Hot Girl Packing Guide- Avoid Event Shopping!

Pack your bags hot girls we’re going to California!

I am so excited because this weekend I get to visit one of my best friends from college and she lives in the beautiful state of California. As a Louisiana girl, getting some of that California weather will be truly life saving. I plan to blog and potentially vlog this trip so stay tuned for a hot girl talk- Cali style!

As I was preparing for this trip, all I wanted to do was buy an entirely new wardrobe. Something about California inspires me to push the fashion limits and wear things I might not want to at home. I’ll be on the beach so I wanted to buy new bikinis and coverups. I’m going to a concert so I wanted to buy a new concert outfit. It also will be much MUCH cooler there temperature wise, so naturally I had the urge to buy cute oversized summer jackets. As I was online window shopping and drafting up carts on different websites, I realized how silly and also hypocrital I was being. I aim to promote fashion in a positive way and inspire people to be smart and creative with their wardrobe. Event shopping is typically not smart and can sometimes stunt creativity. Soo for this trip I banned myself from buying anything and forced myself to work with what is in my closet (and in my sisters closet, that’s not cheating right?). 

The first thing I did was gather a loose itinerary for the trip. From there I figured what outfits I needed to construct, and also how many options I wanted to give myself. I always like to bring a few options especially if I’m not trying on the outfits before hand (you really should just try them on but I’m lazy). 

After I had a plan for what I needed outfits for, I started digging in my closet. I pulled out all of my all time favorite pieces: my jorts, my black mini skort, my cowboy boots, and my basic baby tees. From here I went back through literally every item hanging in my closet (insane I know). I started at one side and sifted through each hanger examining the piece of clothing and how it looked with my staple pieces. This actually helped me curate some new outfits I had not worn that would be perfect for the trip.

One of my favorite things to do if I am in a fashion block is wear an item of clothing in a way it’s not intended. For example: a lacey dress can be turned into a skirt by putting a baby tee on top or folding the top half of the dress into the bottom, a mini skirt can become a tube top, and a maxi skirt can turn into a strapless dress. I ended up borrowing a dress from my sister that I intend to use as a skirt (I’m sure you will see on socials).

Honestly the biggest thing that helped me avoid event shopping was simply not letting myself. Try to rework your wardrobe or borrow from a friend. Forcing yourself to use what you have also adds a level of organization to your packing! I had no choice but to lay out all of my outfits making it super easy to check everything off the list and put it in my suitcase.

I am a serial event shopper, so I am very proud of avoiding it for this trip! I also told myself if I’m going to buy clothes I might as well buy clothes ON vacation instead of before (kind of defeats the purpose but it helped me avoid shopping). My new rule is if I’m only going to wear it one time it has to be for a once in a lifetime event for me to justify buying it! For example: I’m buying some bridal clothing items for my bachelorette trip because I only get one and it’s a special moment. For holidays, I try to only buy one thing a year to build up a capsule for said holiday. Example: Mardi Gras is once a year but it’s every year so I will allow myself to get one new thing to add to my Mardi Gras clothing collection each year.

If you are not an event shopper I am so proud of you. If you are then I am right there with you! At the end of the day you should be able to buy whatever you want whenever you want, but don’t forget to push yourself to get creative with your wardrobe! Remember to shop smart and spread positivity in the fashion community by supporting small businesses, donating, and thrifting. That’s hot!