Glow me up!

[travailtotravel]

I am meeting someone I REALLY like, I mean I REALLY like, when I go on a professional work trip to France in 20 days.

How would you glow up between now and then?

• I eat mostly low carb, and walk at least an hour every day
• Skincare is glycolic and retinol PM, moisturizers and SPF AM

I also can only pack hand luggage for a 6 day trip so that's feeling overwhelming! I need a mix of professional clothes and city sightseeing that would also work in more (we like exploring).

Advice please, glowy, swishy ladies ...

Whereabouts in France will you be? Mid-March it’s likely to rain in a lot of places, and it probably won’t be warm. Make sure you have a stylish, flattering coat and take it to the dry cleaner now. Same for shoes, and a hat / umbrella and hairstyles that can cope with wintry and potentially wet weather.

Do you like cashmere? A cashmere jumper will keep you warm without taking up too much space in your luggage.

To save space start thinking about decanting your perfume and toiletries into smaller containers.

I'll be south think Lyon/Avignon/Marseille. So warm during the day and maybe not so much the evening - a light cashmere is a good idea, thanks.

Hmmm I'm not sure how to help particularly with the fashion (other than good cashmere and a nice coat as per pp) but it all sounds terribly glamorous and exciting and far more fun than my life!
Hope it goes well - maybe some good underwear required?!

What is your usual style? What do you need/want to wear for the work parts of the trip, what kind of work will you be doing? Are there any / many social events such as lunches and dinners as part of the trip, and are they formal or informal, with or without clients, with lots of people or more intimate?

This! Best knickers! 🫢😉

Well, obvs on the undies!

How exciting! Suggestions that make me look more polished and like I have my shiz together (I don't, it's an illusion 😆)

Drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep between now and then.

Fresh hair cut (and coloured if that's your thing), and a manicure, classic dark red would be my pick.

I'd also go over my clothes with the debobbler, iron them well and give my shoes and bag a good clean.

This sounds fun!

Thinking about the shops I particularly noticed / recognised in Marseille / Aix a couple of years ago - Agnes B, American Vintage, Casey Casey, Cos(!) - and the things the cool professionals were wearing, I’d suggest crisp, plain, tonal as a dressing plan.

Absolutely no patterns, florals, flounces, tiers. Yes to tan suede, svelte black leather, neutral linen. Aim for exceptionally grown up, restrained but utterly contemporary. For styling (unless you’re completely Sezanne) have a look at:

Alexandra Golovanoff

& Daughter

Casey Casey

And then pick the things from your own wardrobe that can be put together simply and elegantly.

Re the beauty glow up - ‘low carb’ is a bit meaningless to me - veg box, wholefoods (beans, pulses, grains), fibre are what I rely on for all round wellbeing.

Would add: get eyebrows threaded (Blink Eyebrows are excellent) and perhaps an excellent dermatology-grade facial in the next few days, to give an extra glow by the time the trip comes around?

Thanks all. The professional is related to wine, th profession I want to be in so making impression important. Thinking my electric blue tights and zebra mini might not cut it!

Will you be needing to go outdoors and into damp caves etc.? Or is it all office-based? Thinking about footwear in particular. (A lot of wine types tend to dress for the countryside even if they’re in the office.)

Do taste the wine; don’t get pissed!

If that's your style, then just rock it. The worst thing you can do is go as someone else. Adding simple accessories can really elevate your look. I second a really smart coat you can wear every day and maybe a nice handbag. I would recommend getting your eyebrows and nails done.

The wine thing is professional and I'm qualified in the field so all good on not getting pissed. I'll be doing a lot of walking ... I was thinking knee boots and skirt type stuff.

This... with brow and lash tint.

This is what I find so baffling about much of S&B... Go to Casey/Casey, ignore the shapeless shirts/trousers, scrolling on led to this. WTF?

electric blue tights and zebra mini

Sounds great. Black brogues and deep v neck oversized black jumper? Or cropped white shirt and substantial black chore / field jacket?

And knee boots and a skirt are pretty standard clothes - again sounds fine.

It is just a matter of organising a small volume of clothes that work with each other and will cover 6 days. It really depends on what you like to wear. If that’s skirts - pack two, plus four jumpers / shirts and one pair of shoes. Travel in the third skirt, boots, jacket. (The last time I did a similar trip recently I experimented by packing two sweater dresses, one skirt and a pair of shoes. Travelled in separates, jacket, coat, boots. It worked well.)

I’m torn between suggesting you take the very best quality items in your wardrobe - and remembering that both the Mango and Zara branches I dived into in your business trip area were absolutely rammed with shoppers. (And I bought a gorgeous ivory tweed dress in the latter that only appeared, in a slightly different version, in the UK the following year.)

@OldChairMan we don’t all have to like the same things …

To my eyes the CC outfit you’re ‘baffled’ by would make an utterly magnificent wedding guest outfit, with maybe some glossy, block heeled loafers or Mary Jane shoes.

I obviously wasn’t suggesting the OP buys up the entire website. But there’s a navy silk co-ord set, shirt and trousers, that would be exactly what I’d want to replicate at a more manageable price for a work trip to the south of France.

I just did five days away for work with hand luggage and had gifts (big thing in the local office) in half of it:

Work out where the nearest carrefour is and buy your toiletries there if possible (saves on hand luggage space) or check what they have in the hotel. Definitely decant or buy travel sizes of the things you must have.

I usually pack neutral bottoms and shirts/tops in different styles and colours. If everything co-ordinates then you can change it up.

Always have a scarf, can be used to change an outfit, protect against spills, add a layer, even act as a sarong.

Wear gym gear or comfy casual on the flight with layers. A backpack for laptop can usually fit shoes or clothes and goes under the seat in front.

thanks, I've got the bones of a plan now - about 3 outfits with some variations. Glowing up (ruining no carbs with pancakes obvs) in other ways too. Mostly its just confidence right? And I kinda lost some of mine but am putting it back together again.

Casey Casey is gross. All the garments look as though they’ve been pulled out of a bag left outside the charity shop.