Summer Cruise 2015: Nighttime Outfit Planning

Welcome back to part two of my cruise outfit planning! Today, I'll share with you how I'll be planning my clothing in accordance to the nighttime portion of my trip. If you didn't read part one of this mini planning series, you'll probably want to catch up and read my Summer Cruise 2015: Daytime Outfit Planning post, because I will be using the same method to figure out how to not overpack, even though I have different things to consider.

The first thing I ask myself whenever I need to plan for nighttime outfits is where I'll be eating dinner. I mentioned in another prior post to this one (Introduction to Cruise Series...) that my aunt is in charge of dinner plans. She has set up reservations for 4 out of the 7 nights on the ship, and the other 3 will be in the regular dining room. So, in order to properly plan my outfits, I'm going to list the type of cuisine for each possible night, and how that affects the attire that one is intended to wear to a certain restaurant. 

From what I have knowledge of, we'll be eating at a steakhouse one night, which I expect to be the most formal. The other 2 restaurants are of a seafood and italian cuisine. The last place is not a restaurant, but a dinner show, which will feature a magician performing and a 3-course meal served throughout the show (you do not order food at this type of place). For those said nights, I plan to dress a little more formal but still casual. The ship's website insists women dress "smart casual" and wear nice tops with skirts or jeans, or wear dresses. Although I am not limiting myself to choosing a specific outfit for a specific cuisine, I do know that I'll be wearing at least three of my Lilly Pulitzer shift dresses to these nicer restaurants. I love Lilly dresses because they are a statement in and of themselves, and I really don't have to think that much in order to get ready. I think this will be really good for me because I anticipate that I will be extremely tired by dinnertime from the day's events. In play with that, I have two jewelry pieces that will coordinate effortlessly with my Lilly dresses, which include a dainty necklace from Kendra Scott, as well as a white enamel link bracelet I got from Etsy a few years ago. To complete my dressier attire, I can easily throw on my favorite black leather ballet flats.

Now, what about the other 4 nights of the cruise? Well, I do have an idea of what I could bring. Like I said in the previous post, dresses and rompers are my favorite items to wear, however, I cannot get away with rompers in the dining room. Therefore, I will probably pick out a few skater dresses. They're flattering, comfy, colorful, and will look great with some color from the sun (if I ever get any). Additionally, my dark jegging crop jeans will be coming with me for sure, and look great with this white beaded top. Pair it with some casual black and gold sandals and a nighttime clutch and I'm good to go.

 So, I'm also missing an outfit. This is where I run into overpacking problems. I can never just stick to one possibility. I could probably avoid a packing overload by re-wearing my crop jeans and bringing a nice top. That would definitely be the easiest way to go. But there are two other possible outfits that might look adorable too. I am bipolar with skirts, however, so this will definitely be a harder decision for me.

After dinner is out of the way, there's always the possibility that I'll want to change, which amounts to yet another overpacking problem. Whether I feel the need to change because I'm uncomfortable or I'm interested in going to one of the nightclubs on board (I am 22 ya know!) I don't feel I can get away with bringing only seven outfit options. For lounging around and walking around the ship, my yoga crops will be a must paired with a comfy tee shirt (that I showed in my previous post). If I'm going to a nightclub, something like high waisted jeans, skirts, and crop tops are usually my go-to, but I literally cannot afford to bring much more things because my suitcase will be heavy and just plain overwhelm me. 

Obviously, I still have a lot of thinking to do. The best way for me to really narrow my options down is to try things on, and see what looks and feels right. That's really all there is to it. If you are looking to see what I actually do end up bringing and how I eventually solve my problems, stay tuned for a packing post which will be up a few days before I leave.

Until next time,

~Alexa~