The thought of annual holiday packing can be quite daunting.

Vacation Fashion

This should be viewed as another chance to give your wardrobe a new lease of life, dip in to new trends and make the packing experience a little more exciting. When purchasing new clothes for a holiday, you should also keep the environment in mind and select clothes which should be able to be worn when you return home or for future holidays. The 3 holiday looks which will be exemplified with clothing suggestions are; Beach wear, Sightseeing and evening drinks/meal. These looks were selected as they allow for variety within your holiday wardrobe and cover all clothing essentials, preventing any key fundamentals from being left at home.

Beach Wear

One of the most important aspects of a leisure holiday is at the beach, not only offering tranquility, relaxation and adventure but also the opportunity to show a confidently casual style to everybody around. When dressing for the beach, fashion should be kept simple, allowing for ease of movement to help maximise comfort, but in a way that does not just look dishevelled. To opt for more of laid back surfer beach style, simple baggy board shorts with sandals and if you are into accessorising, wear a trilby and local woven and beaded bracelets. If you want to get in to the holiday mood and wear vibrant board shorts, Allsaints offer watery grave board shorts, patterned with water lilies and koi carp for £65,FIG.1

Alternatively they offer a more subdued Alexander McQueen inspired black and white reptilian printed offering for £45.50. For a more fashion forward option, tailored shorts and deck shoes with a strong belt to add that fashionable touch would be appropriate. When at the beach if you are not comfortable to be topless then you should wear a simple vest with open plaid shirt or simple tee for the surfer style. A pastel coloured or white shirt with short sleeves, turned up, top buttons opened and possibly tucked in to the shorts on cooler beach days would work well for the more fashion forward look. Taking this into consideration is important, as if you are not confident topless, without it could make you feel uncomfortable and ruin your beach experience. TOPMAN offer a wide range of tailored shorts at affordable prices, such as white cotton tailored turned up shorts, with nautical belt detail for £30. FIG.2 Furthermore, no beach look is complete without a pair of sunglasses, and ask at your local store for help selecting the perfect shape to compliment your face. Investing in a pair of designer sunglasses is also worthwhile, provided that the higher price tag is compensated for by their higher quality meaning they will endure several future vacations.

Sightseeing

In my opinion, sightseeing is the most important part of your holiday, as it is the part which you will never forget. Not only does it offer you the opportunity to experience and learn the real culture of other countries, but it also offers the possibility to see world landmarks or even unexpected entwining historic side streets. Sightseeing can be the making of your holiday, whether it is from sitting in an old cafe, with mind blowing exteriors, at picturesque cliffs or outside a cathedral, it is important to be prepared and reflecting an image of yourself to locals as you wish you would back home.

As sightseeing generally involves lots of walking amongst high temperatures, once again the style should be kept comfortable. This could be achieved through wearing brown brogues, rustic brown tailored shorts for £26 FIG3 from TOPMAN, with a tucked in and rolled up short sleeved green shirt from Acne for £68,FIG4 with a deeper coloured brown weaved belt. Furthermore, don’t forget a camera, such as a Diana F+ Hong Meow camera for £85 from Urban Outfitters, FIG5 with a wide range of this artistic fish eyed cameras available too.

Evening Drinks/Meal

Another aspect of your holiday to be considered when packing is appropriate clothing for the night time when it is cooler and when you may wish to go for an evening drink or meal. Both chinos and brogues are still at the forefront of male fashion and would be ideal as part of this night time option, they could be teamed with simple t-shirt or short sleeved shirt, and even a blazer for very cool nights. For a younger casual look, ASOS offer over dyed blue chinos for £12, FIG6 these can be teamed with a simple off white coloured tee by YMC at my-wardrobe.com for £26. FIG7

For the more sophisticated look, Take ASOS’s stone coloured chinos (£26)FIG8 and combine it with a brown belt and short sleeved shirt, such as, Vivienne Westwood’s blue and peach bowling shirt for £103.60, available at hervia.com. FIG.9 Brown brogues would work for both looks and remember to tuck the shirt in and add a strong watch and blazer for cooler nights.