), Woolovers grey frill cardi (1) and M&S snakeskin flatties (3+). 

The number in parentheses indicates the actual/guess at number of times I wore the item.  I thought that adds quite a professional little touch to my report!

On Holiday

White Peacock jeans (2), stripey Peacock t-shirt (1), Next navy linen cardi (1).

The long-length top which hides at least some of the multitude of my holiday sins!

White Company taupe trapeze cardi (2), Next grey print top (3), M&S taupe 7/8ths chinos (2)

My throw-on-and-go Dotty P black jersey midi-dress (3), perfect for countryside/seaside living. 

The 3 Stages of a Magasin stripey top (1), (but could have been much more) with those Peacock grey jeans (love 'em!).  Primark scarf (3) - this was the only scarf I used the entire trip, and I wore it only this once as a muffler.  Which was good because, note to self - wear with camisole next time.
Back to the scarf - I used it as a sarong over my "swimsuit".  And it's light, so a great suitcase item.

 Now, the "swimsuit" itself - well, I didn't take one. So I made up a swimsuit with a black long-line camisole and M&S black modal pants.  It worked!  But it was a token gesture as most of the time dipping with the girls was of the skinny type.  As you do.

And you know, apart from wearing my black Next long-sleeved modal top with the 7/8ths chinos and with white jeans, I pretty much didn't wear anything else other than what you see in the pics above.

Therefore, I now give you ...

My Capsule Wardrobe, aka what I should have packed

1 pr grey jeans, 1 pr 7/8th chinos, 1 pr white jeans, black midi jersey dress, black long-line camisole, black long-sleeve top, grey printed sleeveless top, taupe cardi, Birkenstocks, snakeskin flatties.

Ouch, that analysis hurts!

The (Painful) Aftermath Analysis

Things I bought in Copenhagen.  Khaki loose top.  Cream loose top.  2 stripey tops.  Plus the Birkenstocks, not in picture.

Things I wore just once (so needn't have packed).

What I definitely shouldn't have packed

Things I didn't wear (so definitely shouldn't have packed!).  And this is when it becomes truly embarrassing!

In my defence I realise that the three dresses I took were excessive.  But this was because I got rather side-tracked just before packing, having read an article about holidaying with dresses only.  I didn't have time to experiment with the living-in-dresses-for-8-days approach and I am not a risk-taker, so I bunged in the dresses in addition to all the separates.  OK, a pretty flimsy defence, so let's move on.

I've just made a list of the items I didn't wear.  I don't want to publish it. The truth hurts.  So, suffice to say that 20+ superfluous items travelled with me.

Kinda like my Suitcase of Shame, eh?

Going forward?

Again in my defence, I think my issues were two-fold (at least!).
1) is that I evidently packed for a much longer holiday!
2) is that I tend to pack to keep my options open.

But these pseudo-defences do not stand up, as
1) on holiday clothes can be washed so the number of days on holiday is irrelevant, and
2) multi-options are unnecessary - I am more imaginative and wear what I want on holiday (exhibit A, "swimsuit").

Let's move on.  Because rather refreshingly for me, I did have a PEM (a packing-eureka-moment) whilst on holiday - my approach in future should be to decide before the holiday what I really enjoy wearing (bearing in mind temperature and what I will be doing at the destination).  Then pack what I really enjoy wearing.  Alternatively, just pack the Capsule Wardrobe, see  bundle 1 above, m'lord.

And with that, I rest my suitcase.


Please tell me that you overpack too!
Please tell me that my packing for the week was perfectly reasonable, perhaps even capsule ...
Please tell me my defence as above would stand up with the Suitcase Police and m'lord.
Please tell me that I am learning and benefiting from my analyses over the years!
Please, please, please ...

If not, I hope this analysis helps you when packing your next holiday suitcase!


A la perchoine.