What Do You Wear to Travel?

The way a woman dresses to get on a plane says a lot about her. Does she hail from the comfort clothes school-of-thought? The one that argues if you’re going to go anywhere, you’re best off getting there in no-fuss clothes that make you feel close-to-naked? How far is this comfort-wear taken — as in, does she bring her own neck pillow? Are there flip flops involved?

Does she prefer jeans? (…To men?)

A stiff pair of trousers? If she does, in fact, prefer trousers, is the supposition that she spends a majority of her travel time in a vertical position?

How do I sign up for that lifestyle?

When Carrie Bradshaw moved to Paris, she wore a ridiculous hat replete with a veil pinned into her freshly blown-out hair and the kind of dress you might see on a publicist at the Met Gala. But that said something, right? About where she was going, the respect she attributed to the travel and that old-world sense of glamour that is largely devoid of the airports we occupy today, right?

Until recently, I resented my mother for putting pants-proper on me when we used travel as family — as far as the airports could trend-forecast, all the other kids wore sweatpants. And sweatshirts. They had their pillows and huge backpacks behind them. But getting dressed (I mean really dressed) turned into a habit, which in the last several years snowballed into an opportunity to optimize on my ability to pack. See, if I could wear an outfit that I would want to utilize after I reached my destination, I’d save space in my suitcase and in saving space in my suitcase, I could buy relics from my travels. Relics like urns! And frying pans! Spoons and Saint Laurent shoes!

After all, it seems kind of futile that a travel outfit won’t get you anywhere after you’ve landed, no?

But enough about me! Talk about you! What do you wear to travel? I’d like to test my skills as a failed psychologist and attempt to determine stuff about who you are intrinsically based on your preferred method of clothing, so: get going. (Get it?)

Traveling this summer? Freshen up on the assholes you’re likely to meet on an airplane. Want to take a vicarious vacation? Click through Leandra’s week in Cannes. If you’re still stuck on what to wear while traveling, copy this woman.

Images from Associated Newspapers via WhoWhatWear and Rex Features via Marie Claire