The Surprising Style Staple I Wore My Entire Vacation

For me, most vacations unfold as follows: make a concerted effort to only pack what I need, still slightly overpack, arrive at my destination, wear a select few pieces the entire time while leaving the remainder of my wardrobe untouched, return home vowing to never make the same mistake again. Well, friends, it grieves me to report that despite the drastic shifts and changes in the travel industry over the last year, I remain unwavering in my lack of ability to plan out vacation outfits — that is, until recently I found the singular perfect item for travel: white linen trousers.

I recently embarked on a vacation to Puglia in the southern peninsula of Italy (vaccinated and masked to boot). Shocking to no one, I packed a handful of items I never ended up wearing (you had so much potential, leather flatform sandals!). I reached for a few staples throughout the trip like a floral, flowy dress, and gauzy swim cover up, as one might expect. However, to my surprise, my one pair of floaty linen pants became the MVP of my entire vacation — and I never saw it coming.

The pants in question are a pair from Billy Reid. They're cut in a mid-rise slouchy fit with a straight leg and cropped silhouette. In other words, they're stylish, breathable, and go with a lot of stuff in my wardrobe. I should've expected that I'd be wearing them as often as I did and now that I'm aware of their out-of-office potential, they'll be accompanying me everywhere I go for the rest of the summer.

If you've booked your first post-vaccination vacation and are headed somewhere warm, take a gander at a few of my most comfortable white linen trouser outfits to keep your suitcase light and style strong.

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Evening Whites

The easiest way to feel polished on a vacation, even if your hair is salty and you’re rocking an accidental sunburn, is to wear white-on-white. For the last dinner of my trip, I headed to a slightly fancier locale and thus paired a lace-front blouse with my white trousers. On the accessory side, I tied a brightly-colored scarf in my hair, slipped into lace-up sandals, and grabbed a straw handbag.

Makeshift Crop

I’m a big fan of tying or knotting my tops a certain way to make them feel unique to me. This lace blouse is actually on the boxier side, but for a day by the sea, I tied up the two ends so it looked like a crop top and completed the look with my trousers, sandals, and a pair of tortoise-shell sunglasses.

Post-Swim

Much of my trip was spent finding a swimming spot on the side of the road and taking a spontaneous dip. As idyllic as this was, it made planning pre-and-post swimming outfits slightly tricky. The solution? You betcha — white linen trousers. The breathable fabric made it comfortable for layering over my one-piece swimsuit and the end result looked intentional, not haphazard.