More on the playsuit* theme today! In which we talk about how practical they are. Yes, a vintage-inspired playsuit. Yes, practical. I swear I haven’t lost my mind. See… last summer, when I made the trek across the country, I crammed most of my blue playsuit into a little train-case and was quite happily clothed for pretty much the whole trip. As I’m planning more vacation this summer, I’m thinking that perhaps the watermelon set will be traveling with me.
*playsuit: one word, or two? Neither looks quite right to me. I like one. Two is probably right. Oh well. Wardrobe is a funny word, too. I feel like I’m using it wrong, but synonyms aren’t coming to mind right now…
As it turns out, playsuits work great for a bit of mix-and match. With a playsuit and a few other pieces, it’s pretty easy to pack an efficient suitcase where everything matches and you have a few levels of formality available. For example, if I take my watermelon set and add in a peasant blouse, I have a decent weekend wardrobe:
Accessorizing is also simpler if everything matches. I tend not to like to travel with too many hats, just because they’re large and cumbersome, but flowers work nicely to fancy up vintage-y hair. To go with my watermelon ensemble, I might pack a few accessories all in the same colors, along with a pair of black flats.
Bonus variation: Any sort of two piece dress can be used as the basis for this sort of mix-and-match vacation attire. For a weekend trip with a more southwestern theme, I could just as easily take a two piece patio dress along with my shorts and peasant blouse, and pack silver jewelry instead of black.
That’s all very well, you say, but four items of clothing aren’t going to last me very many days!
Well, worry not, because a playsuit can easily be adapted to work for a longer vacation. When Doug and I made our cross country trip last summer (see a few photos here) I packed along my blue floral playsuit and a few pieces that picked up colors from the print. A green petticoat, sheer lime blouse, and navy camisole helped expand the range of outfit options.
I also packed a wider variety of accessories in my suitcase, including a big rainbow stack of bangles.
So there you have it! A few ways that a vintage playsuit or two-piece dress can be expanded into a whole vacation’s worth of outfits. I’ll be packing the watermelon set along on my vacation this summer, although I think I need to come up with a few more coordinates. A sheer nylon blouse with some detailing in white or pink would be perfect, if I get lucky at the thrift shops, perhaps!
How do you vacation with vintage?