What to pack for a two week Italian holiday

Hi babes! You know I love to travel. It's a relatively recent passion of mine - I never traveled much growing up because my family just didn't have the means, and then in my young adult years I had to save up any cash to get myself through university. When I started on my PhD, I finally had the means to broaden my horizon, and it has made my life so much richer. 

However, not having any experience with travel also means that even the most basic practical thing was new to me. It's something you don't really stop to think about when you're "privileged" but all this knowledge that comes natural to you because of your life experiences is completely foreign to people who do not live your life. For example, if your family never had money for more expensive cuts of meat, you won't really learn about how long/hot to cook your meat to get it adequately "done". If you've never stayed at a hotel, you won't know that a hotel's restaurant is also available to non-guests.

And I always, always overthink what/how much to pack. Of course, I don't make it easier on myself by taking stuff like "I want to have enough variation in my travel wardrobe" and "I want to wear outfits that are nice enough to feature on my blog and social media" into the equation. A regular person traveling will be satisfied with nice clothes rather than perfect outfits. But yeah, dressing up is a thing that gives me joy, so that's an important requirement of mine. 

Now, this need to be able to change things up and have enough "good" outfits used to result in me simply stuffing my suitcase with more cute dresses until I finally had some peace of mind that I'd packed enough (and then I generally got sick of my travel wardrobe somewhere along the trip anyway). But I found this awesome app that I recommend to everyone who is similarly obsessive about outfits as I am: SmartCloset. I just upload pics of all of the items I'm contemplating bringing, and then I can create Polyvore type outfit collages of the pieces I've added to my virtual wardrobe. It's an amazing app to get an overview of what you're bringing, and how much variation this will give you.

Also it's just really fun.

Anyway, based on my experience and use of the SmartCloset app, let me list up what you should definitely pack on a two week trip to Italy (or more specifically, Puglia) during summer. This is a collage of the minimum I'd recommend, but feel free to expand (I know I did). At least this way you'll know you have sufficient room for variation!

pieces from left to right and top to bottom (I'll add links for the pieces that are still available in shops):

Shein gingham dress - Shein polkadot dress - Shein dress - H&M pinafore - Shein dress

Forever21 off shoulder top - Forever21 bandeau top - Shein spaghetti strap top - Mango crochet top

Topshop mini skirt - Bershka denim shorts - Forever21 shorts - Monki midi skirt

Wonders sandals - Birkenstocks - Teva sandals - Stradivarius sneakers

• 2 pairs of shorts
• 1 mini skirt
• 1 longer skirt
• 5 dresses
• 4 tops
• 1 pair of fancier sandals
• 1 pair of sneakers (choose comfort over style here)
• 2 pairs of casual sandals

If you choose your tops and bottoms carefully so that every top is a match with every bottom, you'll get, like, at least 20 potential outfits out of this relatively compact list of items without having to repeat a look.

FYI, not pictured but practical to bring along (if not for style purposes)

• 1 pair of flip flops or easy on/off slides that can get wet
• 1 pair of water shoes (European beaches are so often rocky)
• 1 one piece swimsuit (in case you feel bloated/just want to keep things more covered)
• 1 bikini (in case you want to get as much sun as you can)
• 1 swimsuit coverup (get one that's large enough to change in/out of your clothes underneath)
• 1 hat
• 1 larger tote bag/net bag
• 1 small, nicer bag
• 1 pair of nice sunglasses
• some pieces of statement jewelry

 Let me show you some of my favourite outfits from our trip to Italy.

I adored these cat eye sunglasses and pearl earrings, I wore them almost every day! I got them off Shein (btw use discount code styling9 if you want 10% off if you spend over 65€), which is always my preferred shopping destination to pick up some cute new pieces just before I go on summer holiday. They went with all of my looks and provided the perfect finishing touch. Also my basket of course - it's from Dille en Kamille! The basket and the skirt are probably my most worn items from this trip. Perfect basics.

Two things of note here: this Monki ruffled swimsuit is cute enough to wear as a top, and you only have to pull off your skirt to be ready for a dip! As you can see my skirt is wet because I did just that. Second: always have a hat with you. The sun is not to be underestimated, and if you've had heatstroke once you won't want to experience it again. This pink hat is also from Shein, and I recommend it to people with a tiny head like mine. Of course larger headed individuals can also wear it, but I always have a hard time finding these types of caps that don't look oversized on my small noggin.

Two piece sets (this one is also from Shein) are fun because you can wear the pieces together and look like you've totally put major thought into your outfit, or you can mix up the separates in different looks. I wore both of these pieces quite a lot! Size down btw, the listed measurements on Shein are not entirely accurate.

I absolutely loved this sage green polkadotted dress because it was just so perfectly suited to that retro Italian holiday feel. I linked it above, it's also Shein! That ice cream was a divine pear-ricotta flavor, btw. Ah, I miss it so.

The skirt was very remixable because it went with almost every top I brought. And it's nice to have the opportunity to switch between shorter and longer hemlines depending on your mood - and whether you want to add an extra layer of mosquito protection.

Ah, and a final two piece set I ended up taking out of my suitcase last minute because, thanks to my use of SmartCloset, I'd figured out that I had packed enough and didn't need to bring along another skirt and top. 

Cute, but not for this trip. Also from Shein btw, be sure to note that the top is two separate pieces: a tube top and the ruffle. Kind of weird but also versatile? Not sure how to feel about it.

Hope this helps you. In sum, be sure to pack pieces that you can combine in different ways, bring comfortable shoes that will work with most of your outfits, and pick the right accessories to finish your look because those don't take up a lot of space and will have a relatively high impact! Oh, and use SmartCloset. I'm not sponsored by them, I'm just a huge planning nerd.