It is time to find out whether all my packing planning actually paid off.
After weeks of thinking, editing, and rearranging outfits in Indyx, I finally put my Japan capsule wardrobe to the test. Did I wear everything? Did I massively overpack? Did I end up wearing the same three outfits on repeat?
(And if you’d like the full Japan shopping guide, beauty finds, and all the places I loved, I’m putting together a dedicated Japan post for paid subscribers, so come and join us!)
I should probably start by saying that the trip didn’t begin exactly as planned. I landed in Japan with a lovely case of aerosinusitis, which sounds made up but is apparently what happens when you fly with a blocked nose, allergies, or a cold.
Special mention to the turmeric shots I brought from London (gifted), which ended up working overtime during those first few days. Between those and some excellent Japanese medicine, I eventually managed to shake off the worst of the cold and get on with the important business of shopping and eating.
Once I was sufficiently medicated, and could breathe through at least one nostril, I was determined not to waste a minute.
What I Actually Wore
Spoiler alert: I wore everything!
I know. I was just as shocked as you are.
Usually there is at least one item that spends the entire trip sitting at the bottom of the suitcase wondering why it came. But this time every piece earned its place, even if only for a few hours.
I think the reason it worked is that I packed outfits rather than individual pieces. Everything could be worn with at least two or three other things in my suitcase, which meant getting dressed was easy and I never felt like I had brought a “one outfit wonder” that only worked in very specific circumstances.
That said, some items definitely worked harder than others.
The real heroes of the trip were dresses, my silky green skirt, and comfortable shoes.
The dresses and skirt earned their place because they worked for almost everything. They were comfortable in the heat, easy to style, and could take me from a day of walking and shopping straight into dinner without much thought.
Special thanks to my old Sambas. Whenever I knew I would be walking 20,000 steps or spending an entire day shopping in Tokyo, they won every time.
That said, by around day four my feet had completely given up. I suspect I could have walked another five miles in a pair of pointy-toe Louboutins and they wouldn’t have noticed the difference.
My Repeat Outfit Formula
Looking back at my photos, I realised most of my favourite outfits followed a very similar formula:
A dress + an extra layer + comfortable shoes
A skirt + a simple top + a statement accessory
Relaxed shorts + tank top + colourful accessories
When it was hot and humid, dresses did most of the heavy lifting. They were comfortable, easy to wear, and required very little thought, which is exactly what I want from holiday dressing.
Some of my favourite combinations were:
My handmade dress + blue striped shirt tied around the waist + Sambas and white socks
Probably my most-worn formula of the trip. Comfortable enough for a full day of walking but still felt like me.
Terracotta Massimo Dutti dress + Desigual printed shirt + Zara western belt
An outfit I hadn’t planned at all but ended up loving.
Black linen dress + pink knit tied around the waist + pink Bottega bag
The pop of colour made the outfit feel much more interesting. The only downside was that the linen dress had a tendency to creep upwards while walking, which left me constantly worried that I was accidentally flashing Tokyo.
White Rixo dress (gifted) + checkered Vans
I absolutely love this dress, but there is one problem: it’s almost too pretty and prim. The checkered Vans that I bought in Osaka (£30!) balanced it out perfectly and made it feel much more like me. A good reminder that sometimes the most interesting outfits come from mixing something feminine with something a little unexpected. The dress also survived being bitten by a hungry deer in Nara, which is not a sentence I expected to write when I packed it.
The Surprise Hero
The biggest surprise of the trip was definitely the Bottega bag.
I wasn’t specifically planning on buying a designer bag, but I was very excited to explore Japan’s second-hand luxury market. The quality of the vintage and second-hand shopping there is incredible, and before the trip I had made a list of stores I wanted to visit. Some were familiar from my first visit to Tokyo, like Ragtag and 2nd Street, but thanks to Irene Kim (김애린) excellent shopping guide I also discovered Kindal.
I visited Kindal in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Kyoto, and it quickly became my favourite luxury second-hand store of the trip. The selection was incredible, the condition of the pieces was impeccable, and it was in the Shibuya store that I spotted the bag.
I recognised it immediately. It was the Bottega Veneta Padded Cassette in magenta pink, a bag I had always liked. When it first came out, I remember being particularly drawn to the brighter colours, especially because most luxury bags tend to play it very safe.
What surprised me was the price. The condition was excellent, and compared to what similar bags were selling for elsewhere, it felt like a genuinely good deal. My theory is that the colour helped. It’s a slightly unusual shade that perhaps doesn’t have the same broad appeal as black, beige, or other more classic colours.
Even so, I didn’t buy it immediately.
As much as I loved it, I questioned whether it would go with enough outfits, whether it was practical, whether I should be buying something more classic, whether I would regret it, and about a hundred other scenarios my brain helpfully produced.
You know, all the questions I am constantly telling you to ask yourself before making a big purchase.
The problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I kept comparing every other bag I saw to that one. Part of it was practical: it was a price I could comfortably afford, the condition was excellent, it was comfortable to wear, and I could already think of multiple outfits I wanted to wear it with.
But if I’m being honest, a big part of it was simply that I really liked it.
Sometimes we spend so much time trying to justify a purchase that we forget that genuinely loving something is a perfectly good reason too.
So I went back for it.
And the best thing about the purchase is that I started wearing it straight away. It appeared in outfit after outfit throughout the trip, adding colour, personality, and a little bit of fun to even the simplest looks.
No, it doesn’t go with everything. No, it’s probably not the world’s greatest investment bag.
But every time I look at it, it makes me happy, and that’s a much better reason to buy something than most of the ones we invent afterwards.
What I Wish I’d Packed
I don’t want to be that person, but honestly? Not much.
In fact, I am surprisingly content with what I packed.
Everything came with me for a reason and, perhaps more surprisingly, everything got worn. The pieces I bought during the trip also earned their place immediately. The vintage-looking David Bowie t-shirt, the Uniqlo shorts that became instantly useful in the heat, the checkered Vans, and of course the Bottega bag all went straight into rotation.
If anything, I don’t wish I’d packed more. I wish I’d had more time.
More time to wander around Tokyo. More time to get lost in Kyoto. More time to browse second-hand shops, discover tiny restaurants, and spend hours looking at beautiful things.
Japan is one of those places that leaves you feeling like you’ve barely scratched the surface, no matter how much you see.
And perhaps that’s the biggest packing lesson of all: I rarely need as much as I think I do. The right clothes, comfortable shoes, the right jewellery and a few pieces that genuinely feel like me are usually enough. The best outfits of the trip weren’t necessarily the most interesting ones. They were the ones I felt most myself wearing.
Because at the end of the day, the things I'll remember most aren't the outfits. They'll be the places, the food, the people I met, the little discoveries, and the feeling of wanting to book another trip before I'd even left.
Love,
Noelia x
Oh that bag it’s sooo lovely! I’m glad you got it. All the outfits were perfect for Japan too! What a great country
THE DRESS AND WESTERN BELT STOPPED MY SCROLL SO HARD. New personal record definitely set!!! You are fabulous.