Essential Travel Outfits For Women: The Complete Edition.
Embarking on a journey? Let’s talk about the art of crafting travel outfits that effortlessly blend comfort and style. Because let’s face it, nailing that perfect look feels amazing, but not when it means sacrificing comfort, especially during those long-haul adventures.
Rest assured, we have you covered on the essential pieces that will elevate your travel wardrobe, whether you’re jet-setting for business, gearing up for outdoor escapades, or simply indulging in some leisurely exploration.
Clothing features for comfortable traveling
Packing clothing for a big trip may seem overwhelming at first, but packing smart can alleviate unnecessary stress.
Instead of just throwing random tees, jeans, shoes, and pieces into your luggage, it’s best to consider some key features of your clothing that will make your trip easier from pre-takeoff to post-landing.
Looking for these key features will allow you to bring the same beloved pieces on multiple trips, ensuring you won’t need to constantly change your wardrobe after just one journey. Curious to know which items make the cut? Keep reading for all the details.
1.- Breathable
Breathable fabrics are key to keeping your body cool and comfortable, since thick materials can make you sweaty and itchy.
This feature is important in every garment and not only when it comes to travel pieces, so always keep your eye open to the fabric of the piece, its quality, and its sensation on your skin. Below you’ll find some great fabric options at very reasonable prices.
2.- Fade-resistant
During your travels, you may find yourself washing your clothes in different locations: a laundromat, an old washing machine, or even a bathroom sink, if need be. These different methods can wash away the color of your clothes.
To prevent your red tees from turning pink and your black jeans from going gray, look for clothes that have been pre-washed. Also, read the washing instructions and be attentive to the color combinations.
3.- Won’t shrink
Shrinkage is a real concern. Opting for pre-shrunk clothing is an excellent strategy to prevent the frustration of needing to replace your wardrobe post-wash. This becomes particularly valuable when utilizing a drying machine during travel, where there may not always be an opportunity to air-dry your clothes.
Women’s essentials for travel outfits:
01.- Tops and Tees
When it comes to choosing the right tops and tees to take with you, look for the colors you want to wear while keeping you comfortable at the same time, as well as the fabrics that feel the softest and let your skin breathe.
Here’s what you need to consider when choosing your colors and fabrics, plus our ultimate list to pick the best travel tees and tops for your next trip:
Use colors to your advantage
Regarding your color choice, if you’re visiting a sunny destination, avoid packing only dark-colored tops. Though black pairs perfectly with any shade, the moment the heat goes up you’ll be feeling sweaty, itchy, and smelly. Your safest bet is to pack lighter colors.
On the other hand, packing light colors for colder destinations is also something you want to avoid. This is the best moment to take those dark-colored tops and tees and create an outfit that keeps you cozy and in style.
Choose fabrics you can wear all day
The moment you put on your top or tee, you can instantly tell whether it feels soft, itchy, rigid, heavy, and so many things that impact directly on your comfort. Based on this, take the pieces that you can walk around in all day, and that don’t give you the urge to take them off as soon as you put them on.
Remember that you’ll be walking and moving constantly, so picking the perfect tee or top is essential to enjoy your trip.
The best travel tees and tops
The essential tee, for every weather and any activity: Mott & Bow
Mott & Bow’s Marcy tee has a great body-skimming cut and quality construction. It’s also irresistibly soft and absolutely breathable, thanks to its pima cotton and modal combination. Made with 40 cotton fibers per square inch instead of the average 30, this tee prevents typical sheerness.
Don’t worry about throwing it in the washing machine, as it’s pre-washed and pre-shrunk, so it keeps its shape and size even after many, many washes.
The winter tee: Ibex
If you’re looking for a cool and durable shirt with a loose fit that provides maximum comfort, be sure to check out their Paradox Pocket shirt. It’s made of soft merino wool, which has amazing benefits like keeping you warm, soaking up moisture to keep you dry, and fighting off body odor.
The relaxed tee: Public Rec
Public Rec has created their Essential Tee, and it is exactly that! A very basic tee that you can just throw on at any moment and toss in your luggage regardless of your destination. It has a very nice, soft sensation due to its supima cotton fabric, and makes an easy piece to match with jeans and shoes.
The summer tee: Bluffworks
Packed with UPF 50+ sun protection, nice breathability, and odor-resistant fabric, Bluffworks’ Threshold tee is a basic piece to take on your sunny trips. This shirt comes in crew or v-neck, and both are clean-cut travel essentials that can effortlessly be dressed up when booking a dining-out experience.
02.- Jeans
Yes, you can wear jeans when traveling. There are some key factors to consider when picking your travel pair, though.
The most important thing –and this goes even for when you’re not traveling– is that your jeans should be absolutely comfortable. Nothing is more annoying than walking around all day in denim that restricts your movements, hurts your skin, and fits you in an unflattering way.
Second, consider a pair that doesn’t drag you down with every step and gets heavier by the minute. Pick a lightweight and durable pair of jeans for your trips.
Lastly, take a look at the stretch your denim jeans have. There are some styles and fits that carry no stretch at all, so if your trip is full of walking adventures, hikes, or last-minute sprints at the airport, grab a pair of jeans that can stretch easily and let you move freely.
This is our selection of top denim brands that carry the most comfortable and stretchy jeans you can wear on your travels.
Our picks
Stretch technology for any travel plan: Mott & Bow
Mott & Bow has developed three stretch technologies that make their jeans stretchy and insanely comfortable:
Designed to cater to the flexibility every woman desires, their Comfort Stretch tech features a stretch factor between 5-25%. Packed with more stretch than typical denim, this tech ensures your jeans are perfect for relaxed and easy-going trips. We recommend you take a look at their Ridge jeans featuring a 23% stretch factor.
With a stretch factor between 26-35%, Mott & Bow’s Power Stretch technology makes denim ultra-comfortable for those walking tours and tourist days that start early and finish late. If you need a pair to keep up your pace, their bestselling Jane jeans with a superb 35% stretch factor are a natural pick.
Their Super-Power Stretch tech boasts stretch factors greater than 36%, which makes their jeans high-performance denim at its best. Take these to your hikes, zipline adventures, and biking all over the city. Nothing will beat them. Jeans like their Orchard are the best for these kinds of adventures, due to their unbelievable 55% stretch factor.
Active performance: DUER
Designed with their signature gusset that makes their denim extra stretchy, DUER’s Performance Denim Girlfriend jeans are an amazing pair to take with you. Their flexibility makes them adapt to your movement and allows the denim to breathe and keep you cool.
Another thing to notice is that they’re easy to pull off, which means that packing your tees and shoewear gets much easier.
Room for adventures: Aviator
The Boyfriend Fit jeans are our pick for this brand. Their fabric is buttery soft and super stretchy, which makes them insanely comfortable and perfectly fitted, but not in the kind of way that makes cheap stretchy jeans fall when walking or even walking fast. They also come with extra-roomy pockets that can make a lot of things easier. A nice overall choice for those adventure-packed trips.
Exploring the great outdoors: prAna
If you’re looking for pants to wear on outdoorsy adventures, be sure to check out prAna’s Halle pants. They’re designed for hiking, climbing, exploring, running, jumping, butt-scooting, knee-hitting, and white-water rafting, and yes, they survive every adventure you get into.
In addition to a reinforced knee and technically designed fabric that lets your skin breathe even when you’re sweating, the Halle pants are water-repellent, which makes them a nice choice to wear on more nature-filled trips.
From gate to boardroom: Ministry of Supply
The Kinetic Pull-on Pant is a lifesaver for those bouncing between red-eye flights and all-day meetings. Ministry of Supply calls it “Workleisure” – their lingo for business casual wear that’s comfy yet polished, perfect for going straight from the plane to the boardroom.
If you’re up for elevating your business travel style, take a peek at the brand’s Systems. They bundle top picks, like activewear or workleisure, at a sweet discount.
Our suggestions: Travel outfits for women
Now that you’re equipped with ideas on how to put together a cute travel look, check out some comfy yet stylish choices for various types of destinations.
Casual outfits for travel
The most common outfit to wear from pre-takeoff to post-landing: a breathable tee, a pair of stretchy jeans, comfy sneakers, a stylish and light jacket, and a tote bag for souvenirs and extras.
Chic outfits for travel
Thankfully, we now have many options to choose from that are both comfortable and fashionable. The days when you sacrificed one for the other are long gone.
For a summer outfit, you can go for a light-colored tank dress, sandals, a simple cap or hat, your favorite sunglasses, and a roomy handbag. If you want to avoid risks in case it gets windy or chilly during the night, you can take a lightweight denim jacket.
A chic outfit more suitable for colder destinations includes a pair of heavyweight and stretchy jeans, some comfortable and lightweight boots that you can walk around in, a long-sleeve tee, and a leather jacket you can easily take off when going into cozier rooms.
Business outfits for travel
If you’re traveling on business, your outfit should be polished but comfortable.
Go for a black blazer to add just the right amount of business casual to your slim or skinny jeans, and a versatile, comfortable, and elegant tee you can easily pair with your blazer.
You can take your favorite pair of mules or booties to keep you comfortable during those airport walks, and presentable when walking into meeting rooms.
Concluding our dive into essential travel outfits for women, Mott & Bow emerges as a standout brand. Their Marcy tee, blending pima and modal cotton, and their Ridge jeans, offering both stretch and comfort, are our top picks for the modern traveler. When it comes to footwear, it depends completely on your type of traveling, so bear that in mind when you pick from our top choices.
Remember to check our recommended key features for a stress-free travel wardrobe: breathable fabrics, fade-resistant materials, and clothes that won’t shrink are essential if you want to travel comfortably and save big by not having to constantly renew your wardrobe.
Lastly, our outfit ideas for casual, chic, or business travel are at your fingertips. From breathable tees and stretchy jeans for laid-back adventures to lightweight dresses and stylish accessories for a chic summer look, versatile options await every destination. Armed with comfort, durability, and style, you’re set for your journeys with confidence.