Ladies - do you ever repeat a dinner outfit?

[newbie280106]

Is it at all common for people to wear an outfit more than once? I'm trying to follow the "pack half of your pile" rule but don't see how this is possible if I bring 7 different dinner outfits (in addition to all my day wear).

Any thoughts?

[kitty9]

It's called mix and match. You can find a simple black dress, and change the look to go either formal or semi-formal by just changing accessories. You can bring one pair of black or white slacks, and then pair those up with different tops and no one will know you're wearing the same slacks. I've never brought 7 different outfits for a 7 night cruise. I also get by with two pairs of shorts/capri pants and a couple of tops for the day. I mostly wear a bathing suit and coverup during the day. Daywear is the place to underpack. I would much rather look great at night.

[Baxter]

For me, it depends on the dining arrangements. When we did "anytime dining" on Princess, I had no problem repeating outfits for dinner because we never ate with the same people (or waitstaff) twice. When we do traditional dining, I'm definitely take more outfits.

[celbercrz333]

I would think that if you wore the same outfit on night 1 and night 7 that no one would notice. You might be able to wear an outfit on night 2 and night 6. Mix and match of course works too. I think as long as the outfit looks reasonably "fresh" and not wrinkled and worn out, you can get away with wearing it again. Downy wrinkle release comes in handy for those times when your clothes need a little sprucing up.

[LandLockedInAZ]

On our recent cruise, I took a simple white skirt for casual nights and wore it at least 3 times with different colored tops. I also wore a tropical-print sundress twice. I'm sure it would have been recognized by our table-mates, but the first time I wore it, we chose the casual buffet for that evening, so when I went to the dining room in it later in the cruise, they'd never seen it before.

[raytownlady]

I will not wear the exact outfit to dinner more than once I will mix and match separates to create a new look.

[amapola]

I'm horrible... I pack complete daytime and nighttime outfits for each day, plus bathing suits, a couple of coverups, and a few extras just in case :eek: . I love the idea of mix and match, but most of my clothes are dresses or skirt/blouse outfits, so it doesn't work for me. I don't repeat work clothes for a month or more, either. I have no idea if other people notice what I wear or not, and I don't care whether they do. I do it for me :D .

[chris2597]

I will be using the same pair of black formal pants at both formal night dinnners....but with a totally different look on top. I live the pants....they are lined with a silky material and have an overlay of very sheer black material...They were a very lucky find. They go with so much.

[jayzee]

Amapola - A month without repeating? That is great! You are my hero! I am for two weeks of not repeating at work. My problem is that I have a few outfits that are my favorites, so I have to really try hard not to wear them all the time!

 

As for cruising - I overpack. I agree with not overpacking, Believe in actually, I just can't follow through! I usually pack 7 different outfits for dinner - or close to it. I think I always reuse my black slacks as they don't wrinkle much and stay fresh looking, plus everything I own probably matches black slacks! During the day is where I think I can definitely see paring down a bit. You are in swimsuit on the ship and on shore excursions you can wear the same thing as your going to a different port every time! Actually, in the past I have brought more shorts than I can wear so this time I am only bringing two pair and if I have to re-wear them, big deal. I'll only be in them a few hours during the day anyway and I can have them cleaned if I want!

 

Packing is fun and this time I VOW to pack less! as my children are staying home, maybe I will pack so light my husband and I have to stay in bed all day hmm, it's a thought!;)

[Jane110]

I never repeat a top but I will wear some basic pants a few times. Generally, I don't wear too many skirts and the ones I do have are not very plain or basic, so I wouldn't do a repeat wearing of a skirt. I do repeat shoes, in fact, I try to pack shoes that I'll wear many times.

 

Jane

[amapola]

Amapola - A month without repeating? That is great! You are my hero!

 

LOL!! My hero is a woman I used to work with who could go at least 4 months without repeating. We live in a one-season climate, and she always wore classic styles.

 

As for cruising - I overpack. I agree with not overpacking, Believe in actually, I just can't follow through!

 

Exactly! It's something I strive for, but can't seem to achieve :rolleyes:

 

I do repeat shoes, in fact, I try to pack shoes that I'll wear many times.

 

I'm with you there. I make sure all my outfits go with black shoes, so I take one pair dress-up sandals for formal nights, one pair sandals for all other nights, a couple pairs casual sandals or walking shoes for daytime, plus a pair of sneakers for exercising. One evening purse, one casual bag for shore, and I'm done. Now, my makeup bag... let's not go there LOL

[momofmeg]

I have done this on a 7 day cruise- when flying to keep down the amount of suitcases-I don't if we drive to the cruiseport though. What I do is wear a pantsuit early in the cruise on casual night and then I will repeat it- but I want at least 2 dinners in between.

 

I have also brought a black formal skirt and two differant sparkly formal blouses or tops to wear with it-that way the outfit looks differant for each formal night and I only have to bring one dress purse and one pair of dress shoes.

 

When I first began cruising I brought things like heavily sequiened formal gowns that weighed a TON and took up a ton of room in the suitcase-but then I found a basic black formal skirt made in an organza like material-that and two tops are much less heavy and take up much lesss room then just one formal heavily sequiened gown. Ths skirt is in a style that is not faddish so I can use it over and over but I do buy lots of differant tops for each cruise.

 

I have read many posts that say they bring nice dress black slacks and then differant formal and casual tops. One lady told me she wore the same pair of blacks slacks 4 times on one cruise.

[Happy ks]

Absolutely! We'll wear the same outfit on the first and last nights, using the laundry/dry cleaning service. I'll wear the same pair of black pants 2 - 3 times with different tops. I'd probably not wear the same formal dress twice, unless it was black and could look totally different with other accessories. The great part about mixing and matching is the fact that you can pack less shoes.

 

Daytime wear, the same thing, disembark in the same clothes you embarked in. The same shorts can be worn twice with different tops. I draw the line with bathing suits, I cannot stand to put on a wet suit, or one that hasn't been washed (eww!), I don't make a habit of doing laundry myself on a vacation if I can help it, plus I like having several bathing suits along. I like to take an older one along that I don't mind fading from the hot tub/pool chlorine. Thank goodness they pack down to nothing!

 

I've learned to leave the cute daytime sandals at home, bring the comfortable ones and one pair of pool shoes.

[Cam6959]

I am going on a two week cruise and only have 2 formal wears so i am wearing one the first and last formal night and the other one the middle formal night. Yikes! I am starting to feel like I am underpacking! :eek:

[momofmeg]

I am going on a two week cruise and only have 2 formal wears so i am wearing one the first and last formal night and the other one the middle formal night. Yikes! I am starting to feel like I am underpacking! :eek:

 

You sound okay to me-I remeber one of my cruises I had a tablemate who wore the same semi formal black dress both formal nights that week-I noticed but we always sat next to each other-she simply changed the jewelry and I thought she looked very beautiful. she was aalso doing back to back cruises and she told me she planned to wear that dress again the following week for formal nights. It was because of her that I bought that black formal skirt so I could cut down on my packing-I figured she was a very smart gal.

 

Now KS I usually bring two swimsuits which is enough for me. I do not swim that much anyway and I always rinse out my suit with believe it or not my shampoo and either hang it in the shower if I do not have a balcony room or out on the balcony-so I always have a clean suit-I do that also because clorine destroys swimsuits so I always want to rinse that out of my suits- I am more of a hot tub gal then a pool gal-not that I think salt water is good for suits either-not sure- but this only takes like 5 minutes and I do it while I am showering anyway- so no big deal at all. I always shower after swiming or the hot tub-we all know public areas are not that clean-I try not to dwell on that though-otherwise I would never do anything.

[ajpack]

I have a pair of black silk slacks that I wear with beaded tops on formal nights and then I wear them with less dressy tops ( like a silk jacket) on semi formal nights. I take one pair of dressy black sandals that go with eveything.

[Ehpride]

Nope...I like choices :)

[EmJakeBubbie]

I still remember a female employee who could go a whole work year w/o repeating! She told us that she had a huge walk in closet AND maintained an index card file for every single outfit, etc. She would write down the date and a short note to where she wore whatever. She was beautiful and always immaculately groomed. Quite the envy of the office, but we always thought she needed to find something other than herself on which to focus! I love mix 'n match; black slacks, black skirt, a few tops and I'm set to go. I still laugh when I think of the formals packed on those first early years, many moons ago:rolleyes:

[caviargal]

I pack a favorite pair of dressy black slacks and will wear them more than once with a different top.

 

I don't repeat dresses or skirts as mine are too distinctive.

[joelmarj]

Nope, can't do it. Can't be a repeat-wearer. Just not my style. Nothing wrong with those that do, and I'm sure no one really notices but it's my thing. Even at home I don't like to wear the same outfit too frequently to work or out on the weekends. If I go to a nice restaurant one weekend, and another the following, I won't wear any of the same outfit. Don't know where it comes from, but that's just me.

 

For a cruise I pack a separate dinner-wear outfit for each night. Then I throw in a few extras. Last cruise I even took 3 formals and decided last minute which to wear. My theory is if I'm bringing the suitcase anyway, I might as well fill it. On my last trip, I weighed my suitcase because we were flying international. I was over by 6 lbs, so instead of eliminating stuff, I just pulled out a second suitcase and filled that one with more stuff! :D (Boy, I love suitcases with wheels!)

[48is24is1]

No, I will not be repeating my dinner outfits. I've been planning my upcoming cruise for about a year and I have each outfit listed for day, evening, and formal....Now, I haven't decided how it is all going to fit into the suitcase but I'm sure I'll find a way!:)

[momofmeg]

This is an interesting thread. Last cruise I did not repeaat any outfits and brought two really formal gowns for formal night but as I said before I will do this when driving to the cruiseport-I won't do this when flying as I don't want to pay that fine for overweight luggage or be charged extra for that extra suitcase.

 

Fortunately my next cruise is only a 5 day and I am flying this time but I don't need as much-only one formal night and one informal night. I will take my little black dress for formal night and a very pretty almost formal looking skirt and poly-silk bouse for the informal night. both of these outfits are light weight and everything is poly organiza and taffeta and poly silk so no worry about wrinkles either.

 

Ladies there is another thing I will do to cut down on packing-I will wear a broomstick skirt with a casual top on casual night and the next day I will wear that top with a skort or capri. The top is still cean for the next day that way-I have tried changing into a skirt for dinner but that did not always work-if I had gotten pretty hot and sweaty on an excursion-then ofcourse I could not wear that top for dinner-but if I wear it to dinner first-well it works to repeat it that way.

 

One thing I have wondered about and maybe Esther can answer this-what will I do for a 2 week cruise? I imagine I will repeat outfits and have to use the cleaning service also to keep the packing down-any ideas on that ladies?

[anniecat]

on my first cruise I was amazed to see a very tall and very "big boned" woman wear a magnificent day-glow turquoise ball gown. She was amazing and very flamboyant for the first formal....but sadly comical the second, somethings just don't bear repeating........ie: just remember, if you re-wear, don't try to make a huge impression the first time you wear it. ;)

[jnc411]

It's called mix and match. You can find a simple black dress, and change the look to go either formal or semi-formal by just changing accessories. You can bring one pair of black or white slacks, and then pair those up with different tops and no one will know you're wearing the same slacks. I've never brought 7 different outfits for a 7 night cruise. I also get by with two pairs of shorts/capri pants and a couple of tops for the day. I mostly wear a bathing suit and coverup during the day. Daywear is the place to underpack. I would much rather look great at night.

 

That is how I pack too. An nice pair of black slacks will go with numerous tops, and same goes for capris and day slacks. On longer cruises , it is really easy to over pack. Also remember to cross pack your checked luggage , just in case one goes missing. We carry on the formal ware in a carry on bag and When we arrive on the ship, I set aside one outfit for DH and my self to fly home in, last time I made one trip to the laundry which really helped. I only take two pair of heels one black and one bone, they will go with anything. Sandals (tevas) and tennis shoes for day use, and couple swim suits and cover ups and you are good to go :) Oh don't forget the undies :)

Cori

[bleucats]

This is what I take on a 7 day cruise:

 

Black pants, black skirts, assorted tops, black dress shoes - that takes care of evening.

 

Two bathing suits, two cover ups, flip-flop type shoes, two black capris, two white capris, assorted tops, comfortable shoes for walking - that takes of daytime.

 

Depending on the itinerary, I might pack a sweater or windbreaker.

 

And here is the best part - for sleeping, I pack my oldest pj's or t shirts, wear them once or twice then just leave them in the cabin when the cruise is over. Same with undies. Same with flip-flops. Same with books and magazines.

 

Oh - and a bottle of scotch.