Author: Nargess Banks
We travel more often and more lightly, with the ritual of packing now an art form. As the trouser press disappears from many modern hotel rooms and the compact steamer takes its place, what are the insider secrets to arriving unwrinkled and unhurried?
You can tell a seasoned traveller by their suitcase and their attitude. You spot them at the airport, moving lightly towards departures, wheeling a case just the right size to sit securely in the overhead above their seat. Their outfit is smart but forgiving, a fabric chosen for comfort, and for the fact that it won’t crease before they land. This is a tribe that knows its style and wears it with ease.
Inside that compact case lies the critical edit, a few considered pieces rolled and folded with expertise. This is how we move now: slipping past the baggage carousel while others wait at the belt, our wardrobes pared to their essentials, with a little room kept aside for the unplanned purchase, the thing you fall for and carry home to remember the trip by. Packing light and right is a discipline, and like all disciplines it repays the effort, which is the quiet luxury of arriving with nothing to wait for and nothing to lose.
Few have practised that discipline more than Wendy Adams. For four decades Adams ran Bridal Week Harrogate, the main UK trade show for the bridalwear industry. The role sent her around the world to the bridal shows, to meet new designers and to persuade them to show in Harrogate. All those years of packing for the next city naturally teach you what survives a suitcase and what doesn’t. “Try to pack separates that mix and match, and items that can add glamour for the evening like statement jewellery, bags and heels, without having to have a whole new outfit,” she suggests.
According to Adams, the right cloth is key to arriving crease-free. She reaches for crepes, knits, jersey and polyester, and puts forward a case for synthetics.“The best crease-resistant fabrics are synthetic like polyester satin, matte stretch or a heavy jersey.” There is one weakness she confesses to, and any summer traveller will recognise it. “If, like me, you love linens in the summer you definitely need a steamer in your suitcase.”
If Adams packs like a veteran, Nargess Gharani has designed for it. As co-founder of the cult London label Gharani Strok (favoured by Madonna, Kate Moss, Nicole Kidman and Kylie Minogue) and later head designer at Matches’ label Freda, she made her name on fluid fabrics, delicate prints and embroidery, the very things travellers most fear to pack. The discipline began at the swatch. “We never worked with fabrics that creased easily,” she says. “At the point of choosing fabrics we would do the crunch test on the swatch, and if it creased it was a no brainer, as nothing looks worse than a chewed up garment.”
We never worked with fabrics that creased easily. At the point of choosing fabrics we would do the crunch test on the swatch, and if it creased it was a no brainer, as nothing looks worse than a chewed up garment.
Nargess Gharani, Fashion Designer
What passed the test, though, travelled beautifully. “Silks, cottons and jerseys are lightweight and can be packed into nothing,” she says, noting that this way you can take all your favourites with you without fussing over case size or checking a bag. Like most of us, her biggest travel worry is luggage that never arrives.
For all the cleverness of cloth and the joy of travelling light, sadly, smaller suitcases can mean more creases. The general rule for packing well, case big or small, suggests Gharani, is to match the size to the contents. “You want the items to fill the case enough so they won’t move around, as a still case creases less.”
Andrea Bastable is head of housekeeping at The Newt, the luxury country-house hotel, farm and garden estate near Bruton in Somerset. “When people are travelling with more of a capsule wardrobe, they need every item to be in perfect condition,” she observes, “and are more likely to need some support right from the start of their visit.”
Wardrobes shouldn’t just be a tick box exercise. Ideally they are well presented with modern steamers and hangers, and enough space for the light as well as the long-haul traveller.
Andrea Bastable is head of housekeeping at The Newt
That support looks different than it once did. The trouser press – the awkward cabinet-grey fixture bolted beside the minibar, capable of a single sharp crease and little else – has been retiring for some time, especially in design hotels where in its place you’re likely to find a stylish mini handheld steamer tucked away in its bag in the drawer. “These days expectations are more focused around fast laundry pressing and careful handling of delicate or expensive garments,” Bastable says. “Wardrobes shouldn’t just be a tick box exercise. Ideally they are well presented with modern steamers and hangers, and enough space for the light as well as the long-haul traveller.”
Not all hotels are as thoughtful as The Newt, and with many families and larger groups opting for Airbnb or rentals instead, increasingly the mini steamer is the one thing the seasoned traveller should pack themselves. It’s light enough to fit even a compact carry-on, quick to heat, and kind to almost all fabrics. And it will easily erase the dreaded fold across the lap, the crease behind the knee, the shoulder that has slept badly in transit.
The Main Event
The destination wedding requires a whole other way of planning. This is packing at its most demanding, and here the carry-on simply won’t do. Almost one wedding in five in the US is now a destination wedding, held somewhere other than where the couple live, while in Europe the pull is Italy, Greece and Spain. The modern celebration may involve a welcome dinner on the first night, the rehearsal, the ceremony itself, a long lunch, a party that runs to the small hours, a morning-after brunch before the flight home. Each will carry its own dress code, each photographed, each destined for Instagram. Suddenly the suitcase must carry a week’s worth of outfits.
And at the centre of it all, the one garment that cannot be replaced, creased or left to chance: the wedding dress. “As destination weddings have grown so has the varied styles available,” says Adams, who watched the industry evolve over four decades. Nowadays the fabrics used for bridalwear travel far better than the traditional silks, satins and chiffon. “Most bridalwear shops will help with advice on packing your gown and will supply the dress in a suitable carry bag for transportation.”
The Propress MINI is a great tool for both retailers and brides. It gives the retailer an add-on sale and the bride peace of mind that on her big day she will have a crease-free dress.
Wendy Adams
Her advice is to invest in a small handheld steamer. “The Propress MINI is a great tool for both retailers and brides,” she says. “It gives the retailer an add-on sale and the bride peace of mind that on her big day she will have a crease-free dress.” Should you unpack your gown to find a crease across the bodice, don’t panic, there are remedies. Heavier satins may want a steam iron, worked carefully from the inside so the plate never touches the face of the cloth; everything else tends to fall out under steam. Failing that, there is the oldest trick in the book to fall back on. “A simpler way, if you have the time, is to hang it in a steam-filled bathroom,” says Adams. “Before I had a Propress MINI I did this on many occasions when travelling.”
For all the talk of silk and eveningwear, the reality of garment care on a trip is often more everyday. Bastable confesses the most frequent call on the team at The Newt is not the crushed gown but the children’s wardrobe. “We all know how they can get a bit messy, so same-day turnaround cleaning can make all the difference,” she says. “For Housekeeping, ‘arriving ready’ means ensuring every guest can start their stay feeling prepared, confident and cared for. We support this by delivering immaculate rooms, with everything they need, alongside thoughtful garment care so our guests can always look their best, right from the start of their stay.”
Wardrobes shouldn’t just be a tick box exercise. Ideally they are well presented with modern steamers and hangers, and enough space for the light as well as the long-haul traveller.
The pieces are chosen, the case is light, the steam does its quiet work. And what’s left is the best part of any trip. Stepping out unwrinkled and unhurried.
Images: ©Bridal Week Harrogate and Ocean Media Group. The Newt ©The Newt, all others ©Propress