Overpacking

I always overpack.

It has not been an issue so far because airlines have not been involved in my travels, but multi-day trips involve packing my Subaru to the brim.

I took eight pieces of luggage to Provincetown for my first trip to Fantasia Fair for an eight-day stay.

My Hamvention trips usually involve four or five pieces of luggage for a four-day stay.

The only time I economized was for my four-day trip to New York City. I only had three pieces of luggage because I was traveling by train.

I always bring stuff that I never use: extra dresses, extra hosiery, extra bras, extra panties, extra shoes, extra nails, extra jewelry, extra etcetera.

Usually, I plan ahead with a spreadsheet and know what I am going to wear for each day of my trip, but I still overpack. One piece of luggage that I know I should leave home is my makeup box. It is a large tackle box that I bought at Walmart that is chock full of makeup. Who needs 30 shades of lipstick for a four-day trip

One time when I was moving my luggage into my hotel room. I was in boy mode carrying my makeup/tackle box and as I passed two guys in the hall, one said to the other, "He's going fishing!"

A week from now, I will be packing for my four-day stay in Ohio to attend Hamvention. I hope I can do it with three pieces of luggage. I'll let you know how I do.

Wearing JustFab (Source: JustFab)

The cast of the Polish production of Casa Valentina.

Packing

Packing for Fantasia Fair is always a crap shoot. Over-packing is usually the result. The following excerpt from my book Fantasia Fair Diaries describes that dilemma facing a fashionista packing for a week in Provincetown.   

All I need cosmetics-wise (vs. all I over-packed!)

It was a dark and stormy night.

Actually, it was a dark and stormy week… at least the meat of Fantasia Fair week. Tuesday through Friday, a Nor’easter blew through Provincetown — not the best weather for strolling around town, but that did not stop the girls from getting out and strutting their stuff up and down Commercial Street.

I was prepared bringing an umbrella and three types of outerwear to keep me warm and dry throughout the week. I probably could have gotten by with just two types of outerwear because I only wore my black sweater coat once. Most evenings, I wore my white fake fur jacket and most days, I wore my blue trench coat.

The trench coat got rave reviews. My B&B owner, Chris, loved the coat and I received unsolicited comments about it (“nice blue”) from strangers while walking around town.

Over-packing, I brought the following items that I never wore: two sweaters, two tunics, one blouse, one corset, one pair of leggings, one pair of shoes and way too much jewelry. I also brought too much makeup and too many boxes of stick-on nails; the set of nails I stuck on Sunday afternoon survived the whole week. I relied on my iPhone for photos, so my Canon camera, its charger, tripod, and computer cable could have stayed home.

On the other hand, I left my light-up makeup mirror at home and missed it, but managed to survive using the mirror and lighting in my bathroom.

My schedule was very full because there were a lot of things that interested me at Fantasia Fair this year and I tried to take in as much as I could. About half the things were at the Boatslip Resort, which was a half mile from my B&B. The other half was at The Crown & Anchor, which was two blocks from my B&B.

For things at the Boatslip, I carried my heels and wore my 1-1/2-inch Payless wedges for walking and switched to my heels at the thing. For things closer to my B&B, I wore my nude or black patent Payless heels and carried my wedges just in case.

That shoe strategy worked for me most of the time. The only just-in-case times occurred after a couple of particularly busy days walking up and down Commercial Street — my feet could not even stand the short two block walk in heels back to my B&B.

Wearing Boston Proper.

Actor Zach Braff in television's My Summer as a Girl (1994).

Reducing

I have made three pilgrimages to Provincetown to attend Fantasia Fair and I overpacked each time I went!

The first time I brought eight bags! I think that was excusable because I had no idea what to expect, so I was prepared for anything. I should have learned something after that first trip, but I still overdid it the second and third trips.

My goal is to reduce the baggage this year.  I drive rather than fly to Provincetown, so there is no monetary incentive to cut down on the number (and weight) of the bags, but there is an incentive to save time by packing and unpacking less.

With that in mind, I created a spreadsheet listing all the day and evening events during Fantasia Fair and the outfit I plan to wear to each event. To tell the truth, I created a spreadsheet for my second and third trips, but it did not help much. Being a fashionista, the all the events listed in my spreadsheet require different outfits!

I always take too many shoes and too much jewelry and end up not using all the shoes and jewelry I bring. So far, I managed to narrow the shoes down to four pairs this year. I may add another pair as soon as I figure out which shoes to wear with my Oz costume.

I can also cut down on the quantity of my daywear by mixing and matching tops and bottoms. So I will work on that.

I could wear the same outfit more than once, but that might shock a few people!

And do I really need to bring my tackle box overflowing with makeup?

 

 

 

Wearing Elie Tahari (jacket) and Greylin (skirt).

 

 

 

Actor Michael Andrews femulating in the film Malibu Express (1985).

Gadgets

Now that I own an iPhone, I am considering not lugging my laptop and digital camera to Dayton.

With my iPhone, I can write and post to my blog, do e-mail, and take photos.

If I bring my digital camera to take photos for blog posts from Dayton, then I have to bring my laptop because it is my only gateway for transferring photos from my camera to the blogosphere. Bringing the camera and laptop also necessitates bringing their battery chargers, a spare camera battery, a cable to connect the two, and a bag to carry the laptop.

I can type faster and more accurately with my laptop, but to tell the truth, during Hamvention there is not much time to blog. I usually post a few words and a photo each day, which is as easy as pie with my iPhone.

What would you do?

30 Shades of Lipstick for a Four-Day Trip

I overpack.

It has not been an issue so far because airlines have not been involved in my travels, but multi-day trips involve packing my Subaru to the brim.

I took eight pieces of luggage to Provincetown for my first trip to Fantasia Fair for an eight-day stay (see photo above). Last year, I only had seven pieces, but I also stayed one day less.

My annual Dayton, Ohio trips usually involve four or five pieces of luggage for a four-day stay.

The only time I economized was for my four-day trip to New York City. I only had three pieces of luggage because I was traveling by train.

I always bring stuff that I never use: extra dresses, extra hosiery, extra bras, extra panties, extra Spanx, extra shoes, extra nails, extra jewelry, extra etcetera.

Usually, I plan ahead and know what I am going to wear for each day of my trip, but I still overpack.
One piece of luggage that I know I should leave home is my makeup box. It is a large tackle box that I bought at Walmart that is chock full of makeup. Who needs 30 shades of lipstick for a four-day trip

Funny story occurred the last time I was moving my luggage into my hotel room. I was in boy mode carrying my makeup/tackle box and as I passed two guys in the hall, one said to the other, "He's going fishing!"

In two weeks, I will be packing for my four-day stay in Dayton. I hope I can do it with three pieces of luggage. I'll let you know how I do.

 

Actor Michel-Serrault (left) and another actor (right) femulating in the film La Cage Aux Folles II, 1980.

 

Wearing Robert Rodriguez.

Who Do You Believe?

For days, I have been checking the Accuweather and National Weather Service websites for the upcoming week’s weather forecasts for Provincetown. One of them must be forecasting the weather for a different planet Earth because their forecasts conflict.

I will assume the worst and pack outerwear for wet and/or cold weather.

That is what I am doing today: packing for my trip to Fantasia Fair and tying up loose ends around the house before I leave Sunday morning.

And thank you all for your well wishes for my trip!

Bringing Bling

With my packing list in hand, I will begin packing for Fantasia Fair this evening.

Most of the packing is easy --- just pack exactly what I have on my list.

Jewelry is more difficult. Let me explain why.

My packing list indicates that I should pack a silver necklace, earrings, and bracelet to go with a particular outfit, but does not specify which silver necklace, earrings, and bracelet. I usually don't remember what jewelry worked with an outfit I wore before and if it is a new outfit, I am not sure what jewelry will work with it.

To complicate matters, I have a lot of jewelry.

As an Avon representative, I can buy with a discount and over the years, I have amassed a lot of Avon jewelry. Also, I bought a lot of Napier jewelry at a big discount when the Napier factory closed here.

Funny story. When they were having their close-out sale, I was visiting the Napier factory store a couple of times a week during lunch hour. The sales staff got to know me and helped me match earrings with bracelets with necklaces, etc.

After one shopping spree, a sales woman commented that my wife was a lucky girl because I was buying so much jewelry for her. Although I did buy some items for my wife, most of it was for me!

So tonight, I will wade through all my jewelry and pick out items to pack.

And here's a tip: I store my jewelry in clear plastic boxes intended for storing fishing lures. They are inexpensive (Walmart sells them in a variety of sizes) and they permit you to instantly see their contents. And if you fill one up, just buy another. (I own 12.)

By the way, I use a huge fishing tackle box to store and transport my makeup. (My parents' hobby was fishing, so I attribute my storage skills to their avocation.)

Fantasia Fair Fashionista

Attending Fantasia Fair requires planning if you are a fashionista.

The first time I attended the Fair, I brought eight pieces of luggage! That's over one piece of luggage for each day of the week long event.

On the other hand, I know a Fan Fair attendee who brought one dress for the whole week.

The second time I attended the Fair, my luggage was lighter because I was attending for a half week versus a full week. Cutting my stay in half would logically make my luggage lighter, but I also packed more intelligently to make my luggage still lighter and that is my plan (in progress) for my week long stay at the Fair in less than two weeks.

My first step is to obtain the Fan Fair schedule and see what is on tap.

In addition to being a fashionista, I am also a computer nerd, so I build an Excel spreadsheet to plan for the week after I get the schedule.

In the first column of the speadsheet, I list each day of the week twice - once for day wear and once for night wear.

In the second column, I list each night activity and in the third column, I categorize how dressy each night event will be. (Will a cocktail dress do or will full glam evening gown be necessary?)

In the fourth column, I list items from the Stana Collection to meet the requirements of each day and night event.

I add four additional columns: one each for shoes, hosiery, jewelry, and handbag to accessorize each outfit.

After I fill in all the blanks, I sort everything to arrive at an initial packing list. Hopefully, there will be some duplication (most likely in accessories).

To the initial list, I add scarves, unmentionables, outerwear, wig, makeup, lighted mirror (to apply makeup), baby wipes (to remove makeup), Nair, nails, shaving stuff, dental stuff, other toiletries and the electronics (camera, cell phone, computer, etc.)

Hopefully, I will not need eight bags to pack everything. Such is the lot of a Fantasia fair fashionista!