“I can’t pack light the way you do. I want to look good!”
I’ve never understood these people. What does quantity have to do with beauty?
I’ve always been an advocate of carry-on only travel, mainly due to the daintiness of my physique, and my disinterest in waiting in long lines for hours just to find out that my bag didn’t show up. At this point, I really don’t know how to do it any other way.
Yet no matter how many times I point out how easy this is (just bring a week’s worth of clothing, do laundry once a week, and travel forever), they all still look at me like I’m a crazy person. Surely they’ll need some nice outfits for fancy social occasions, yes?
So I ask them…why not bring only nice outfits?
Better yet, why not own only nice outfits?! What are these people doing owning ugly clothes in the first place!??!
Building an immaculate travel wardrobe
So, to shame them publicly better inform everyone of the great options available for stylish travel clothing that’s both functional and fashionable, I’ve put together a series of head-to-toe outfits that’ll handle whatever you throw at them, and look great the whole time.
You’ll notice that I tend to seek out high-tech items, as I suffer from a biologically stupid condition that combines a scrawny lack of bodily insulation with a tendency to become ridiculously overheated with even the most leisurely of physical activities. Fancy techwear isn’t entirely necessary, especially in mild climates (and it can be painfully expensive, so don’t worry about it if you’re heading somewhere pleasantly temperate), but it can be especially useful in extreme weather conditions, and also allows you to pack smaller, by enabling hand washing and hang drying.
I’ve also highlighted some of the dressier options available, not because I care one way or another about snooty fashion concerns, but rather because I want to silence the nonsensical “I just want to look good” weirdos once and for all. Good travel clothing should look nice, as it allows you to skip the “just for fancy occasions” outfits, and thus pack down to half the size.
Which means, and I cannot stress this highly enough:
When it comes to travel, beauty is actually a performance advantage.
So let’s see how great we can look. I’ve organized these outfits by manufacturer, so you can get the whole outfit all in one place, and have pointed out which ones have supplied me with free samples, for transparency reasons. Here we go.
1) Outlier
Outlier has been making quite a name for itself as everyone’s go-to brand for stylish performance clothing, despite what appears at first to be a limited selection; the strategy consists mainly of designing just one product per category (one pair of jeans, one pair of work/dress pants, etc) and getting it just right, instead of churning through trendy designs all the time.
“Upscale casual” is what I’d call the aesthetic, with items that work perfectly well for casual situations, but can often blend right in for a night out:
Pictured:
- Freeshell: A seasonally-available, water-resistant jacket for light weather protection (often available in different fabric variations).
- New Way Shorts: Quick-drying, and with a drawstring waist, so they can double as swimwear.
- Slim Dungarees: Perhaps their most well-known product, this is a soft shell jean (reviewed here), offering stretchy comfort, tough fabric, quick-drying performance, and weather resistance.
- Merino/Co Pivot: One of the few merino wool dress shirts out there, blended with cotton for a bit more structure.
- Ultrafine Merino T-shirt: A merino wool t-shirt, though with a finer grade fiber than most others.
(Outlier has provided me with some free samples)
2) Outerboro
Outerboro is a lesser-known Taiwanese company whose products range from casual streetwear to fancy dress clothing, all of which incorporate high-tech materials or finishes to make them more versatile than ordinary clothes. The outfit shown below happens to include the more casual items, but they’ve got dress shirts and blazers for fancier events as well:
Pictured:
- Pursuit Bomber Jacket: A semi-performance jacket with light weather resistance, Thinsulate insulation, and stretchy fabric.
- Edge Pants: Cordura nylon incorporated into a pair of stretchy, weather-resistant casual pants for super tough performance.
- Merino Core Henley: Cozy merino with a bit of adjustability with the henley buttons.
I’ve found Outerboro’s sizing tends to be more appropriate for shorter, slimmer people; it’s a Taiwanese company, after all. You’ll notice this from their size charts (especially the one listed for their Motile Pants, which includes very specific dimensions of all sorts), where the inseam length sounds ideal for someone maybe 5’8″ or below. It’s a good idea to spend some time reviewing these details, as returning items via international shipping tends to get pricey.
(Outerboro has provided me with some free samples)
3) Ministry of Supply
Of all the companies listed here, Ministry of Supply focuses most clearly on office-appropriate clothing, and with a greater variety of colors and patterns than you’re likely to find elsewhere. They even have the option of slim and standard fits on just about everything they make, so it almost feels like you’re getting customized items when you pick out an outfit.
Pictured:
- Core V-Neck: Moisture-wicking, odor-resisting synthetic undershirt (which could also double as a regular t-shirt or a workout shirt).
- Archive Dress Shirt: A stretchy, wicking, quick-drying dress shirt. I’d recommend this over their Apollo, as the fabric on this one is far dressier.
- Mercury V-Neck Sweater: Merino wool, combined with phase change materials, for even more temperature regulation.
- Aviator Chinos: Stretchy, quick-drying, coffee-resistant dress pants available in all sorts of colors.
(Ministry of Supply has provided me with some free samples)
4) Mission Workshop
Though mostly known for their waterproof messenger bags, Mission Workshop has been delving into the world of high-tech performance clothing as well, with what I consider especially good examples of outerwear. The selection is quite limited at the moment, but the dark colors, subtle designs, and performance materials give them a stylistic and weather-protective versatility that’s worth checking out. The aesthetic is more casual than dressy, but it’s refined enough that it looks great in all situations but the suit-and-tie sort.
Pictured:
- Remi Waterproof Hooded Blazer: Looks like a blazer with the hood down, works like a rain jacket with the hood up, with temperature-regulating materials so you don’t overheat.
- Division Chino: A good example of soft shell pants, which are probably the best kind of pants.
- Faroe Merino Wool Pullover Hoody: Stay cozy.
- District Merino Henley: A little different than just a typical t-shirt.
5) Rohan
Rohan makes a variety of gear, from travel-friendly clothing with hidden security pockets (and I do mean hidden), as well as outdoorsy gear for mountaineering adventures.
But here I’m highlighting the classiest item they make, because practically no one else is doing this: A high-tech, moisture-wicking, fast-drying, wrinkle-resisting, stretchy, machine washable business suit that looks 100% indistinguishable from a regular suit. And it’s not overly techy; it’s blended with wool, so it still looks and feels like wool. Why does anyone make anything else?! ARGH!
Pictured:
- Envoy Jacket: A high-tech business suit that’ll resist wrinkles, stains, and odor, but still looks just like a business suit. The stretch fabric is likely to keep you more comfy than a regular jacket ever could. Lots of interior pockets, too.
- Envoy Trousers: The corresponding pants, which also have a zippered security pocket.
- Envoy Shirt: Quick-drying, crease-resistant fabric, with an odor-resistant treatment. There’s a logo tag on the pocket, but it’s the type that can be cut off.
- Ultra Silver T: A synthetic undershirt with odor resistance.
- Switch Around Belt: Black on one side, brown on the other.
(Rohan has provided me with some free samples)
6) Proof NY
Proof NY is another small company, recently founded, with the intention of improving on wardrobe staples, by incorporating high-performance materials for increased durability, breathability, and weather resistance. They’re also one of the extraordinarily few companies doing this with a pair of jeans (pictured below), while still maintaining the look and feel of ordinary denim, which most others don’t bother doing. They often change the color to flat khaki or something…which is fine, but shouldn’t we have options that can pass for regular jeans too? Yes, we should.
Pictured:
- Blueprint Denim Jeans: Cotton combined with Cordura nylon for durability, polyester for additional quick drying time, and stretch fibers for extra comfort and mobility.
- Iron Ox Shirt: Cotton blended with nylon for easy care and greater strength.
- Nomad Pants: Soft shell pants (stretchy, weather resistant, breathable, quick-drying) that look like dress pants.
7) Ninox
Another tiny company, this time from Colorado, is Ninox. They’ve recently expanded from…like, one product, to several, and although they’re still quite new, they’ve got some good examples of dressy clothing and casual outerwear that’ll be right at home in a wide range of circumstances, rather than just a hike:
Pictured:
- Dillon Merino Soft Shell Jacket: Merino on the inside, weather-resistant polyester on the outside.
- Stratton Synthetic Insulation Jacket: Like a puffy jacket, but without the puffiness.
- Carson Chinos: Soft shell pants: Stretchy, comfy, breathable, and weather resistant.
- Aspen Dress Shirt: Merino wool for moisture management and wrinkle resistance, and cotton for extra structure and familiarity.
8) QOR
I don’t know how the hell this one slipped beneath my radar, because they’ve got such a wide selection that it seems insane that I had never heard of them until recently. QOR’s selection is easily the largest of anything listed on this page, with items of all sorts; they’ve got a lot of workout and fitness clothing, but with an understated appearance that can pass for casual clothing, along with upscale items for fancier occasions:
Pictured:
- Performance Suiting Pant: Viscose for absorbency, polyester for quick-drying performance, with an additional fabric treatment for weather resistance, and some zipped pockets.
- QOR Shirt: Yes, that’s actually the name; it’s the merino button-up, which also has a semi-concealed zipped pocket.
- QOR 17.5 Merino V Short Sleeve: Comfy merino t-shirt.
- Neoshell Trench: Neoshell promises hard shell performance with soft shell comfort (AKA it’s waterproof but comfier than most rain jackets), in a nice trench style.
9) Alchemy Equipment
These guys are down in New Zealand, and from the emphasis on darkly-colored outerwear, this would be a great place to look for cold-weather travel gear that doesn’t scream “I dress like a mountaineer, even when walking on flat surfaces.” And here I was thinking that all New Zealand ever does is make Lord of the Rings movies. I’m still pretty sure it’s mostly true.
Pictured:
- Wool/Waxed Cotton Down Jacket: Understated colors and fabrics typically not found in down jackets, with rainproof shoulder panels and a Teflon treatment for the rest of the fabric for extra rain resistance. Probably a little bulkier than a typical packable down jacket, but of course it’ll work fine if you’re not stowing it that often.
- Stretch Wool Blend Chino: A nice-looking wool pant with a zippered, waterproof cell phone pocket.
- Ceramic Coated Stretch Jacket: Treatments and extra-durable shoulder panels will lengthen the life of something that looks really great and thus will be worn a million times.
- Single Jersey Merino Short Sleeve Polo: Name says it all. Comfy merino, polo style.
10) Mix and Match
Here I’ve compiled a couple outfits from tiny companies that pretty much make just a single product, but which do them especially well:
Pictured:
- Thunderbolt Jeans (on the left): A perfect example of soft shell jeans, and one of the few that also has a hidden zippered security pocket, in back.
- Wool & Prince Better Button Down (the blue one): A 100% merino wool dress shirt, and thus super comfy and wrinkle-free, because ironing clothes is just objectively stupid. How many hours of our lives must be spent drawing a slab of heated metal over wrinkly fabric so it won’t look like garbage when we could just use non-wrinkly materials instead!?!? ARGH!!!
- Fairwear Belmont Gingham Shirt (the grey one): A blend of bamboo and polyester for comfort and performance.
- Bluffworks Khakis (on the right): Great travel pants, reviewed here.
(Wool & Prince and Bluffworks have provided me with some free samples)
By the way, you can find quite a few of these brands (often on sale) at Huckberry, which offers a good range of style and substance all in the same place.
I don’t know why travel clothing has been so ugly for so long, but now that it looks this good, we might as well just look great all day, every day, wherever we go.
Happy (stylish) travels!
Veilance by Arc’teryx needs to be on this list.
That’s another good one, particularly when it comes to jackets.
Do you have any resources for women’s clothing? Are you considering adding women’s clothing to your repertoire?
If that is too far out of the realm of possibilities or just something you don’t ever want to do, have you considered pairing up with another avid travel blogger who may be able to help you out. This type of technical review that you do is just not often done for women’s clothes. they focus more on style than function unfortunately.
I like to know at least a little of what’s going on in the world of women’s travel gear, but I’m never going to be as knowledgeable about it as I am with men’s clothing. I do have a few places worth checking out, though:
Pivotte Studio just got started with a pre-order collection of clothing that does exactly what I’m talking about in this post, but for ladies.
Proof NY is mostly a men’s brand, but they have a couple pairs of pants for women that I think would work especially well; one that’s purely synthetic, but stretches like yoga pants, and one that’s about half cotton and half synthetic, and is also stretchy (though I think a bit less). Outlier’s women’s selection is a little sparse, but still good. I’ve also heard good things about Anatomie, which has quite a few options. Royal Robbins and Nau are good places to look too, though they’ve also got regular clothing made of cotton, so you have to look around a bit for the performance pieces.
As for bloggers, I always point people to Travel Fashion Girl and Her Packing List. They’ve been at it longer than I have, and they’ve probably got an endless supply of suggestions.
Re ladies’ clothing: my go-to EVERYTHING trousers are now the Willary’s (http://thewillary.com/collections/the-core-collection). Since getting them in April, they’ve been with me to 4 countries, and covered everything from office attire to hiking trips to a multi-day camping music festival to a graduation ceremony followed by fancy dinner. I probably wear these half of every week, including my bicycle commute in. No signs of any wear at all yet.
They’re 3+ season, though – too heavy for high summer for me.
I try to blather as much as I can about how there’s a gap in the women’s clothing market for high-tech, stretchy clothing that men are fortunate enough to have right now, so hopefully someday someone’ll listen to me, and you’ll have more options. But until then, I’m glad you found that one. Even with the limited options out there, at least men still have a few, which is more than what the ladies have at the moment.
I found your site after googling “best travel underwear”, and couldn’t stop reading. That’s a pretty weird compliment.
Your reviews and rants are trenchant and entertaining. I blame you for the money I spend after reading them and, especially, for the old things I throw away after each skull-splitting epiphany: “Why did I ever buy this underwear/shirt/jacket/etc.? Because I was stupid. Why did those jerks even make them? Because they are stupid.”
You’ve been spot-on every time. Uniqlo boxers? Damn right. I bought some and concluded that most underwear I have ever bought sucked. Merino tees and polos? Same thing. Merino socks? Merino dress shirts? Soft-shell jeans? Yep, yep, yep.
Some of my friends say I complain a lot. I’m not being negative, just seeing possibilities. As Kim Jong Il said, “Why is everybody so f’ing stupid? Why aren’t more people interrigent, like me?”
Why can’t I buy anything, not a single piece of electrojunk (cellphone, camera, laptop, iPod, wall charger, plug adapter), or umbrella, hat/cap, pair of gloves, softshell jacket, overcoat, blazer, rain coat, or pair of pants, that has a built-in tag or place to put my name and contact info for when I forget it somewhere? Why is the urinal the only thing in McDonald’s bathrooms that fits kids–not the sink, soap, paper towels, toilet, or door handle? Do Nikes have to look retarded to be comfortable?
Seriously, though, I really appreciate your analyses of non-functional style and poorly-styled functionality. You probably could submit some seriously entertaining pieces to travel/hiking mags, and could make some noise in the manufacturer and retailer parts of the garment, gear, and luggage industries. Why can’t the outdoorsy/hikery ones make things that look normal, and why can’t Dockers make better pants? Make a stir, cause a fuss, write the book “Why Travel Stuff Sucks”. Take a look at Paul Fussell’s “Bad” for inspiration–it’ll make you laugh by showing how bad is marketed as good.
Keep the rants and reviews coming!
It always makes me happy to know that I’m pointing people in the right direction (or pointing them away from the wrong direction), and that I can finally make use of all this ridiculously dorky knowledge that I’ve accumulated this whole time.
The way I look at it, it’s not that I’m the negative one; it’s that other people are just doing it wrong. And I’ll close with a quote from George Bernard Shaw, which has always reminded me that fussiness is in fact a virtue:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
I’ve not seen you address casual short sleeve shirts for hot weather. Linen has a great, sporty look, breathes very well and packs light but wrinkle easily. Merino sounds like it would be hot. Silk, poly and rayon are hot. I’m not big on tees or polos, prefer short sleeve sport shirt or long sleeves rolled up.
For casual button-up shirts that work well in the heat, I think a lightweight cotton/polyester blend works well enough. The polyester keeps it from wrinkling, and the cotton keeps it feeling natural. These are usually pretty cheap, too (though not always all that great). Pure polyester or nylon can be fine if a shirt is thin enough, and a couple of these companies have options like that. There’s some talk out there about combining linen with merino, but it’s still just a dream. Linen and polyester would be good too, though it’s pretty rare as well. I don’t have specifics to recommend, as I usually wear t-shirts, but I’ve seen options like these from Ministry of Supply, Rohan, Patagonia, and others, yet this idea of making buttoned shirts with better materials is still mind-blowingly new to most people, which is why they’re so rare.
It’s always weird to me how easy it is to eliminate cotton or linen wrinkles by including just a teensy bit of polyester, and then…practically no one bothers doing that…sigh. There’s still this belief that 100% cotton is the best thing in the world because of how breathable it is, and people will say that adding any polyester whatsoever would totally ruin it…yet every workout shirt on the planet is 100% polyester and is super breathable too. Pure polyester can be hot, but adding just a bit of polyester to a cotton button-up shirt makes wrinkles practically disappear, without much of a negative impact in terms of comfort.
Thanks for the advice you’ve provided on your blog, I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip and testing out all my new gear!
With regard to stylish travel pants, are you able to recommend a stylish airport-friendly (i.e. no metal) belt to match some of the pants you’ve listed here? The only ones I’ve been able to find have looked terrible.
So you’ll either be looking for a carbon fiber belt, or a plastic one. Carbon fiber isn’t so bad, but there just aren’t that many options out there, which is just silly. It’s such an easy thing to do, and I don’t know why it isn’t more common. Bison Designs has one, and it’s reasonably priced, and I think it looks kinda cool. I don’t know why nobody bothers to make normal ones, though. And make sure when you look up “carbon fiber belts” that it’s the BUCKLE that’s carbon fiber, because a lot of them just refer to the actual strap, which is just silly.
Update: Check this one out. It definitely looks different from a regular belt, but it’s kind of nice in its own way.
Hi Eytan,
I always enjoy reading your site and thank you for your advice in the past. A while back I picked up the Ministry of Supply Aviators and have been pleased with them. I’m looking for another pair now that is a bit dressier, more office-type wear to pair with a blazer and be as indistinguishable from regular dress pants as possible, and am currently considering either the Rohan Envoy or the Outerboro Motile. Any recommendations there for which to go with? I’m particularly interested with the sizing for the Rohan waist: true-to-size or vanity? I’m pretty much a 37, so a vanity 36 would be perfect. Someone there told me they are true to size but I noticed you said that you’ve measured some of your Rohan pants and they tend to have an additional 1/2 to 1 inch in the waist, and I would trust you more than their reps. I’m also wondering if the Motile pants in grey are really a true mid-grey as they appear on the site (rather than having being more charcoal and having a bit of a green tint like the MoS Aviators) I’ve looked at the Outlier New OGs but unfortunately my size is out of stock. Thanks so much!
From the description, the Outerboro Motile should look and feel very similar to the Aviators or the Outlier OGs, as they’re all 4-way stretch, purely synthetic fabrics. I would expect they’d look and feel quite similar, so I’m not sure if buying a new one in addition to the Aviators would make that much of a difference, aside from finding a color you think looks nicer. I think if you want something dressy, a heathered charcoal is a good way to go, which either means Bluffworks, or the Rohan Envoy, as far as I know. And I think the Rohan guys are probably giving info accurate to their UK homeland, where sizes don’t take into consideration American waistbands. Pretty much all the pants I have are a 32, but for the Rohans I could have gotten a 34 and it would have been the same. I say go bigger.
Great advice as usual! Thanks)
Hello! Thank you for this article, and all of them. I am interested in more of the “travel Blazers”. It looks as if the Outlier version has been discontinued which as far as I can tell only leaves the Rohan. Is that correct? Do you have any other ideas?
I am getting to a point in my career where I am going to need to start bringing a jacket with me all the time and I would like to have something practical.
Any help is much appreciated!
Ministry of Supply has one called the Aviator 2, and it has matching pants. Outerboro has the Motile Breeze jacket and pants, although they have those patch pockets that look a little unusual. I’m actually pretty surprised that there aren’t too many options out there, although Travelsmith might have some. They tend to cater to an older market, but when it comes to blazers, there isn’t so much style variation.
Thank you! I found an affordable on through Travelsmith. I appreciate the help.
I was super keen to try on the Rohan Envoy, and their linen Maroc jacket.
To my huge disappointment, they fit great at the collar, and were a box from the shoulders down. Absolutely no tailoring at all: straight down.
I’m a “padded athletic” build — 40″ chest, 33″ waist, 17″ neck, 5’11” tall — and it’s rare to find travel/adventure garments with such an unsuitable fit.
The arm holes were also way too generous. Rather than hoping that my tailor could rebuild 80% of the jacket, I put them back on the rack. Shame!
Yes! Finally people recognizing the absence of good travel suits/blazers! I know that Ministry of Supply has tried to do this, but have you looked at the Aviator 2? It’s not a suit jacket, it’s a pajama top. I need something that light, flexible, durable, but that’s also tailored and well constructed. I wear a suit to work nearly every day, and many of my days are spent in war-torn African countries. I need practical clothing that’s breathable, non-iron (and in which I could ideally run quickly in if stuff goes down) but I also need to be able look respectable in meetings. All of the above travel blazer options look cheap and ill-fitting, they’re not serious office suits (except maybe in Silicon Valley). And I’ve tried Travelsmith, but they don’t make slim-fitting suits.
I think the solution is to complain as loudly as possible. I really have no idea why so few people have done it, or if they do, they tend to look more casual, with fabric that looks more like cotton than wool, or more casual style, and so on. The way I look at it, if I have to wear a suit, it’s because I have to look a certain way, and it can’t look any other way than what a suit is supposed to look like. In other words, “almost” doesn’t work.
Eytan, Great article. Was curious to know if you have come across any additional manufacturers that you recommend since writing this. Or should I just stick with the ones youve already mentioned.
Some of the well-known outdoorsy brands can be good, such as Prana, especially, but also Toad&Co, Kuhl, Royal Robbins, and others, such as Betabrand, Nau, Aether, Isaora, Oliver’s Apparel, DU/ER, Triple Aught Design…hopefully that’ll keep you busy for a bit.
For those wondering about options for women: I’ve been doing my best to keep an eye on developments in women’s stylish techwear and there’s been good news and bad news over the past year or so. There’s been some backsliding, unfortunately, as a handful of companies disappeared (Proof NY) and others terminated their women’s lines (Outlier, Makers and Riders). Pivotte and The Willary seem to be here for good and are probably your best bets for women’s technical clothes at the moment. Anatomie, Linge 8, Dish and DU/ER, and Alchemy Equipment also have decent selections of women’s options.
Thanks for the tips. People ask me to cover women’s gear, but I’ll just never reach the same level of expertise, so I have to outsource the recommendations to the ladies.