Oh woe! Having to fit you’re entire year’s worth of clothes into one suitcase is not fun when you love your clothes! I considered packing almost nothing (as in just enough to get by for a week) and making a blog project of how to clothe yourself on next to nothing in Europe, but then decided that this defeated my purpose of not spending much money. If I ended up having to re-buy items I had left behind, that would be pointless. After giving the whole thing altogether more thought than was necessary (and then some) I picked up my trusted copy of Madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux’s A Guide to Elegance a book I believe no woman should be without:

For every woman who wants to be well and properly dressed on all occasions

Following her advice on the essentials for a basic wardrobe and tweaking it where necessary to work with a) what I actually owned and b) the kind of weather generally experienced in Germany I lay all of my possible clothing items out according to style along with my empty suitcase and began the process of elimination:

I have ended up with a basic wardrobe consisting of:

Cooler weather
1 full length black coat (essential for German weather)
1 ski jacket (may sound odd but in Switzerland everyone had one of these to throw on during winter so I expect Germany will be the same, particularly important as they are waterproof)
1 wool blazer
1 black wool pullover
5 long sleeve knitted tops with varying necklines (black cotton v-neck, black cotton cowl/turtle neck, burgundy wool v-neck, mustard wool boat-neck, pink cotton turtle-neck)
2 long-sleeved merino wool under-tops
1 pair of merino wool thermals
1 set of winter pyjamas
3 pairs of gloves (black, camel and pink)

Warmer weather
1 3/4 sleeve business shirt
1 short-sleeved black dress
1 crush-proof summer dress
1 short-sleeved cardigan in emerald
2 summer t-shirts
1 summer short-sleeved shirt
1 summer singlet
1 set of summer pyjamas
1 set of swimwear

Trans-seasonal
3 skirts (one in navy wool, one red high-waisted that goes with nearly everything and one black high-waisted that always goes with everything)
2 pairs of pants (one grey wool and one black)
2 pairs of jeans (I expect Madame Antoine Dariaux would not approve but they are an essential part of the modern girls wardrobe!)
1 long-sleeved business shirt
1 grey cotton cardigan
4 three-quarter sleeved knitted tops (black and white stripe and plain black in cotton, 2 shades of purple in wool)
1 brown knitted vest
1 black knitted sleeveless which doubles as a vest (multipurpose!)
1 short-sleeved brown dress (can be layered for winter)
1 black long-sleeved bolero
2 work dresses one 3/4 sleeve and one sleeveless (can both be layered for winter)
2 singlets (one brown, one black)
3 pashminas (black, pale pink and red – these are so versatile they are a shawl, a scarf and tuck neatly into a handbag or jacket pocket)
2 silk scarves
2 beret’s (one brown, one black)
2 pairs of knee-high socks (one brown, one black)
2 pairs of black bamboo tights
1 pair of black bamboo leggings
An assortment of opaque pantyhose in various colours and patterns along with a set of large fishnets as these weigh next to nothing and will mix and match to change the look of outfits.

Shoes
1 pair of brown knee-high boots
2 pairs of closed toe pumps (black and camel)
1 pair of pewter ballet flats
1 pair of black skate-shoes

Along with, of course, with enough appropriate lingerie and underwear.

Now that I’ve written it all down it seems like a lot! It all fit neatly into the suitcase though with room to spare. Any gaps will now have to be filled as ‘thriftily’ as possible! It will be interesting to see if I use everything I packed as much as I think I will while packing it… time will tell!

Au revoir!