Recently I was featured on my friend Lucia’s blog on Vanity Fair in the Top 10 Looks of the Week. The feature was referring to my Barcelona trip and pointing out that when travelling I’m not wearing the tourist uniform. It makes me sad knowing that the tourist uniform has come to be a baggy pair of pants and a cotton t-shirt paired with the most horrible pair of shoes you have in the closet. In the past travelling around the World was a privilege of the few and they used to make of every trip a special occasion. In books you read how the ladies in the 1980s had special dresses made for their visit to a new country, and how Louis Vuitton came to be the company it is now because of their success in supplying exquisitely crafted travel trunks where all those dresses would go. Travelling has always been about the experience and what you wear affects that experience to some extent.
I’ve grown up watching 20th century’s travel movies, from Roman Holidays featuring Audrey Hepburn with her circle skirt, scarf and white shirt riding a Vespa in Rome to Thelma & Louise killing it with oversize sunglasses and headscarves while wearing jeans on jeans while driving their Ford Thunderbird convertible to Mexico. What you must take out from the many novels and movies style wise, is that you have to dress the part depending on the kind of adventure you are undertaking and celebrate every trip however short or long, and however close or far away. And while you are preparing your luggage, Louis Vuitton or not, don’t forget to take in consideration the culture of the country. Never be a Samantha Jones in Dubai from Sex & The City 2.