Packing for the Caribbean in the Fall.

Let's be honest - it's not exactly 'resort wear' season at stores right now.  Halloween?  Yes.  Holiday dresses?  They are coming in.  Cute leather jackets for fall?  Absolutely.  But resort wear, not so much.

With 2 upcoming Caribbean trips this fall (yea I know, poor me), I need to make my packing lists and see what holes I have and how I can fill them.  In October.  In New England.  I made the tragic mistake of NOT shopping the end-of-summer sales fully knowing that I have 2 Caribbean trips on the horizon.  Maybe this post should be called 'What 2 Pack When...'.  So, let's see what I have versus what I need.

I'll start with the obvious:  beach and pool.  I have bathing suits, coverups and flip-flops,

Image from jcrew.com.

so I'm set there.  A beach bag, a beach read, 

Image from goodreads.com.

some bad magazines (US, People, In Touch), sunglasses, 

Image from nordstrom.com.

and beach hat rounds it out.  From my June bathing suit shop, I think I'm set here.

Outfits for evening shouldn't be too difficult to find.  I'll need some dresses for evenings with a pants outfit thrown in just to be sure.  Strappy heels, bangles, maybe a wrap if the evening is breezy.  About week ago around 10:30pm, I found myself trolling the 'sale' sections of websites, like nordstrom.com and neimanmarcus.com (great return policies!) trying to find more cute, silk, breezy cocktail dresses.  Out of 3 dresses, I found a silk Elie Tahari one that might fit the bill for evening wear.  Thoughts about it?  The jury is out on this one.  I have some great, nude, strappy sandals that are good with it.  

Image from nordstrom.com.

Image from ebay.com.

Between this dress and a couple of others (like this Milly one from 2 years ago), I think I can make it through the evenings.  

Image from nordstrom.com.

But what about non-pool-day-wear?  I don't own a ton of it. (How can there be an entire line of clothing out there that I haven't exploited?!) I'll need several outfits for trip(s) to spa, breakfast, lunches, shopping.  I have basics, but no real 'resort wear'.  Tunics and shorts are fine, but maybe it's time for me to really dip my toes in the resort-wear-pool.  In October, this is next to impossible.  

However, a trip to the Natick Mall on Tuesday yielded some answers.  Wandering from Neimans (returning dress #2) to Nordstrom (returning dress #3), I stumbled upon the Tommy Bahama store.  Tommy Bahama?  I totally forgot about it.  But wasn't it all 'old lady' clothing?  I ventured in.

Much to my surprise, they had some REALLY cute things.  Linen drawstring pants (of which I own exactly zero pairs), linen sweaters and tops, dresses, tunics.  Granted, there were some not-so-cute things, but overall I was pleasantly surprised.  I had only a few minutes, so I tried on a couple of things.  This linen/gauzy sweater over the white linen drawstring pants was so cute.  I can imagine wearing this down to the spa, to lunch, or out shopping.  Both came home.

Images from tommybahama.com.

They had tank tops (albeit a little more than I want to spend on a tank top) to refresh the post-summer tanks in my drawer.  I grabbed a navy one and checked out so I could race to school for pick-up.

I have to head back there this weekend and dig in.  If I can find a few more cute outfits, I'll be set.  I really want to check out this silk shirt; it looks so yummy!

Image from tommybahama.com.

And this skirt looks like just the thing to wear with a white top and silver sandals down to breakfast, doesn't it?

Image from tommybahama.com.

Finally, I need to find this entire outfit and check it out.  I love the skirt (and it would be perfect with my new navy tank)!

Image from tommybahama.com.

So, I think I have it covered.  Beach and pool?  Check.  Evenings?  Check.  Daywear?  Another trip to Tommy Bahama, and I should be good to go.

Now, if I could only figure out where I put my non-mommy-cute-beach-bag. ~ JH