PPL’s Travel Guide: Packing Light with Style

The days where you had to compromise between wanting to look great on your holiday or not having your bag weigh an actual tonne, are long gone. Similarly to unzipping your suitcase in your hotel, looking at all your outfits and thinking ‘why have I brought this bag with me?’, and discovering that the only accessories you packed are compatible with approximately 10% of the outfits you have. Oh dear. Well you can wave goodbye to that feeling. 

Why Packing Light Doesn’t Mean Sacrificing Style 

Opting for one larger size and one smaller size bag is always a great idea. Most trips you take, it is usually very helpful to have one of each, and at PPL we would recommend a Bum Bag and a City Plus. Firstly, the Bum Bag is perfect for any daytime activities, excursions that you only need minimal essentials for, and in areas where it may be best to have your valuables close to your body (potentially under a loose shirt). It can comfortably fit a travel size sunscreen, a portable charger, your purse, phone and your cards secretly hidden in the exterior pocket closest to you. 

Secondly, the City Plus has endless space to fit any items you’d like to carry around with you on holiday, especially if you’re planning to be away from your hotel most of the day. You could fit everything you’d put into the Bum Bag in here, as well as a thin extra layer, a camera, a water bottle or snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day. The interchangeable straps on both of these bags means you can have four extra patterned straps as well as the matching ones, giving you ten different looks with only two bags.

Airport to Aperitivo: Styling on the Go

The Lambeth, wearable as a shoulder bag or crossbody, is the perfect in between size for when you’re on the go. With three internal compartments, this design will fit a book, a kindle, travel guide, water bottle, sunscreen and any other daily essentials will tuck in neatly. If it’s full, you can make use of the crossbody strap for comfortable wear - all day long! The Lambeth and its big sister - the Lambeth Plus - have been designed with a reinforced flat base, providing you with plenty of space and structure to find your things without them all sinking to the bottom. Meanwhile, it still has the slouchy style leather that gives it its sophisticated yet relaxed bucket shape. Functional and stylish, this bag will level up any look from the journey there to your evening out, all while it shapeshifts to suit your needs.

The best thing about this bag? It’s internal leather trimmed zipped pouch and matching leather safety strap; ideal to secure your valuables to the attached d-ring when you’re out and about. With this along with the zipped and slip compartments, you’ll never believe how quickly you’ll find your passport in the airport queues.

Colour Palettes That Work for Every Outfit

Which colours do you wear often? Which ones will you be wearing a lot on your next trip? If you know you typically wear a lot of one colour palette, then that will help you plan which colour bags you will likely get the most wear out of. Once you’re clear on this, selecting different straps that will tie in your bags with different clothes will be effortless. If you tend to lean towards a neutral look; cream, ecru, beige, browns, then you could pair them with Mint Green, Wood Rose or Wasabi Green, just to name a few! Our neutral shades will also work well of course; Oatmeal, Maple, Toffee, Off White, and Stone. If you like wearing a lot of cool toned pastels, then a matching pop of colour could go well - a pale blue shirt and a Dazzling Blue Original, or a light pink dress and a Coral Pink City. 

If you prefer not to wear outfits that are too similar in tones, there are still plenty of options! Try pairing Mint Green or Dazzling Blue with cool neutrals, denim, rich orange or fuchsia to contrast. On the lighter side, if you lean towards pastels, try pairing pale yellow, green or blue with the muted Wood Rose, Powder Blue or Marmalade Orange for a splash of colour.

We highly recommend selecting straps that are multicoloured, as this will maximise the versatility of your bags. The Powder Blue Peacock strap is pale blue, but also has beige and green in it. Toffee Mosaic strap is mainly neutral but with dusky pink running through it. Others that would pair different palettes together are; Orange & Coral Embroidered, Wasabi Green Sunshine, Mint & Blue Cross Stitch and SS25 Sweetie Pie. If you really want to keep it easy, opt for a Gold Chain, guaranteed to go with almost any outfit. 

Mixing Functionality With Fashion

You would be surprised how much space you can save if you pack smart. And yes, that involves not throwing everything in your bag ‘just in case’. Consider which activities you will be taking part in, excursion days out, the weather (extra layers or accessories like hats or a scarf), and which items you’ll want to carry around all day.

If you’re travelling with your laptop, camera or other tech, we have the smartest solution. The sleek designs of our Tech Kit and Richmond Rucksack allow you to keep all of your valuables detangled, safe and secure in their own pockets! Our Rucksack features a laptop sleeve, two internal pockets, an external pouch and a water bottle pouch - everything you could want for when on the go. 

One Bag, Endless Looks

Once you have mentally mapped out what you’d like to wear, where you might be going and what you’re getting up to, choosing which accessories to pair together is the fun part! Take some weight off your shoulders this summer, explore our collection and make your outfit pairing as easy as possible.