I wasn’t going to do a roundup post on Me Made May this year because I am just so tired and, yes, jet lagged. However, as I did the vast amount of laundry that I managed to bring home with me I thought about the clothes I took on my holiday and those that I wore a lot (as against those that I didn’t really wear at all).
My pledge was to only wear clothes that I had made, and I achieved that goal. However, because I was travelling for the whole month, I had a very limited wardrobe to choose from. The weather was also quite iffy. I had been planning for it to start off cold and wet, but finish up warm enough to swim. Well, I think I felt hot for two days in the whole six weeks we were away, so I was in warm, waterproof clothes most of the time.
This image shows what I wore for the month, although there seems to be a day missing and I’ll be blowed if I can work out which one, and the photos are not in date order for some reason.
Some of these images are hard to see, but trust me, there are a lot of repeats in here! Of course, if you follow me on Instagram you will have seen them all.
My primary emotion about my clothes for this trip is boredom. I did get tired of the same t-shirts and underwear, and my socks all finished up needing major darning. I did, however, have quite a few new things which I enjoyed wearing. My raincoat and secret dressing gown/cardigan, the jumpers, both knitted and sewn, the jeans and ponte trousers, the Liberty tops and my slouchy beanie. I am not even scarred enough to never wear them again.
Laundry is always an issue when travelling and I did wash my underwear and socks every evening and often they were dry enough to wear the next morning. We travel with one of those pegless clothes lines which means that the air can circulate well around the clothes. I always want to risk taking fewer underthings, but then lose my nerve, so I probably had one underwear set too many. I did wash out the t-shirts occasionally. Two of them were merino and I swear you can wear merino for two weeks before you feel the need to launder it. I didn’t wash my jeans or ponte trousers at all and they were just fine. I was reading fabrickated’s post on how often we wash clothes and it did crystallise for me the over-use of washing clothes with all the attendant environmental issues. My travels always further highlight this for me, even though we sometimes get apartments with washing machines, I tend to not go overboard with washing things unnecessarily.
So unworn was the Closet Case Patterns Sophie swimsuit, a pair of silk trousers, and a red cropped t-shirt. I wore my Lisbon cardigan twice, and a rather worn out ivory coloured t-shirt twice. I only wore the Ralph Pink Coco trousers once, and my red Reikers shoes once. So I could have saved a bit of space in my suitcase. However, had the weather been warmer, I could have been stuck in inappropriate clothes. It’s a conundrum!
I did enjoy following along with everyone, even with limited wireless access. I think that Me-Made-May is a useful construct, in that it gives the wearer an opportunity to focus on different combinations of clothing, and to look back on what is worn, and probably more importantly, what is not worn.
Just a footnote: I also made nearly all Mark’s clothes including his socks and underwear. The only things of his I didn’t make were his two jackets and his caps. Whilst we were travelling I knitted him a scarf, began a scarf for me, knitted myself a glove (just one!) a headwarmer, and a whole jumper.
We are home now and it’s lovely to have a very large wardrobe at my disposal, but it has made me think about how many clothes I really do need.
Nice round-up. The warm wheather clothes come a next time when all the woolen things stay unused. Wheather is unpredicytable
I am taking a 4×4 capsule wardrobe to Australia with me next week, last time I went I seriously overpacked so this time I hope I can do better! Well, knowing SA, I am taking short and long sleeved shirts, as I will be in the SE and in the Riverland….. so it’s not going to be 100%…. I can imagine I will get bored as well, but I have the advantage of being with family and wearing their stuff, though I will try not to!
Layers are the answer of course. I did wear a lot of layers on several days. I have found that silk and merino fitted t- shirts are brilliant. Enjoy your holiday!
A fabulous holiday. As we are going over in July I was very interested to see how it went. What did you find to be the most comfortable shoes?
I wore laceup Birkenstocks which were brilliant. I also took their sandals. Reiterating are more dressy and also pretty good for walking in.
Ps I hope you have the best time.
PPS * Reikers not reiterating, grrr!
Thanks, much appreciated. Very excited!
He, he! I think the missing day is when you came to visit us at home and I modelled your raincoat for your me-made-may picture. In fact, I was secretly hoping I could steel it from you 😉 I agree with you about our excessive laundry habits. I had the chance to meet you on four different days in May and you looked impeccable each time. And so did Mark. My family was more than impressed to learn that you made all your outfits. Well done!
Aw thank you mon amie, and I think you’re right about the missing day!
I’m impressed that you managed a trip of that length wearing only outfits that you made yourself. Well done!
I’m also amazed at how little went unworn. I’m a pretty good packet (IMHO😀) and i always seem to have some excess. Hats off to you.
I get offended if I drag stuff halfway round the world and don’t wear it!
You did well with the outfits. From the point of view of the outsider I thought there was lots of variety.
Thanks for the round up! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on your travel wardrobe and looking through the pictures 🙂
Thank you 😘
Traveling around for about four weeks and have a suitable wardrobe is always a struggle. It really was a pleasure to see al your outfits during your journey and even see Mark sometimes in homemade clothes. You even managed to knit a scarf. Not many are able to that when they travel.
I also knitted a whole jumper which I shall blog soon. Thanks Sonja, this was a long time in a small wardrobe.
I’m quite impressed that you had enough suitable clothing for all the different places you visited! (even if you did have to do the laundry every now and then!) And thank you for stopping by to visit me!
I loved catching up with you Linda, it was one of the highlights!
Very kind of you to say! 😃
Loved your Me-Made-May this year, especially all your travel shots! Very impressive that you were able to share with us so much even while traveling abroad. Always enjoy living vicariously through your international travels and appreciate that you share so much with us. And always…. your wardrobe and creativity are ever inspiring…. even the limited wardrobe you traveled with. 🙂
Thank you Lisa, I was really bored with those clothes by the time I got home but am enjoying them again now!