Packing for Alt Summit. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
UPDATE MARCH 2020 - this post was originally written close to 6 years ago (June 2014), and goodness me do I have a tender spot in my heart for 6-years-ago-Stasia! It was my first time putting myself out there in what felt like a very big way, and I remember the vulnerability and guts it took to hit publish. A lot has changes since this first-ever blog post… my body, my smile, my style, my thoughts about style. It just goes to show that SHOWING UP is a journey, and that as times change, WE CHANGE. Enjoy!
Hello! And WELCOME to my very first blog post! Ever. In my whole life! I'm leaving for Alt Summit in about 8 hours, and since I'm going to the BIGGEST BLOGGING CONFERENCE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, I figured it was high time I had a blog.
And it seems only appropriate, as a Style Blogger, to talk about WHAT I'M WEARING TO ALT. But in truth, what I'm wearing isn't nearly as important as WHY I'm wearing what I'm wearing. And how I went about choosing, prepping and packing.
Usually when I travel, I throw a bunch of stuff into a suitcase - a few nice shirts, my favorite skirts, a couple pairs of shoes - and hope to hell they all go together. I NEVER create actual outfits before I travel. And I usually end up in tears because I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR. I've been burned too many times, so this time I took a different approach. I created an OUTFIT ITINERARY! That's right. A map. An outline. A stress-free plan.
1. I created a list, breaking down the various venues, and counting how many outfits I was going to need: Tuesday day (flight) / Tuesday night (sponsor dinner) / Wednesday day (conference) / Wednesday night (food truck dinner party) / Thursday day (conference) / Thursday night (garden party) / Friday (saying goodbye + exploring the city) / Saturday (flight). That's 8 outfits.
2. Then, I decided how I wanted to FEEL at each venue. For example, I’m gonna want to feel differently on my flight than I’ll want to feel at the sponsor dinner, where my nerves will be a little bit shaky and my insecurities will undoubtedly kick in. Comfortable, chic & funky works for an airplane, but for my first night at Alt - I want to feel confident, bold, bright and just plain happy!
3. Once I decided how I wanted to feel, I hit my closet and started creating outfits, using those words to inform my outfit creations. I tried on everything, because I wanted to prevent any wardrobe malfunctions later. Like things not fitting the way I remember, or forgetting to pack the strapless bra for that spaghetti strap dress.
I found some gems of course, but I’ll tell you what. I wasn’t far into my try-on sesh when I started to freak out because… some of the things I was planning to wear DIDN’T ACTUALLY FIT! Thank GOODNESS I decided to TRY EVERYTHING ON before putting it all into my suitcase! I've lost some weight recently and some of my best things were way too big. Saggy jeans. Empty darts. Gaping under the pits. And to top it all off, I thrifted a brand new (with tags on!) fancy-pants pink taffeta dress last week, brought it to the tailor for a little nip and tuck, and I FORGOT TO PICK IT UP tonight!!
So here I am... leaving in about 8 hours, and I'm not done packing.
WHY? Because Alt is a big deal. Fashion is HUGE at Alt, and those little voices inside my head have crept in and told me that my second-hand-vermont-gal wardrobe is not going to be good enough. What I need to do is listen to my BIG GIRL voice - my SOUL'S voice, that KNOWS I'm perfectly suited to be there, in my second-hand-vermont-gal-wardrobe.
I've momentarily lost my footing. I've forgotten about Inside-Out Congruency, and have gone into the comparison game... me versus everybody else. And no good can come from that.
I swore I wasn't going to stress. I was going to dress my essence - rock the ole' Inside-Out Congruency and stand tall with my suitcase of second-hand-clothes. And I still will. This is just a little hurdle that I need to navigate. But that's what life's all about, isn't it? Navigating the hurdles. Pressing through. Finding your trueness.
Despite the hurdles, I'm still loving my wardrobe itinerary. So if you'll excuse me, the itinerary has three blank spots, which means I have 3 more outfits to pack!
To INSIDE-OUT CONGRUENCY.
xo Stasia