As a follow-up to my Santa Fe wardrobe follow-up, I thought you might be interested in a few stats about my Santa Fe travel wardrobe:

1. Out of the 9 main items I packed (not counting swimsuit, sleepwear, etc.), I made 6 of them myself:

a. The deep olive green silk twill Origami skirt;

b. The pale sage green wide-legged linen trousers with deep taupe herringbone racing stripes;

c. The print silk crepe de chine one-shouldered tunic;

d. The cap-sleeved sage-and-lavender-print knit top;

e. The print jersey V-neck dress;

f. The hand-knitted one-sleeved entrelac wrap (also my original design)

(The ones I did not make are the jeans, teal knit top, and asymmetrical print top.)

2. The only things I bought specifically for this wardrobe were the following (everything else I already had, including sewing patterns):

a. Fabrics for the linen trousers and cap-sleeved knit top;

b. The jeans

(I also bought the pewter jersey to line the bronze dress, which ultimately did not make it into my suitcase for this trip. All other fabrics came from my stash.)

All my accessories, which included 4 pairs of shoes, turquoise necklace, 2 pairs of earrings, my chunky rose-gold watch, 2 rings (also from Santa Fe), and sunglasses, were things I already had. Of course it’s fun to have something brand-new to take with you on an exciting trip; in this case, I had a great time making— and wearing— my new tops, skirt, and trousers!

The point here, of course, is that, with a little creative planning, it’s really not necessary to get all new things for a trip. Start with what you have! Did you see my post about trying out different arrangements of clothes in your closet? The last suggestion was to arrange things according to color; this not only alerts you to possible gaps in your wardrobe, but it should also give you a good idea of how to start your color palette— the color that appears most frequently should inspire you!

In the case of my Santa Fe wardrobe, my palette started with my turquoise necklace (below)— I had bought this during my first trip to Santa Fe in 2006, and it’s one of my favorite things, so the color palette started with turquoise, and developed with the greens and bronzes of the high desert. And if you look at my hand-knitted wrap (also below), which I made just after coming home from that first trip to New Mexico, you’ll see these same colors. Incidentally, making things like this wrap is one of my favorite ways to create my own souvenirs.