Fashion Friday :: Resort Wear

[trip style = all-inclusive/resort]

{Editor's Note: As All-inclusive Month draws to a close with Fashion Friday, we're ending on an haute note with what to wear as you sip icy umbrella drinks under a banyan tree.}

"Going on holiday doesn’t mean taking a vacation from stylishly living it up." - Rachel Zoe

Do you ever get the feeling you're walking in circles? Especially when you're travelling? During my first trip to New York, I was exploring Nolita and SoHo and I kept passing a chichi resort wear shop called Calypso. I wasn't lost - it just turns out there are five Calypso boutiques in Lower Manhattan alone. (Which reminds me of a scene in the classic 80s movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun when Helen Hunt distracts a nun by belting out "Day-o" so Sarah Jessica Parker can skip out of choir class, to which the nun says "Miss Stone, there is a time and a place for calypso music.") But I digress...

Resort wear was traditionally getaway garb for the wealthy winter in St.-Barts crowd, but it's about more than Calypso and caftans - it's evolving into ready to wear. Resort collections hit the runway in May and June. If you could score an invitation to any fashion show, I'd recommend Chanel resort: over the past few years, Karl Lagerfeld has held his all-expenses-paid shows in South Beach, Venice and Saint-Tropez. Oui, merci!

Now what to wear? (clockwise from top left) Matthew Williamson printed silk-chiffon kaftan, House of Harlow 1960 carey sunglasses, DVF jama shorts, Topshop yellow sunspot print shorts, Calypso Enshallah tuby bag, House of Harlow 1960 chelsea sunglasses, DVF maryelle bikini, Marni rope and chain necklace, Aritzia Talula exeter blazer, Enzo Anglioni darwyn espadrille booties, Marc by Marc Jacobs wedge espadrille sandals, Aritzia T.Babaton bette tank, Forever 21 layered wood beaded necklace, Tory Burch vivian rattan clutch, Topshop crochet kimono sleeve dress

Trip Styler Tip: Leave your stress and basic black at home - break out the brights! If hot pink and lemon yellow make you feel like an extra in a Katy Perry video, opt for white, nude or prints instead. And remember - a sarong can be your best friend on holiday! A final note for the fellas: skip the Hawaiian shirts and go for solid colours in breathable fabrics from surf shops or staple stores like J.Crew and Banana Republic. Linen is also appropriate, but only when you can get your hands on an iron.

Related All-inclusive Month :: Introductions All-Inclusive Month :: Matchmaking All-Inclusive Month :: Packaged VS Unpackaged All-Inclusive Month :: Tricks of the Trade Don’t Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3

{Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month and written by fashion blogger Heather.}

[Runway photos via Style.com]

Travel Trends :: Retro Travel

Recently, I've seen a lot of attention paid to retro travel. I'm not sure if it's always a hot topic, or just top-of-mind as people long for the Coffee, Tea or Me? era. Nowadays, if you pine for all things retro travel {sans the in-flight smoking}, you have to book a first-class ticket on Singapore Air to get the gist of flying's yesteryear allure.

This past weekend on a rainy morning in Scottsdale {more on this next week}, I pulled February's Travel + Leisure out of my hotel room's magazine pile. Bonus! The perfect read to go along with my just-brewed Nespresso coffee. One of my favourite articles in the magazine was Last Days of the Stewardess because it was a gripping tale of flight attendant history, and I'm overly fascinated with all things retro travel, including tiki everything. Below are some fun facts about retro travel based on what I learned in the article...

Fun Retro Travel Facts {via T+L} 1930s Sky Girls, some of whom were initially registered nurses, dressed in clinical whites or military uniforms. They served meals, soothed nerves, pointed out highlights below, bolted seats to the floor and occasionally refueled the plane.

1940s Stewardess charm farms created a fleet of ladies with matching hairstyles and teeth ground into even smiles. And just like in Hollywood, there were height and weight requirements for the role. There was also a mandatory retirement by the age of 32. Ah!

Little Black Books Eastern Airlines provided men with little black books to collect stewardesses' phone numbers.

Designer Designed In 1965, Braniff Airlines' new uniforms were designed by Emilio Pucci. Now, uniforms look like they sound, bland. With the onset of celebrity chefs and celebrity everything, couldn't an airline partner with Heidi Klum's Project Runway to get stylish new uniforms? Turns out it's already been done by Project Runway Australia for Virgin Blue!

1980s After years of lawsuits, flight attendants won the right to gain a few pounds, let their hair go grey, get pregnant and be men.

2011 Aside from the still semi-glam Virgin, Emirates and some Asian airlines, the price of travel and cost of doing business in that sector has "forced flight attendants to get you from A to B safely and at the cheapest cost possible to you and the company," according to an open letter to the flying public written by a flight attendant.

Is Retro Travel Coming Back? I wish, but it's likely the majority won't pay the associated price tag, and those who do fly private jets or retreat to lounges prior to dashing into their first-class skybeds. Given that North American aviation has become very public transporty, complete with online ticket purchasing, computer check-ins and in-flight meal ordering via your personal console, I think people may start springing for mid-range niceties like upscale economy. For shorter flights, I bet most people will stick with bottled water and Starbucks lunch pack they buy before the flight.

I wish time travel was a trip style. I'd love to be beamed to 1960 and take a Braniff or Pan Am flight and experience the difference between then and now. As someone who mostly flies coach, I think I may want to stay in the 60s, but only if I could bring my husband, family, friends, pup, computer, iPhone and the Internet.

[photos via multiple web-based sources]

Travel Beauty :: 3Floz

For this month's travel beauty fix, we're excited to interview a gal who knows what she's talking about when it comes to travel beauty. After constantly globetrotting for work, Alexi Mintz wondered why it was so hard to find carry-on size versions of her go-to beauty products. Turns out, the answer to this question lead to the co-creation of 3floz, a website dedicated to top travel beauty brands all 3floz or less---compact enough for a weekend trip style or an epic adventure! Alexi dishes on 3floz, her favorite trip styles and go-to travel beauty products.

1. How did you come up with the idea for 3floz.com and how does it work? Co-founder Kate Duff and I traveled together all the time when we worked at Archipelago Botanicals. She always checked huge suitcases filled with full-sized beauty products, and I just carried on and skipped bringing travel-sized products because I could never find my favorite brands. We realized that our bad packing habits were the result of a void in the marketplace. We need one convenient location to get all of our favorite brands in travel sizes, so we created the online store 3floz.com. We ship from our offices in NYC. *3floz has been mentioned in a host of news outlets and mags from BBC Travel to In Style, and we're proud to have featured the company back in August as part of Travel Beauty Month.

2. What are your favorite trip styles (beach vacations, adventure travel, etc...) and why? I like to alternate between adventure trips and beach trips. If I only have 4 or 5 days for a vacation, I look for a spot that is a 3-4 hour flight from NYC so I don't waste a whole day traveling. It is hard to see a destination in 4 or 5 days, so I usually chose a beach vacation for shorter trips. For a longer 7+ day vacation, I usually opt for an adventure trip. I can spend a day traveling and not feel like it is cutting into my trip. I love exploring new places and I don't want to feel rushed. Recently I spent 14 days in Vietnam, moving around each few days to a different spot. The vacation was the perfect hybrid between adventure (I went on a jungle hike!) and beach.

3. What are your go-to travel beauty products and why? Cucumber Towelettes are in every travel bag I own! The wipes are my favorite multi-use towelette: face cleanser, make-up remover, and sweat remover (for my jungle hikes). In Vietnam they even came into the bathroom with me (they aren't big on TP in Vietnam). Another travel beauty must is First Aid Beauty 5-in-1 lotion w/spf 30. Less is better when I travel. This product covers all my moisturizing needs, and has SPF 30 so I don't have to think about an additional sunscreen.

4. Do you ship to Canada? Yes we ship to Canada for $18.99. {Trip Styler Tip: Order a bunch of products at once to test what you like best. Take advantage of shipping once versus multiple times!}

PS - Stay tuned for a fabulous 3floz.com giveaway! Details coming soon!

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert is already whipping up her next concoctionpost!}

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Travel Apps :: Metr0

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If your next trip style happens to be urban, you'll love this app.

In some destinations, using public transit is a simple, efficient and cost effective way to roam from neighborhood to neighborhood. And in cities like London, Paris and Hong Kong, public transit systems are an integral part of the city's heart, pumping passengers from one valve to the next.

MetrO, a worldwide public transport app, helps you navigate tubes, subways, metros, buses, trams, railways and sky trains in more than 400 cities. The best part about this app, aside from its stellar usability, is it's not dependant on a wireless connection. Before you get to your destination, just click on the city you're visiting to download their system to your smartphone.

I just downloaded Vancouver's to see if this app is all it's cracked up to be, and was really impressed by its simplicity and step by step directions/instructions for the routes I tested---some basic and some complicated.

Details

• Free
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad, and Blackberry
• Android is on the company's radar

PS - I used the trusty TomTom app {wrote about it Jan. 18th} this weekend to navigate Scottsdale's roads. Though I've used it before, I was reminded of what a great little investment "Tom" really is. When it gives directions, I can't express HOW helpful it is to be reminded multiple times prior to an upcoming turn, including a reminder RIGHT before your turn, just in case you're confused...

Other Travel Apps Don’t forget to peruse the other 60+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Google Translate
• Instagram
• Airbnb
• Book Crazy
• TomTom

From the Archives :: All-Inclusive Tricks of the Trade

[trip style = all-inclusive] {Note, this was originally published February 3rd, 2010 and has been reposted with enhancements as part of All-Inclusive Month.}

Here's some insider knowledge for next time you entertain the thought of an all-inclusive trip style...

Booking your Trip Booking Options

• Resort direct.  If you have a preferred all-inclusive, get on their newsletter list, friend them on facebook and follow them on twitter. This way, you’ll be the first to know about insider-only deals.
• Resellers.  Here are a few of my faves:
  • Canada – itravel2000.com, aircanadavacations.com
  • USA – applevacations.com, resortvacationstogo.com

While There

• Most all-inclusives have tiled floors. If you're on a low floor it can be loud above. As such, I always ask for a room away from the elevator on the top floor.
• Most resorts outsource the airport transfer, therefore, even if you're staying at a super all-inclusive that doesn't allow tipping, make sure you have a few extra dollars for tipping the driver to and from the airport.
• If there's a Teppanyaki restaurant, go there the first night. It's a great way to meet people so there's a few familiar faces at the resort for your week.
• Once you get to the resort, I know your first priority will be to hit the beach, but after the sun goes down {or the next morning} do a self-guided tour of the resort to get a lay of the land. It's the worst when you discover a great beach area or restaurant on the last day!
• If you're there with your family or a group and want to stay in touch, bring walkie-talkies.
• Unlimited bevs + baking in the Caribbean sun can be a lethal combination. Pace yourself.
• If you go in high season and want a premium spot on the beach or at the pool, you may have to get up early to reserve your preferred spot. This is not true for every resort, and depending on your room category, a butler may do this for you. Last year, I stayed at the Sandals Whitehouse and always got an excellent spot on the beach between 10 – 11am. This depends on occupancy, time of year and beach chair to guest ratio.
• Bring an insulated travel mug to minimize trips to the nearest watering hole and to keep your drink cool.
• Pack a collapsable beach bag. When you’re catchin’ rays away from your room for the better part of the day, you’ll want a place to put items like sunscreen, camera, room key, water bottle, books, mags, iPod, beach cover-up, etc…
• Don’t come back with bites all over your legs {don’t laugh, I see it happen to guests every time I visit all-inclusives in the Caribbean}. Bring insect repellant just in case. The Caribbean is lush and sandy, hence noseeums, sand flies, etc…
• Finally, this is important on any trip, but remember to wash/sanitize hands regularly. A lot of people in one place means flus can spread quickly.

Related All-inclusive Month :: Introductions All-Inclusive Month :: Matchmaking All-Inclusive Month :: Packaged VS Unpackaged Don’t Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3 :: 7 Reason to Wait to Evaluate A Redo trip :: What to do when an all-inclusive experience goes belly-up Update on my Redo Trip :: An overview of the highs and lows of the Sandals WhiteHouse