Lets put together a sunshine holiday capsule wardrobe......

[DrNortherner]

I always pack far too much and never wear half of it, determined to get it right this year. Have a bit of time to purchase some must have items if I'm missing anything.

In Gok wan stylee I want to mix and match...

What do you take?

Bumping for you!

Last year I went to Greece for a fortnight and took something in the range of:

2 bikinis and 2 sarongs
3 pairs of shorts
3 skimpy beach dresses
4 silk or cotton dresses and 4 silk or cotton skirts;
lots of camisoles;
2 pairs of sandals (one flip floppy and one a bit more sturdy for day trips and evenings).

I just washed the camisoles, shorts, bikinis and beach dresses in the sink and took a travel iron with us. I took some silver jewellery and some wooden bangles to accessorise and a few headbands.

We travel light!

Similar to belligerent:

2 bikinis and sarongs
1 pair of wedges, one pair of flat sandals
2/3 pairs of shorts
3 maxis - one of which is beach syle coverup, and one of which a more glamorous evening style
1 skirt
1 pair of 3/4 length combats to travel in and wear if weather not that hot
5/6 pretty tops

No iron

Some jewerellery

Went on flotilla to Greece two years ago and took waaay too much. I'm determined to get it down this summer - going back to the same area again.
So
Three swimsuits
Maybe a bikini if I can lose another half stone in the next four weeks.
Three pairs shorts (well, crops actually)
Five vest tops
Three dresses for evenings in tavernas
A sarong or two (need to find some new ones though, kids have nicked all mine for dressing up box)
One pair sandals and a pair of swim shoes.
That is it.

Would love more ideas on this, as I've just sorted through last year's holiday shorts and dresses and they all look horrible to me now.

What kind of shorts do people wear? Has anybody found any nice beach dresses?

Top Shop beach dress/cover up here

I wear longish shorts.

Isn't viscose rather erm...hot and (whispers) sweaty for the beach though?

I'm a bit obsessed with tan lines so tend to wear bandeau jumpsuits/tops with shorts. New Look, H&M and asos have some simple ones for £2-5. Wonderbra do a fantastic strapless bra if you need one. Loads of s MNers have it.

I do a list of days I am away, split the list into day/evening then go through my summer clothes and put an outfit for each bit of the list. It helps to narrow things down as well as making packing it all easier. You can see that actually you only need one pair of sandals not four and make sure you don't have those "wish I'd bought moments". It sounds a bit anal I know but I don't actually follow the list while away unless I'm a bit tispy stuck for outfit inspiration.

I've found the best buy to be gold sandals with sparkly bits which go with everything and look good enough for evening too. Think asos sale is still on and they have some good jewellery cheap. A long necklace/dangly earrings can take outfit from day to evening iyswim.

I tend to take a beach bag and then one clutch. Primark have a raffia one for £2 with blue, red, green stripes which would go with a lot. Peacocks also do good budget clutches for summer and I have their nautical stripe beach bag too.

Got some silky shorts in warehouse today for a tenner and am quite pleased with them. At least these have a proper, high waist rather than those awful low cut jeans things. They are SHORT though - however both dds approved them and so did dp, so I think they'll be okay.

I also bought a very lovely, white brorderie anglais (sp?) dress in Espirit - a bargain at only 18 pounds and I am v pleased with it. I thought it would be nice with tan sandals and wooden bangles (not that I actually own any tan sandals!).