What we each wear is extremely personal and can be to show off our personality or whatever reason it is you pick items out of your closet to wear. For me, it’s all about comfort and confidence. Sounds a bit boring doesn’t it? It doesn’t have to be. What I mean is that whatever I wear for travel, my main concern is being comfortable. Does that mean I’ll be wearing baggy sweats through the airport…never. But it does mean I am going to wear my favorite travel pants that I know that after 24 hours of traveling in, I’m still comfortable. For the confidence part, I feel good in what I’m wearing. I’m not having to constantly re-adjust an ill fitting top or one that’s too tight. I am confident that I look good (to me) in what I’m wearing which makes me have a positive outlook and walk with my head held high.
Being curvy or plus size and shopping online and even in stores can sometimes be frustrating. Seeing the “latest trends” doesn’t help either because I dress for my body shape, not what is supposed to be in fashion right now. I am sharing with you my FAVORITE clothing items that I use when I travel. I am usually behind the camera but if I can find a photo of me in it, I’ll put it below! I do not just find things off the internet, these are all used by me. Just like the photo above, that’s my hat, my glasses and my latest scarf that I love. I hope you’ll fall in love with these items as much as I have!
Favorite Travel Clothing for Women
Here we are in Addo Elephant National Park doing a self-drive Safari. There was a lookout where we were able to get out. I’m wearing my Athleta pants, Vionics sandals, stretch denim jacket and my scarf and Maui Jim sunglasses photographed at the top of the page.
I have a couple of favorite pant brands that I have several of their items and love the way they fit and feel. Tops are much easier to fit than bottoms are so I’m going to list for you my favorite must have pants for travel. There are two of them:
Athleta Pants
This is THE pant that I travel with 95% of the time. I’ve ordered them online and in store and the online selection in XL is much better than the stores have. Not all of their pants in XL fit me and I’m a size 18 but these do and I just love them.
Yogalicious Athletic Pants
Yoga, Athleisure, Workout pants, leggings, whatever you wan to call them, I love these! I will wear these for a long travel day if I am going to wear a long sweater or something that covers me up a bit more and my tennis shoes. I travel with these pants, especially when I plan on exercising during my trip. If I am going somewhere like Europe, I would opt for the Athleta pants as they look more classic but if I’m traveling from South Africa to California, then I would feel fine wearing something like these pants. Here is the link to the Yogalicious High Waist Ultra Soft Lightweight Leggings in Black XL.
Favorite Tops for Travel
For tops & blouses, those are so much easier to fit than bottoms and I don’t have that “one” item I always travel with except for my stretch denim jacket. There are definitely certain outfits that I wear or warm weather cold weather, etc but those I’ll list in the Packing Lists for each destination.
Favorite Stretch Denim Jacket
The stretch denim jean jacket you’ll see in MANY of my photos is called Buffalo by David Bitton in the size XL-I am size 16 on top. I love this jacket as it’s lightweight, very comfortable and goes with everything. Here is a link to that one, the wash is slightly lighter than what I have, mine is a few years old now: XL Denim Jacket. If you are looking for a stretch denim jacket in a larger size, Amazon has a bunch of cute ones both short and long and I’m definitely considering getting one of the longer styles next since I wear mine so much: Plus Size Stretch Denim Jackets.
Favorite Travel Shoes for Women for Warm Weather
I live in Vionics Sandals. Ever since I moved to Costa Rica and wore flip flops or sandals every single day, I had to change my footwear. The flat, cheap sandals didn’t cut it anymore because my arches were starting to hurt. On a trip to California I went to a foot doctor and found that I needed to get shoes with arch support for plantar fasciitis. I cringed when I saw the styles I was told I could wear until I found the Vionics brand of shoes. Now I wear them every single day from my sandals to my fuzzy slippers…they are about 80% of my shoe closet now. The only 
other shoes I own are some workout shoes, some casual slip-ons that I mostly use for travel and boots for the cold weather I now live in! Most other shoes with arch support like Crocs, Ecco and FitFlop I find too wide for my feet. If you have that issue too, get some from Vionics and try them on! Nordstrom always has a small selection (at least the one in Southern California) but I just order them online and then send back whatever doesn’t work…of course for me, they always work so I probably own too many!
Here is a selection of Vionics on Amazon and you can see the ones I own in the photo. I am a size 9 Medium.
Another shoe if I don’t want to wear flip flops/sandals types, are the slip-on shoe. This cute slip on is my new love for traveling in which makes it easy for the security checkpoint and keeps my feet warmer than the sandals I normally wear: Vionics Slip On. This also work for colder weather as you ca add a sock under there if you’re wearing full length pants.
Favorite Travel Shoes for Women for Cold Weather
I have two pair of shoes that I use for truly cold weather. One pair is a waterproof hiking boot and the other is a waterproof over the calf boot, both in black.
Favorite Travel Accessories for Women for Warm Weather
A good hat is essential. The last thing any of us want is skin cancer and wrinkles (or more of them)! I have enough sun damage from Costa Rica to last me a lifetime and that was mostly from when I was driving in the car. I would always put sunscreen on but my left side of my face/neck/chest got it the most so I’m very aware of protecting myself from the sun. Here are four of my hats that I use whenever traveling to a warm weather destination. The top two I tend to wear in cities more and the bottom two I tend to wear in the pool as they can get wet. The bottom two are more geared towards that and stand up to being wet and maintaining their shape. Far left photo: Top 2-neither of these were bought online. The closest I could find for you are these: Panama Hat, Straw Hat with Saying. Bottom 2 in that photo are Scala Brand & SeaFolly.
A Great Pair of Quality Sunglasses
If you’re like me, you used to buy the cutest sunglasses and have a bunch to choose from. I used to too but now I have one good, quality pair that protect me from the UV rays and are polarized. These are the glasses photographed at the top of the page and the ones with me wearing the baseball cap above. I love that they make everything clearer as well as protecting my eyes. I take good care of them and use them daily. Maui Jim is a great brand for sunglasses if you’re in the market for some good ones! Maui Jim Women’s Cloud Break Cat-Eye Sunglasses on Amazon.
Favorite Travel Accessories for Women for Cold Weather
Staying warm at the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden. Wearing my red cashmere scarf and SuperDry jacket.
When it comes to cold weather I love a bright colored cashmere scarf. I know that most of my items for cold weather are solid colors so a bright pop of red, pink or whatever you choose, helps bring an outfit to life and add color to my face. Most of my jackets are dark, dark green, black, etc so I like adding that pop of color. The red scarf I’m wearing is a cableknit cashmere scarf from Macy’s I got ages ago. Most of my cashmere items are from Macy’s sales after Christmas as they have amazing bargains! I’ve been out of the US for 10 years so this scarf must be at least 10 years old! Show your personality and wear a cute scarf and keep warm at the same time!
See our Blog Packing List Category for Packing Lists for warm weather, cold weather and destination specific.