Legendary magazine editor Diana Vreeland once deemed travel essential for the mind and body. “If you want to keep an open and fresh mind, you must travel,” she said. “Travelling is the only way to see things in their true perspective.” And since the first commercial ships were rolled out and travel became the ultimate trend du jour of society’s elite, we’ve grappled with the conundrum of what to pack – and become infatuated with how others are doing it.
A simple YouTube or TikTok search will yield thousands (if not millions) of results about how to do it ‘right’; the best space-saving hacks and capsule wardrobe items worth schlepping around. But before the world became hyper-fixated on organisation and Marie Kondo-ing every element of life – as if an outer sterility was reflective of a clear mind – there were the figures who travelled in style, whose approach to packing still fills us with curiosity and admiration.
Take the persistent fascination with Joan Didion’s packing lists. If you’re unfamiliar, the writer once published a checklist of her travel essentials taped to her closet doors. Much like her work, it has become a tableau of poetically refined taste.
With two skirts and a pullover, it begins. Then, a robe and slippers. Don’t forget the cigarettes and bourbon or the mohair throw. So unsentimental yet full of wisdom. Every now and then, particularly after her 2021 passing, the list makes its way around the Internet, inciting the same reactions of shock and deferential approval. Within its starkness, some see the effortless elegance achieved through a life of discipline, while others see it as the very picture of rock ‘n’ roll.
Ironically, the author never thought any semblance of identity could be gouged from her suitcase contents. Didion herself acknowledged that the immortalised list wasn’t an attempt to illustrate her style but actually permitted her to evade it.
“The list enabled me to pack, without thinking, for any piece I was likely to do,” she wrote in her book. “Notice the deliberate anonymity of costume: in a skirt, a leotard and stockings, I could pass on either side of the culture.”
These days, we’ve adapted to require a little more than deodorant and a typewriter while packing off somewhere. Or just notebooks, a flask and a copy of Tolstoy’s War and Peace if you want to follow in Ernest Hemingway’s spartan footsteps.
Meticulous about her travel wardrobe – and rightfully so with her inimitable style – actress Marlene Dietrich was never without her tailored suits and, in later years, reportedly travelled with her own lighting equipment to ensure she always looked flawless. A woman with a staunchly chic image to maintain.
But then there are the figures who manage to make something as dreary as a packing list rich with stamps of personality. When singer Patti Smith shared her tour checklist, it read rather simple to fans.
“I always travel light,” she shared in a blog post. “Besides my dungarees and my trusty Ann Demeulemeester black jackets, everything can be washed in a sink in a hotel room and laid out on a windowsill to dry. For instance, seven T-shirts (including four Electric Lady Studios T-shirts) and seven pairs of bee socks.”
Along with a collection of Haruki Murakami books to reread, Smith sticks to her favourites.
“I inventory Moleskine notebooks, seven small tubes of Weleda salt toothpaste, witch hazel wipes, Loquat leaf tea bags for cough, essentials like that,” she continued. “I guess I am ready.”
As simple as her packing was, it should be noted that the plans were scrawled upside down on a photocopied receipt from a bookstore on the eve of her 40-date European tour, which is a little more of the Boheme we’re used to.
Of course, we can’t discuss travel style without looking at Jane Birkin. With her weathered Hermès bag in tow, the British-French icon captivated the world with her artfully dishevelled hair and nonchalant style – Birkin was respectably not a meticulous traveller.
“I admire people who have a travel suit and haven’t forgotten where they put their earplugs because they’ve got everything stored in a little pouch – but I’ve never been organised on a plane, ever,” she told Smythson Travel in an interview about her habits. “I’m always wearing the same thing, so I pack a couple of shirts, a couple of pairs of trousers and that’s it! I go to Agnès B – I always wear her silk tops. I have one that is 50 years old.”
Along with silk shirts, Birkin said she always travelled with press cuttings of her children, Embryolisse moisturiser, and men’s cashmere V-neck sweaters. A red ribbon around the handle of her suitcase helped her pick out her pack.
While most are happy to mix and match at whim, there are the working figures who have always relied on granular organisation. Just look at Jackie Kennedy Onassis. With her stoic presence and impenetrable elegance, the former First Lady of the United States relied heavily on her keen eye for fashion to curate her public persona. And being wrapped up in politics, there is still so much unknown to her fans about her as a person.
The travel checklist Onassis penned for her tragic final tour with her husband, John F. Kennedy, in 1963 has long been a subject of intrigue.
Leave DC 11am.
Dedicate Aerospace 2.25pm.
Next to its dutifully scheduled plans – down to the minute – are her planned styling notes.
Chanel earrings, gold + navy bracelet, safety pin – emerald pin.
Black velvet Galitzine. Black satin gloves.
Black evening bag. White kid gloves
Within these details, we get a sense of the woman behind the pillbox hat and white gloves: a dedicated person who cared deeply about her role and the impressions she inspired.
Given some access to laundry facilities, an absence of formal appearances required, and only minor fluctuations in temperature, there’s really no reason not to travel light. But with all the possibility that travel promises, even if it’s just a story we’re telling ourselves, it’s no wonder we’ve become geared towards overpacking. From 10-step skincare routines and infinite makeup solutions, ‘essential’ toiletries alone threaten to eat up our entire baggage allowance. Throw in the infinite gadgets modern living begets, and that’s a lot of stuff.
While it’s impossible to discern a person’s style through a two-dimensional checklist – we can’t assume the two skirts Didion thought to pack were as chic as her reputation – what a person packs, both what they plan to bring and what actually ends up in their suitcase, can tell us a lot about a person. Particularly for celebrities and creatives whose inner lives are shrouded in allure and mystery, a peek inside their carry-on might reveal as much intel as a meaningful conversation.
Not only that, but by scouring these insights, we can essentially outsource our own dilemmas. Simply put, these lists and various iterations scratch a brain itch for the curation and decisiveness we crave when faced with endless options or an overflowing wardrobe and bathroom shelf. Perhaps it’s not really about the stuff at all and more about getting some perspective.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
READ MORE
Chinese New Year 2025 Collection by Local Fashion Brands to Shop
Office Supplies: 10 Of The Best Work Bags To Invest In Right Now
Anne Hathaway Has A Princess Moment In Bvlgari & Oscar de la Renta