If you love clothes how many of each do you take?

[holidayfever2024]

I am off on a Greek island 2 week holiday soon, nice hotel, AI. So excited !
Can you help me shop and pack wisely ?

I am not after minimalism, I love clothes and love wearing different outfits when I am away but I am a bit uncertain about what a normal suitcase should be full of . We have only done two week holidays self catering with our own washing machine in the past.
Last year we went for a week and I had too many evening outfits but not enough daytime, things get grubby by the beach .

So help me out - how many of these do I need. -

swimwear
cover ups
underwear
day options ( sightseeing , shopping, boat trip)
evening outfits
foot wear
pyjamas!

anything else I have missed ?

thank you !

If I were going for 2 weeks this is what I would take:
swimwear - 6
cover ups - 6
underwear - 1 for every day (goes without saying) 1 bra for every 2/3 days, and some for sleeping
day options ( sightseeing , shopping, boat trip) I plan ahead so I would know how many times I would be doing this. Let’s say I was going out for 4 days - then I would take 2 extra outfits
evening outfits - 1 for every evening
foot wear - 2 flip flops, 2 wedges, 1 pair of trainers that I would wear on the plane and 2 sandals
pyjamas - 2 pjs

Jumper or cardy! Although not cold, evenings in July and August can be windy if the Meltelmi (similar to the French Le Mistral) blows. And aircraft cabins can be chilly.

Taking pyjamas? Seriously?

It sounds as if you are taking hold luggage. If you are travelling with a man, don’t pack his and hers. Mix your bags, just in case one goes missing. Listen to the voice of experiene on this one.

@Nothankyov thanks this is very helpful, more swimwear and cover ups than I would have considered ( I was thinking 3 bikinis are plenty) and less pyjamas @StarlightLady will now think I am obsessed with pyjamas. We are sharing a family suite with 2 DC so am definitely wearing pyjamas they are little vest tops and shorts sets.
yes to warm layers too , we are flying in the early hours so will definitely need them for travel , didn’t need them in the evenings last year ( returning to same location!)
I might need to buy some more underwear!

Ooh and more shoes! I have flip flops, wedge heeled sandal , flat sandal and some new Teva infinity for sightseeing if I can make them comfortable, not figured them out yet.

I would probably take:

3 pyjamas
loads of knickers
As many bras as possible

6 bikinis
4 cover ups

flip-flops
2 leather sandals

Evenings:
7-10 dresses

Day:
3 shorts
2 long, loose skirts
5 vests
2 linen shirts
6 beachy dresses

Big soft bag to use on plane/take to beach
Smaller leather bag for days out
Evening purse

I also take a small tube of travel wash detergent, and rinse things thru.

Blimey, I pack light!

Three bikinis, one swimsuit, two cover ups. Couple of pairs of shorts, 5 tshirts/shirts. Travel in dungarees, t-shirt, cardigan, and trainers. Combination of outfits for day/evening, dresses and skirts, 7 ish, re-wear at least twice. 7 pairs pants, they last more than a day, as not worn all day, sometimes only in the evening. Three bras, same reason. No pyjamas. Flip flops, 1 low sandal, one high sandal.

I know what you mean about pyjamas! I'm getting myself some shorts/vest sets so I'm not giving anyone an eyeful in the morning and if I want to sit outside with a coffee.

For my 10 day holiday I was thinking that 3 bikinis is enough, and I'll buy a few more cover-ups out there as my friend bought some lovely ones in Greece (I only have one).

I saw a thread on here a while back about wearing a dress first in the evening when it will likely stay cleaner, then it can be thrown on in the daytime to get a second wear out of it. I like quite basic, simple outfits though so it might not make as much sense if you like a more elaborate evening outfit.

I'll take plenty of underwear but plan to handwash some if needed. I think your list of footwear sounds about right, but I would probably want trainers for the plane.

Similar here.

A bottle of travel wash to wash undies.

I always have too much evening wear and need more t shirts and an extra pair of shorts.

My way to plan this (look away now if planning is not your thing)

list out what I’ll be doing each day, including travel on the first day and esp any activities which need ‘special equipment’ like a suit suit or walking shoes or whatever you need

list out what you are going to wear on each of those days, as daytime top 1, evening frock 1, swim suit 1

thst gives you the list of all your outfits

then work out what can double up, eg I might wear one too on one evening for a few hours, then use it again the next day as a cover up over swimsuit for a few hours

then nap which of your clothes will be used for each e.g. green tea shirt, white shorts

snd then you have your list. Real pfaff the first few times you do it, I can almost do it in my head theses days.

ps enjoy your holiday

@FinallyHere I am in awe of this degree of planning , I have a friend who does this ! I am much more inclined to throw it all in and hope for the best , hopefully at least after this thread I will have a better balance of options for day/ pool / night.

thanks for the holiday wishes - I cannot wait . We have had a few years of holidays like this feeling totally beyond our budget so I intend to enjoy every minute, starting with planning what to take !

Enjoy @holidayfever2024

i enjoy the planning because it reminds me that I’m going away. Have a lovely time

People take 6 bikinis on a two week holiday?! Surely you wash it in the sink after wearing to get the chlorine etc out? You only need two, or three max!

Shoes I would take a max of 4 - 1 x comfy walking shoes or trainers, 1 x sandals, 1 x other evening shoes, 1 x shoes for the beach/pool

I love clothes but also annoy myself when I over pack. I did manage with a small suitcase for a week recently (the bulk of the weight is always toiletries for me, which I put most of in a separate bag!) and still packed five tops I didn't wear.

In Greece you would mostly need beach and very lightweight casual wear and will likely not need so much as a cardi. Also it is very easy to wash things through and dry it in half an hour.

For anything more than a week, just pack for a week and wear everything twice, apart from pants.

I'd say four x shorts/skirts/skorts
2 x trousers
4 x bikinis
2 x cover up/tunics/shirts (easy to buy cheaply there also- often a better range than here)
five vest tops
14 x pants
5 bras
5 dresses
A beach sized microfibre or hammam towel (lightweight, dries easily)
four pairs of socks
Pair of trainers
Pair of going out sandals (wear comfy sandals to travel in)
PJ t-shirt and shorts

Don't forget sun cream, aloe vera gel, bite cream, anti histamines, anti-mozzie stuff, a few plasters and painkillers.

It’s shoes and accessories that often take up too much room. There’s a very good monologue poem by the great Pam Ayres on this very subject. But I digress.

Gold or silver or tan nice sandals/ espadrilles/ bag ‘go with’ everything.

6 bikinis? 2 does for me. And I usually only wear the bottom half.

Hi @FinallyHere are you my twin? This is exactly what I do too.
I allocate hats, undies and shoes and jewellery to each outfit and then I create a set of A outfits and B outfits and pack those across two cases as someone upthread suggested just in case one goes missing.
I also pack a small packing cube (whole other subject) in my hand luggage with a nice big compact dress, bikini, pants and a coverup.
I love packing, it’s part of the holiday fun for me.

I’m going on a similar type of holiday soon, for two weeks, no washing machine. Will be taking lots of swimsuits, bikinis and cover ups as I know I’ll be wearing these every day probably for most of the day. Evening outfits can be worn twice. The amount of day time outfits depends on how many days you will be doing things apart from being by the beach/pool.