Packing for London in May

Packing for London is never easy, mainly because of the unpredictable weather. For my latest trip I was travelling hand luggage only, as I was going to be there for just six days. Of course the sensible thing would have been to create a small travel capsule, like many of my favourite bloggers do, based around neutrals. Sensible? Moi? No doubt you won't be surprised to read that I couldn't resist adding some of my favourite coloured tops.  This is what I packed for my trip.

To be more accurate, these were the outfits that I chose for the trip, as I wore the light coloured linen trousers, coral top and lace-up shoes for travelling, with a casual navy jacket and beige tote. I also carried my navy trench-coat, having read the weather forecast for London! The soft teal top was for travelling back to Spain and obviously the long-sleeved tops were for wearing with the brown jeans or the navy pair while I was in the UK.

The beauty of building a wardrobe using knowledge gained through the 7 Steps to Style system is that you have a lot more flexibility when creating outfits, the colours blend well and the resulting outfits suit both you and your lifestyle. Packing is so much easier now!

I had done some research on-line for possible purchases in London, though once again I discovered that some brands are only available on-line and not in the actual stores. Very frustrating! The main reason for my trip was to spend time with family and friends, but I had most of Thursday and Friday to myself, apart from meeting my youngest daughter for lunch on Thursday (before heading for the amazing Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A museum) and my son for lunch on Friday.

I started my shopping at Alicante airport, when I spotted a shop selling Longchamp totes. I decided on a red tote as it would go with the majority of my packed clothes (I had the beige one as an alternative) and of course I do love a splash of colour, so it easily won over the sensible neutrals. The first item on my shopping list had been ticked off even before I got to my destination.

My next purchase was totally unplanned and I'm blaming the weather for it! I was on Oxford Street and wearing the light shoes, which are fine for walking but not protective enough to cope with heavy rain. Luckily Debenhams store had a sale in the shoe department, so I bought the gold loafers seen below, which were half-price (yay!), and which kept my feet beautifully dry too.

My shopping list had petite khaki trousers as the second item, so I headed to the Wallis department eager to try on a pair. They had sold out and the only other trousers I liked the look of were far too long. Next stop was East, where my target was a light coloured cardigan.  Not the one shown above, but an ivory linen bolero. The good news was that it was in stock, but the bad news was that it didn't feel quite right on me, especially as the sleeves were far too long. I briefly flirted with a gold silk-lined sequin cardi (lovely with my new shoes!) but decided to be practical. How often would I wear it? I eventually decided on the cardigan above, which was a petite size and which I knew would be worn more often. Admittedly this isn't the best of combinations with the vertical stripes of my top, but the gold cardigan wouldn't have looked any better!

On my last morning I headed to another department store, hoping I might find the elusive trousers there. No luck, however I had decided to try on a kimono top having seen several featured in magazines recently and they had plenty in stock. I bought the one shown below, which I believe will get a lot of mileage as a lightweight extra layer during summer evenings in Spain.

My final purchase was the cream and coral silk scarf shown above, which I bought on the flight back to Alicante. I know - another scarf! However many of my scarves are budget buys, so I had been looking for something a bit more special and this one definitely fits that description. What about you? Are you planning any purchases when you next go on holiday?