Part 1: What to Pack
Everyday clothes: You will be wearing a lot of casual clothes. Most people wear jeans or casual dresses/skirts and a top.- Tops
- Shirts: Bring everything that doesn't wrinkle- unless you're planning on getting clothes dry cleaned it can be a pain to hand wash and hang dry and then iron your clothes (see below for washing)
- Storage: fold these and stack in drawers, for button ups or silk tops, hang in closet
- Sweaters: For sweaters, make sure all of these are pre-dry cleaned or else any bits and pieces of food/bacteria/dead skin cells will attract moths and they will make holes your favorite fuzzy Free People cashmere sweater. Also, you should not-- actually cannot-- machine wash/dry wool (and cashmere)- I repeat you cannot machine wash/dry wool!
- Storage: Fold these in bins that can go above closet for easy access and easy storage when the weather warms up
- Bottoms
- Pants/shorts: Bring all of your jeans and shorts/pants- these are easy to wash and wear. Make sure to bring a variety of cuts, especially skinny jeans that tuck into boots for the winter. Other popular styles are cropped/ankle and bootcut.
- Storage: fold and stack in drawers
- Skirts: Cotton skirts are great for summer and are usually pretty easy to machine wash and then hang dry (I really would recommend bringing a clothes drying rack to school), for other crepe-like material, follow my washing guide below
- Storage: either fold in half and stack in a drawer or hang with skirt hangers in closet
- Dresses: (storage: hang these)
- Cotton dresses are easiest as you can cold wash them then hang dry them (do not tumble dry them or they will shrink)
- Solid colors are great for mixing with scarves
- Gym (storage: store clothes one or two "gym" drawers)
- Leggings: bring lots of running pants/leggings for working out or lounging around
- Tees: remember you'll get or want to purchase a lot of tee shirts from your college, so don't bring a ton- just your favorite 5 or 6
- Sweatshirts: 2 or 3, you'll probably get some on campus (a Black North Face is always a good decision)
- Outerwear (storage: hang these)
- 1 or 2 snow coats
- 1 raincoat
- 2 or 3 pea coats/jackets to go over sweaters
- Accessories
- Scarves (storage: store in a drawer)
- Bring a few neutral winter scarves and a few fun spring scarves if you want. You probably won't wear these as much as you think! Remember they take up valuable storage space!
- Bags
- Bring 1 cross-body purse in a neutral color (tan? black?)
- Bring 1 bigger purse that isn't your school bag
- Bring 1 school bag/backpack/messenger bag that fits books and laptops comfortably
- Bring 1
- Jewelry (storage: I don't recommend a pretty display unit. While I've never had a problem with anyone taking anything, it is best not to place jewelry, especially if it is valuable, out in the open. I used some great stackable jewelry containers from the container store and put these away. That being said, don't take your most expensive jewelry to college)
- Necklaces/bracelets
- Bring a variety in different metals
- Earrings
- Studs: bring lots of these! You'll probably wear them every day.
- Long earrings: bring 2 or 3 pair maximum. You'll probably only wear these to formal
- Shoes
- Athletic: 1 pair
- 1 or 2 pair ballet flat
- 1 or 2 pair riding boots
- 1 pair rain boots
- 1 pair snow boots
- 2 or 3 pair of sandals/flip flops including 1 pair for showering
- 1 pair wedges
- 1 pair heels (black or nude)
- Pajamas/Undergarments
- PJs: 1 pair with shorts, 2 pairs with pants should be all you need
- Socks: have enough for 2 weeks
- Underwear: my rule of thumb here is you want enough underwear to last you 2.5-3 weeks without washing, you decide how many pairs that is for you
- Bras: have enough for about 2 weeks
- Tights/leggings: enough for 1 week
- Also bring 1 swimsuit (or more if you're going to school near the beach)
- Casual parties
- Theme clothes
- Bring everything from tutus to tiaras to crazy patterned leggings to leotards to anything glittery. Some common party themes are American, beach party and decades (i.e. 70s, 80s, 90s)
- Shoes
- Bring one pair of shoes you're okay with absolutely ruining and can wear out to parties. They should be closed toed so if people step on your feet while dancing, it doesn't hurt.
- Formals: usually campus organizations (clubs, Greek houses, etc) have 1 or 2 formal parties per year where you're asked to wear cocktail atire. Remember that you can re-wear these dresses and accessorize differently. You won't be wearing these dresses often, so try not to overpack.
- 2 formal dresses maximum (1 should be black)
- 1 pair of comfortable heels- you'll be walking/dancing in them and you really won't want to go barefoot (ew)
Part 2: How to Keep it All Clean
- When to Wash
- Keeping up with college laundry can be a pain. I recommend focusing on 1 type of washing per week- either machine wash or hand wash (so say Week 1, do machine wash, Week 2, do hand wash)
- Machine Wash
- Directions for Detergent Only Items (basics): Just use any normal detergent (i.e. Tide) and put on "bright colors"
- Jeans/pants/shorts
- Cotton tops (although if you tumble dry these can shrink, so you might want to hang them)
- PJs
- Bras (you can put these in a delicates bag and throw them in here if you don't want to hand wash them. They're more likely to get damaged this way though)
- Wash on "whitest whites" with normal detergent to kill germs and keep from smelling funny
- Towels
- Sheets
- Directions for Bleach Washing (kills germs, keeps items white) Let water run for a minute, then open lid and a capful of bleach (preferably the color safe kind) and run on whitest whites
- Underwear/whites/socks (use bleach to kill germs and make things look fresh and clean)
- Hand Wash
- Directions: Using a delicate detergent (i.e. Woolite) fill a tub with lukewarm water and a capful of soap. Soak clothes in the water for 2-3 minutes and then plunge them in and out of the water (don't rub the fabric together as more delicate materials might rip/run) and drain soapy water. Then wash with cool water until all soap comes off. Gently wring the water out by squeezing the garment (don't twist) and hang on a clothes drying rack. After allowing them to dry overnight, iron them.
- Silk/polyester/crepe anything
- Any kind of dresses (except formal)
- Sweaters (wool especially)
- Most skirts
- Dry Cleaning (don't mess with these items!)
- Formal dresses
- Scarves
- Jackets/outerwear
Now that you're clothes are packed and clean, have fun!
xoxo