No, I promise this is not another entry about the stray cat. I’m talking about my fixation with the other Coco, the one who’s long gone but lives on through Karl Lagerfeld. When (little) Larkie met Coco through the editorial pages of Vogue about twenty-five years ago, I knew one day my closet would be peppered with Chanel goodies. I just never knew it would become a full-blown drug addiction. But hey, it’s still better than meth or vodka, right? Anyway, I will bring a little bit of Coco with me on this trip.

Though to tell the truth, my head is not quite in the packing yet because i haven’t figured out which bags will travel with me this time, and usually all of my packing revolves around the bags as they set the color scheme for the traveling wardrobe. I know, it’s a nutty way to pack but I also cannot eat bumpy food (like octopus tentacles…gross)–but that’s just how it goes in my head.

Anyway, then I build on top of the color depending on the activities and climate of the destinations. Finally I throw in some great pieces for the photo shots I already have in my mind’s eye for the cities I will visit. Of course, these photo ops don’t always work out because things generally unfold differently on the road (like inclement weather or lost luggage), and I’ve learned, the hard way, that control freaks are no fun to take around the world, so I leave that inner freak at home and just hope that I get some good photos regardless of what goes wrong. And honestly, after a few weeks of living out of suitcases, it’s really hard to break out of the jeans and tshirt mode…you just want fashion to take a vacation.

So far, I’m thinking I’d like to pack a few of the Cruise and Spring cardigans shown here to throw over nautical shirts. Or maybe add these funky McQueen racer-back tanks that might be fun without the sweaters when it’s really warm…

…and speaking of warm, these Tory Burch, Sonia and Chanel tanks are good staples in my suitcase:

So far that’s all I’ve pulled for now, which I hope won’t be all because I’ve got no bottoms…yet. But I do know I’d like to use that gray Panama fedora hat in the first pic, which may hint at which color bag I have in mind…but it’s not really matching the red cardigan with navy trims, which I’d really like to wear on this trip. So I guess that means yet another hat. Grrr.

I’m also packing this Eugenia Kim for Target straw cloche. I think it’s only like ten bucks so if I accidentally lose it I can replace it when I get home without crying. I’ve lost a couple of Prada cardigans on the last few trips and those were not as easy to replace!

So without giving away too much about where I’m headed, as you can see I’m anticipating meeting some cool weather even though I hinted a few days ago that there will be lots of sun as well. It’s no wonder I can’t seem to wrap my brain around the wardrobe yet. I feel schizo, and until I can nail down the bags, the only sure thing I have in my suitcase right now is my toothbrush.

Here’s hoping in the next entry I’ll have more clarity :-D. Happy Independence Day everyone!