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Those of us who are “women of a certain age” have special considerations when planning travel wardrobes. In today’s post, I’ll show you a sampling of my mixed weather travel packing list.  Always start by following Travel Fashion Girl’s concept of a Capsule Wardrobe.

This is a four-part article, make sure to read all the posts!

PART 1: 9 Tips to Get You Started with A Capsule Wardrobe

PART 2: Capsule Wardrobe for Mixed Weather

PART 3: Capsule Wardrobe for Hot Weather

PART 4: Capsule Wardrobe for Cold Weather

Capsule Wardrobe for Women over 40: Transitional Weather

Written by: Phebe Schwartz

How I pack my travel wardrobe: I use packing cubes and have one cube for cold, one for hot, and one for in between weather. Since we’re just traveling (have been on the road for two years thus far), I’ve color-coded my packing cubes, and just pull out one or two cubes whenever we stop long enough to unpack for a while.

Plus I can get away with a few less items in each temperature group because I can overlap – some of the transitional weather items work just fine as a layer for cold weather, or hot weather items can work under a shirt or jacket for transitional weather climates. Again, this expands the options.

Here is my sample capsule wardrobe for transitional weather

Transitional Weather Capsule Wardrobe

6 tops + 3 bottoms + 1 dress

The base color here is blue, just so you can see how to make this work – and note the varying shades of blue, which all work together, along with grey, black, white, and red as accents.

Long Sleeve Tee / Chambray Shirt (similar) / Oversized Blouse (similar) / Round Neck Shirt / Embroidered Peasant Top / Pocket Blouse / Denim Dress / Comfort Knit Blazer / Capri Pants / Straight Leg Jeans (similar) / Knit Skirt (similar) / Top-sider / Flat Shoes / Crossbody Bag

Dress

I started with a medium blue knit dress, sort of a tee shirt dress but with a blouson waist.

For the bottoms

Add in the same jeans from the cold weather wardrobe, and maybe a pair of convertible slacks (the shirring on the sides can be adjusted so that the slacks go from full length to capri length).

A knit skirt in grey is included, just because skirts always make you look polished and put together.

For the tops

The tops include three long-sleeved and three short-sleeved, to mix and match and layer. The blue chambray or denim shirt works as a light jacket, the sweater can be worn over anything or on its own.

Again, a bit of red, which looks great with the blue. For those of us with the left-over hippie style (now called boho, for bohemian).

I’ve added the ivory and blue top, to show that you can retain your personal style while putting together your capsule wardrobe, it doesn’t need to be all tailored clothing.

Additional

Add a navy jacket as the outer piece – the blazer looks great over the dress, skirt, jeans, or slacks. Red shoes (my favorite) and maybe a loafer or boat shoe. Navy bag with leather trim and you will be ready for anything.

In the above capsule wardrobe, I’ve added one piece of outwear , as well as two pair of shoes. I included a handbag, just so you can see how it all comes together.

Advice on a handbag – I prefer small nylon fabric handbags to leather, having had leather get moldy in hot humid climates. Also, I like straps that clip on and off, and carry a spare wrist strap, so I can change a shoulder or cross-body purse to a wristlet or clutch, depending on the occasion.

A scarf or two, some inexpensive jewelry, and you have a complete wardrobe for travel.

Scarves and jewelry are great souvenirs to remember your travels, so you can always pick up a few to tuck into your bag to change up your look.

Obviously, you’ll adjust for your personal style.  You’ll look at what you have in your closet and try compiling your capsule wardrobe. Maybe you only need to buy one or two pieces to tie it all together.

The point is that with just a few well-selected items you can put together a wardrobe that will take you through country after country, location after location, and events ranging from a walk on the beach to an afternoon at a museum to a night at the ballet or opera. You’ll be ready for just about anything, (Okay, if you’re meeting royalty, you obviously need to go shopping.)

But you really don’t need to travel with more than five or six pieces of any one kind of clothing (other than undies and maybe socks).

For more tips, take a look at TFG’s Universal packing lists and learn how to customize them to meet your needs.

Hope you enjoyed this 4 part ultimate packing list for women over 40!

What are your tips?

Please read the following for more tips and ideas on travel clothing:

• 10 Step Guide: How to Pack for a Trip with Different Weather
• The Easy Packing Solution to Packing for Different Weather
• Transitioning from Hot to Cold Weather
• Traveling from Cold to Hot Climates

Hope you liked this travel packing list for women over 40. Please share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Thanks for reading!

Author Bio: Phebe Schwartz started traveling and living overseas at age 19, and haven’t stopped. Her career has included two years in Africa with the Peace Corps, and a three month trip home from there. As a result of living in Liberia, West Africa, she found a job teaching art in the US Virgin Islands, where she spent 25 wonderful years. Now retired, she and her husband are just traveling the world and having the time of their lives; the plan is to have no plan, the philosophy is that where they end up is where they are meant to be. Follow their adventure at their travel blog: Rolling Luggagers