Talking myself out of shopping for my fantasy self (vacation edition) #1

Trying to not accumulate a wardrobe full of pieces I'll never wear again.

An upcoming vacation is one of my shopping triggers - especially shopping for my fantasy self who apparently lives in a much warmer climate and wears flowy skirts and resort wear.

My husband and I have a vacation booked to the small French island of Martinique in the Caribbean in May, and typically I would begin to shop for it now. I thought I would look at past examples of shopping for my fantasy self and how that turned out, and what I can wear instead in order to talk myself out of shopping for my fantasy self (hopefully!).

Fantasy item #1

Enter the long tiered floral skirt that I bought in 2019 because I thought it would be perfect to wear in Seville. Here’s the thing: I did NOT have a vacation booked for Seville at that point nor have I been to Seville since. So the skirt has never been worn and probably never will get worn in Seville at any point. I do still want to go to Seville and with direct flights from Copenhagen now, it’s more likely that I will go at some point, but I probably wouldn’t bring the skirt anyway… I digress.

Pinterest / Object skirt / India / Mallorca

The skirt is quite different from what I wear in my daily life - it’s quite feminine with the floral pattern and the tiered skirt. I tend to wear classic pieces and the few patterns in my wardrobe are generally stripes and checks with a dash of leopard thrown in. I still love the way the skirt flows, but I just don’t feel very much like myself when wearing it and I’ve always struggled with how to style it. The skirt has only been worn a few times on vacation in Mallorca and on trips to Cambodia and India, where a maxi lenght skirt is quite handy for cultural reasons. As it’s also getting a bit tight, I’ll probably end up trying to rehome it soon. A skirt or long loose trousers in a solid colour would probably have been a much more versatile option in my wardrobe.

Fantasy item #2

You should have thought that the skirt would have taught me a lesson, but not completely! Even though I did a low buy last year with a goal of 20 pieces, I still shopped for my fantasy self - again it was an upcoming vacation triggering the purchase. An oversized short sleeved shirt in linen from Arket’s resort collection. The word resort should probably have been a warning, but a beige shirt didn’t feel like a fantasy purchase…

We were going on safari in Botswana. If you ever have been on safari, you’ve probably googled ‘what to wear on safari’ and gotten a lot of different answers.¹ I didn’t feel like I had enough short sleeved option and as I love to wear a button up, a short sleeved version seemed like a great addition. Was I wrong! I wore it once on our vacation for half an hour(!) and I haven’t worn it since! I probably did get too caught up in looking ‘right’ for a safari…

Pinterest / How I imagined wearing the shirt…

I did try to style it with different bottoms before going, but still it was definitely a mistake for several reasons. Botswana gets quite cold at night during the winter months in the southern hemisphere (June-December). The temperature can drop to below freezing during the night and then rise to 25-30°C during the day (77-86°F). so you want lots of layers that you can shed easily. An oversized shirt doesn’t layer well beneath anything (duh!) and I wasn’t about to change my clothes in the middle of the bush when it got hot during the day. A t-shirt worn under a long sleeved button up was a much more practical option with additional warm layers on top.

Here’s a couple of outfits that I actually wore - and yes I did wear that many layers in the morning PLUS gloves, beanie, another scarf and a blanket wrapped around my legs! An open vehicle is cold!!

All these pieces except for the hat, are something I wear at home as well - although usually not together, as that feels a bit too safari-esque…

Even though I love a button up shirt, the Arket resort shirt just was too oversized for me. I will give it a try this summer, but I don’t imagine it’s something that I’ll ever get a ton of wear out of.

What to do instead?

This brings me to this year’s vacation to Martinique. I like to take inspiration from my surroundings when dressing. When I think of the Caribbean, I’m envisioning colourful dresses, floral motifs and flowy fabrics. When I look at my wardrobe, it’s not exactly what I see - there are definitely an overweight of neutrals and classic pieces. So how can I pack for a vacation without shopping for my fantasy self, be inspired by the environment and still feel like me?

Angie Uh from The Found Journal wrote a great post called How To Avoid Shopping for A Fantasy Summer Wardrobe about how to shop with a broader intention in mind instead of “destination” looks, as well as thinking of existing wardrobe gaps, so we can wear the pieces outside the trip. In order to ensure we aren’t shopping for the specific situation and can get versatility out of our purchase, her advice is to think of 3-5 ways we can wear the items outside in your “normal” life.

How To Avoid Shopping For A Fantasy Summer Wardrobe

I love her take on vacation shopping, as it would be so easy to be tempted to buy a patterned dress for a tropical vacation never to wear it again.

Left: Pinterest / Brighton the day / Martinique.org x 2. Right: Anna Newton x 2 / The Julia Style EDIT x 2

As much as I would love to add a colourful dress like the orange one, this wouldn’t be something I would get a lot of wear out of. I’ve been quite inspired by Anna Newton‘s vacation outfits for Mallorca and The Julia Style EDIT’s take on summer styling for Melbourne. It feels effortless and chic, and at the same time like something you could wear both on vacation and during summer in Copenhagen.

Based on this I could be tempted to add a pair of black linen trousers or a neutral linen skirt as both feel quite versatile. I could easily think of 3-5 ways to style these items with my existing wardrobe in a way I would wear outside vacation.

Linen pants from OYSHO styled with my existing wardrobe.

Linen skirt from Cream styled with my existing wardrobe.

I actually noticed that it was easier to come up with ways to style the pants than the skirt. With the pants I ended up having quite a few outfits to choose from, where the skirt didn’t go with all tops, so the outfits felt more similar. The difficulty might be that this particular skirt has a slight pinkish tint to it, but I would probably prioritise the pants over the skirt. I’m not necessarily looking to add these exact items, it’s more the general idea.

So here are the items I’m considering buying before my trip:

• Colourful dress

• Black linen pants

• Linen skirt?

On the other hand - even though I love these outfits and would happily wear them both at home and on vacation - do they actually fit the vibes of the Caribbean? Is there a way to add the colour I want, shopping my own wardrobe? Do I actually need to buy anything new? Next week I’ll explore what I already have in my wardrobe that might work.

I’m curious: When are you most likely to shop for your fantasy self? Do you find yourself shopping for vacation without taking your “normal” life into consideration? What are your triggers for shopping for your fantasy self? Have you learnt any lessons from prior fantasy shopping?

1. If you are going on a safari I’m happy to answer any questions about what to bring or I could do a whole post on what to pack for safari. Let me know if you’re interested!