Adventures in packing for England

I'm thinking about packing for England and I'm so excited! I leave really soon. And by really soon I mean in nearly 5 months. But a girl can never be too prepared, right?

I've been to England twice before - once for September - October 2006 and again for the whole of March 2010. My first trip was pretty cold. I wore jeans every day with a singlet or Tshirt and a jacket. If it was really cold, I wore a black parka. My shoes were either joggers or my converses. Upon going through my photos, I barely wore a beanie or scarf - though I definitely took a beautiful long black scarf with me.

October 2006, Hyde Park, London

In 2010 I learned what cold really was. Again, I wore jeans every day. On the coldest days, I even wore long johns underneath. I then wore a thermal underwear singlet with a long sleeve shirt over it. These were gorgeous ones I borrowed from my cousin that have thumb holes to keep you really warm all the way to your hands. I then wore a sloppy joe over that and a parka over that. To top it all off, I wore a scarf and beanie and snow boots or my Adidas sneakers. I seemed to have themed my whole suitcase to go with white. I had a white parka, white beanie and a white scarf. They came back really dirty & I regret that choice.

March 2010, Natural History Museum, London

So what have I learned? Well obviously, not to wear white again. It also won't be that cold this time as I will be arriving just in time for September so I'm happy with one beanie and scarf set. I think. I'm basing my suitcase on black this time. I didn't really co-ordinate my clothing for my first trip. Lesson learned. So I have picked out my basics.

• black parka
• black scarf
• black beanie
• black fingerless gloves
• black over knee socks
• black knee high socks
• black Edgar Allan Poe oversize hoodie
• three pairs of jeans

I have a reversible Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie - black on one side and black & purple thick stripes on the other. I'm wondering if I should take that?

And shoes? I don't have any knee high boots. Weird, I know. Should I get a pair? I thought I'd just take my black Converses, black zombie kicking boots and like... my white Adidas sneakers? And socks - I thought 3 x ankle socks, 3 x socks, 3 x knee high socks and a pair of over the knee socks. That's 10 pairs of socks. Then I was going to take two pairs of black stockings.

I was so excited when I figured out a way to wear my red tartan mini skirt! Over black stockings with a pair of black over the knee socks and my black Converses. I've got a variety of long sleeve tops that I plan to wear with various Tshirts over it. It seems really boring but it also seems easier for packing. I also have a black and grey jumper dress that I can wear with similar sock things to dress up for night time. Oh, night time. What do I wear out? A guy looks hot in a pair of jeans and a shirt but what does a female tourist wear out to dinner? I need high heels! What if I go on a date!? Oh God! *hyperventilates*

But then how many pairs of underwear and socks do I take? Do I take any sexy bras and panties or just the super comfy nice ones? Seriously... I am so stressed about what to wear now... Lucky I have... oh, look. 4 months, 19 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 11 seconds until I have to be on the plane. I should start packing now...

Miss SAMawdsley xx


Questions

• What are your rules for packing?
• Do you have any style tips for Winter dressing?