Woman's Travel Clothing

I will be the first to say that I am not the one to listen to when it comes to women's fashion. When I photography high school seniors for their portraits, I always ask my make-up artist and hairstylist what works and what doesn't. I know my limitations and have always applied that to gifts that I buy my wife. I never buy her clothes because, well, it's just a bad idea.

I have done the research and have found a few websites that focus on women's fashion and how to pack for traveling. I will say that women traveling with purses can be targets, so selecting a sling bag would be a better option. It can hold all the items that you would typically put in a purse, plus it has more room, and it's more secure to carry during long days.

I will mention that when traveling, some places require that a woman's shoulders and knees are covered. It's a good idea to bring a scarf or plan to buy one when you are on your trip. If you want to wear dresses, they should be longer (at least covering your knees) and bring a shirt or jacket to cover your shoulders. I think you will encounter this more when visiting religious sites than if you were walking through a market.

Overall, many of the suggestions that I put in the Men's Travel Clothing section applies to women also. You should be comfortable and wear light, breathable, wicking clothing. There are two reasons for this suggestion 1.) Is these types of clothing are more convenient to pack and don't wrinkle easily and 2.) If you need to wash your clothing in your hotel room, your clothes will dry quickly and not wrinkle. Most hotels have hangers so you can hang your clothes to dry or bring a rubber clothesline to hang your clothes in the shower/bathroom.

Great Resources for Planning & Packing for Women

Travel Fashion Girl - This website is pretty cool. It offers you options for what to wear and different styled packing lists for the traveler type you are. I recommend taking a look and seeing if this is helpful.

Woman on the Road - This is an insightful website because she breaks down why she created the travel list based on her four years traveling around the world experience. She talks about how to pack your travel purse/daypack and why she doesn't travel with a hairdryer.

Rick Steve's Packing List for Women - This site offers a lot of useful information, but if you are a fashionista, this won't be much help. This is a practical guide on how to pack lightly and comfortably.

Her Packing List - I think this site is exceptionally insightful because there are lists for nearly all the places in the world that you might travel. It offers tips for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter traveling.

The Savvy Backpacker - I think this is the most robust site to do your research. She breaks down how to travel through Europe comfortably and breaks down the type of gear she likes to have. She does go into fashion a little and also talks about personal security.

The Unconventional Route - This is a handy list of things to think about when you are traveling. I think it's well thought out from her experiences traveling. I don't recommend bringing or carrying a knife; if we are not checking bags, it won't make it through TSA screening.