Tropical Travel - Tips for Appropriate Attire

Planning your first tropical vacation this year? Here are some tips to keep you comfortable and sunburn free!

 

~ Avoid fatigue and discomfort by wearing fabrics loose to promote good circulation and allow for adjustment to changes in barometric pressure. Choose wrinkle resistant cottons or a slight spandex factor for additional comfort.

~ Keep clothing light in color and in weight. Just as you’ll need to increase your water intake to keep your energy up, avoid dark and heavy fabrics that will contribute to sapping that energy. Light clothing permits air to circulate, weighs less for those restrictive air travel poundage restrictions, and dry faster when washed.

~ Factor in wind protection and sea spray by bringing a lightweight and waterproof outer garment.

~ Have sensitivity to the sun? Protective headwear, hand covers, and clothing allow you to enjoy the sun while minimizing exposure. Check for special attire with travel stores well advance to allow time to pre-order your size, preferred design, and color. ~ Consider Hempwear that is affordable, keeps you cool in summer, warm in winter, offers some UV ray protection, exceptionally durable, washes like a dream, and feels like raw silk. 




Check out the full list of tips in the article Tips for Appropriate Travel Attire on Style Clarity.com

Thrifting Tips (Part 3 of 3)

Final Installment on Thrifting Tips:

When entering a thrift store, don’t get overwhelmed and start wandering around aimlessly. Grab a cart, home in on a section (e.g., skirts) and dive right in.

Look over the entire rack, pulling out anything that looks immediately interesting, then shove all of the hangers as far over as they can go and start flipping through the skirts one by one. This gives you much-needed space on jammed thrift-store racks. Look through everything. Throw absolutely anything that looks approximately right for you (in terms of shape, cut, size, color) into your cart and forget about it. Have one big try-on session at the end with all the stuff you piled into the cart. It’s cute? You’ll wear it for sure? It’s $1.80? Buy it. It’s kiiiinda cute? You’re not sure what you’ll wear it with? It’s $8? Don’t buy it. Are you really going to wear that? No matter how cool something is, do NOT buy it if it “needs some work” and you’re not actually going to fix it up.

 Look through all the sections. The bedding department often holds other linens, like adorable vintage aprons. The man-sweater section is a treasure trove of giant cashmere sweaters that women have given their husbands and their husbands have refused to wear.

The kids’ section has hoodies and T-shirts, the sleepwear section has vintage slips, and men’s shoe section have great cowboy boots hidden among all the loafers. The underwear section has silk camisoles from the ’40s, the furniture section has awesome ’60s luggage sets, and the books have best-sellers you’ve been meaning to read and weird teen-girl novels from the ’50s. Look up high and down low—the best stuff is hiding out of eye range…sometimes hidden by other sneaky thrifters in the hopes that no one else will find it before they return. Lastly - the smaller the town, the more likely you are to make out like a bandit. Have fun!

Thrifting Tips (Part 2 of 3)

Part Two in our Thrifting Tips:

 Do NOT go into a thrift store hungry or tired. You’re going to need energy to get through it all.

You’re going to be trying on lots of clothing, and you’ll have to try most of it on over your clothes, as there probably won’t be a dressing room.

Wear something simple. A stretchy one-piece dress. Skinny jeans and a T-shirt. No weird necklines or giant sweaters.

Wait, though…what if you want to try on jeans? You’re in public! How are you gonna take off your pants in public? Here’s how: Go to the skirts section. Find the biggest, roomiest, elastic-waisted, floor-length skirt you can find, and put it on over your jeans. Then drop your jeans, grab the new pair you want to try on, and pull them on under the skirt. Then drop the skirt. Ta-da!!

 If you choose to thrift with friends, go with those who are cheerful, adventurous dressers, and not your size. That way, everyone can shop in the same sections at the same time, and there are no “I saw it first” awkward moments.

Thrifting Tips (Part 1 of 3)

 Shopping at a thrift store isn’t easy like going to a department store—it’s work.

It may seem obvious, but not all thrift stores are created equal. A place that sells upscale secondhand clothing is NOT a thrift store. They sell name-brand, imperceptibly used clothing. A dress will probably run you $14-$35.

A vintage store is an expensive resell store of items carefully cleaned & repaired – things you can do yourself.

A real thrift store sells clothing that comes directly from the bags that people have dropped off for donation. The clothes aren’t checked for rips, holes, missing buttons, or stains and sold as-is.

A real thrift store is often large and only loosely organized. It sells clothing with hand-written tags stapled onto it. Sometimes those tags are color-coded, because the thrift store has days where, say, all the orange (or pink, white, blue, etc.) tags are half off. Often, real thrift stores are dirty, with clothes strewn everywhere. Don’t be alarmed. Be thankful for the mess—it scares away the shoppers who aren’t as adventurous as you are.

The truly brave are always rewarded with the most outrageous finds. (Part 2 coming Wednesday)