Our recent style class had us packing for Los Angeles, a city with a solid colormath equation of:

The Definitive Color Guide to Packing by City (the article came out last December) breaks down the math for over 50 cities that I’ve personally visited and have assigned a color equations to based on the city’s tone, temperature, and terrain. The purpose of the math is to give you guidance for what to pack when visiting a new city. Nothing sucks more than showing up like a bubblegum machine in a [1] +2 -4 city like Berlin; or feeling the weight of a [1+3] -4 wardrobe in Palm Beach, Florida. This isn’t about avoiding sideglances from locals, there’s a reason why people in certain areas dress a certain way. Because it works fluidly with the environment. People aren’t strolling the streets of Capri in a range of Black [1] and Navy [2] not because they’re provincial are not inclined to like those colors. It simply just doesn’t fit with the environment. Chameleons are a thing. Right? Maybe it’s the same idea, of sorts. Nailing the colormath of a city assures that you show up feeling like yourself and fitting in for the right reasons - I’ll say it again, this is not about dressing for the right lunch table in MeanGirls. Ok, let’s go.

I’m going to show you some key items I’ve packed for L.A. and I also want to show you how that very item transforms for other areas with other equations. This helps you avoid the trap of buying specific items for specific travel destinations.

Remember, anything in brackets represents the primary color of the destination. A regular size number outside of the brackets means it’s a solid color choice. A small number means to use it as an accent (pack sparingly); and an F means when you pack it make it fashion (a red rubber belt or strong shouldered dress in Paris for instance vs. a red pair of shorts in Nantucket).

The ring 3 dress here. I’ve got the perfect fit here for Bali, Florence, Dubai, and Antwerp.

A chocolate brown leather short can show up anywhere (personally I’ll bring the longer length, I’m not a shorts shorts person).

Melbourne, Palm Beach, Fl, Aspen, Colorado and Cabo, Mexico. Set. I promise, these may look like slight distinctions. But Melbourne doesn’t feel right in Palm Beach, and the Cabo vibe is out of place in the mountains of Aspen.

A trouser can move from city to city - you may have bought it as part of a suit, but broken up it goes even further.

Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Ga, San Francisco and Charleston, SC are all good here.

Dark indigo denim. It’s the jean that dresses everything up, or takes down something more serious. An ultimate valve for dialing up or down.

Stockholm, Washington, DC , Los Angeles, and Nantucket are all covered here.

And a chocolate brown skirt. One I live in for work in Manhattan can go with me around the world.

Jackson Hole, WY, Paris, France, Chicago, IL or Zurich. Set.

I’m not turning packing in to a math quiz. But I am sharing information that I’d wish I’d known. Because it’s one thing to pack a wrong outfit, or two. But when you pack the totally wrong person, especially if you’ve invested in travel items, that blows the hardest.

Style class last week is particularly good - it’s all explained further there. Feel free to comment any questions you may have or call out any cities that you’d love to see profiled.