My Packing List for 10 Days in London

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If you ask me, packing is literally #theworst because of how much effort it requires. However, I love to curate my outfits for a trip because it lets me get the perfect pictures to remember my trip by. For my 10 day trip to London this month, my friends and I decided we wanted to look super cute, so packing required extra thought. And let me tell you, it was not easy. I have generally been trying to pack lighter lately, but between the cold weather and the need to look trendy, I realised I was gonna need a full-sized suitcase. Lucky for me, I was flying Virgin Atlantic and booked through Delta and with my Delta card, I get a free checked bag up to 23 kg so I had the space to pack most of the things I wanted to.

Everyday Outfits

For cold weather travels, I prefer the tried and true sweater-and-jeans combination. The added bonus of this is that your staple pairs of jeans(black and dark wash) can be worn more than once to allow you more space in your luggage. On this trip, I packed the following items for daytime looks:

• Dark Wash Jeans (these are my favorites)
• Black jeans (get them here)
• White Jeans
• Red Jeans(get them here)
• Green Skinny jeans(these are close in color and style to mine)
• White Sweater (similar here)
• Navy Men’s Cardigan(this one is close to mine)
• My red wool coat
• a navy pea coat
• A few great blouses(similar here, here and here)
• A really fun military style cropped sweater (similar here and here); and
• A selection of scarves to accessorize and stay warm

Fancier outfits

When packing, I already knew our trip included afternoon tea at Harrod’s and at least one night at the theater, so I knew I needed at least two nice outfits. I packed a third options just in case and it ended up being a great idea because we got last-minute tickets to see Hamilton and I needed a second theater outfit! My nice outfits were a gorgeous chiffon red dress(similar in style to this one) for tea, a flattering burgundy jumpsuit that I got for $13 on clearance at target (similar here and here) , and a teal skirt and black blouse combo that transitioned well from day to night. For these outfits, I made sure to select outfits that would be resistant to wrinkles. Nothing makes a nice outfit look worse than it being a wrinkled mess.

Shoes

The shoes I chose to pack for this trip are very much in line with the shows I mention in my Best Shoes for Travel post. I brought my staple shoes like my Frye Boots, a pair of TOMS and two pairs of Tieks(black and Rose Gold), but instead of my go-to gladiator sandals, I opted for my more weather-friendly Black Ankle boots(similar here) and my new Hunter Rain boots because it was March in London so they were necessary.

My main requirement for shoes is that they are comfortable, so I was excited to discover that my $10 target ankle boots wear actually pretty comfortable. I also was lucky enough to travel with the one friend I have who also wears a US women’s 11 in shoes and so we were able to share shoes. I fell in love with her black Knee-high boots(similar here) and have since been looking to invest in a pair myself.

Basics

As with every trip, it was necessary to pack some wardrobe staples to complete each outfit and of course to have something to sleep in. For this trip, I packed a handful of tank tops and T-shirts for layering under sweaters, some plain black leggings, and of course socks and undies for the week. For your basics, it is always important to consider not only the temperature outside on your trip, but the temperature of the place you will be staying. I was lucky enough to be staying with a good friend, but her apartment is a bit chilly at times. She warned me of this before I left though, so I knew to pack warm pajamas.

If you are staying in hostels, I have found they tend to be colder, but if you are Airbnb-ing it(which I definitely recommend for many occasions), or staying at a nice hotel, you will have more control over the temperature. Just remember to be prepared for as much as you can! We even ended up getting snow when we were in London so I was definitely glad I packed more than I normally would! As for makeup, I packed my basics that I talked about in my recent post on my make-up must haves for travel.

I hope this can give you some ideas for packing for your own travels and that you have better luck packing light! If you want to know more about how I get such great travel photos, be sure to check out my previous post on How to Look Cute While Traveling. From one misguided millennial to the world, this has been my packing list for 10 days in London.