Every June we take five days in Portofino. The bag has not changed in years: a soft leather holdall that fits under the seat, and inside it, eleven pieces that get us from a morning swim to a late dinner without a single moment of standing in front of the wardrobe.
The list
- Three knit polos — ivory, sand, navy. Worn alone by day, under a linen jacket at night.
- Two linen shirts — one white, one blue stripe. These do the heavy lifting on the hottest days.
- Two pairs of tailored shorts — ivory and olive. Long enough to sit down in at a restaurant.
- One pair of linen trousers — navy. Dinner, and the flight home.
- One swim short — which doubles as a spare short if the first two are at the laundry.
- One unlined linen jacket — the only 'smart' piece, and the reason you never feel underdressed.
- One pair of suede loafers — worn on the plane so they never touch the bag.
The three things we never pack
A second pair of shoes. Loafers go everywhere on the coast, including into the sea at least once by accident. Anything black. It looks wrong at noon and shows every grain of sand. An iron. Hang it in the bathroom, shower, done.
The trick
Everything on the list is in four colours — ivory, sand, navy, olive — so every top goes with every bottom. That is forty-odd outfits from eleven pieces, and it is the whole philosophy of the house in one bag.
