Packing

• Two bras for a week: one everyday piece and one soft wire free piece. Three if the trip includes a formal evening and a sport.
• Briefs for the number of days plus two. They take almost no space and washing them is the least interesting part of a holiday.
• One sleepwear set, in cotton or modal.
• One slip, if any of the outer clothing is fine, pale or clingy.
• Nothing new. A trip is the worst possible place to discover that a garment does not work.

Wear the structured bra on the journey. It is the one piece that cannot be folded and it takes no luggage space at all when it is being worn.

1. Fasten the hooks so the band forms a closed loop.
2. Nest the cups, one inside the other, facing the same way, without folding either.
3. Tuck the straps inside the cups so nothing trails.
4. Fill the inside of the nested cups with rolled briefs or socks, so the foam is supported from within.
5. Place the whole assembly along the edge of the case, against a wall, not in the middle under other items.
6. Never fold one cup into the other to save space. The crease is permanent, as covered on t-shirt bra.

Soft bras, bralettes, briefs and sleepwear can be rolled tightly and used as packing material around the structured pieces. Rolling also creases less than folding for anything in a knit.

1. Fill the basin with cool water and add a small amount of mild liquid detergent. A travel sized bottle or a few sheets of solid detergent both work.
2. Press the garment through the water for two minutes. Do not rub.
3. Rinse until the water is clear, which usually takes three changes in a small basin.
4. Roll in a dry towel and press hard along the roll. Hotel towels absorb a surprising amount of water, which is most of the drying time saved.
5. Lay flat on a dry towel or hang over a chair back, away from a radiator or an air conditioning outlet.

The full routine, including what to do about detergent residue, is on hand washing. A cotton brief washed at night is dry by morning in most climates; a moulded bra is not, which is another argument for wearing the structured piece rather than packing it.

• A small bottle or sheets of mild detergent.
• A mesh bag, which doubles as a laundry bag for worn pieces and as protection if a hotel machine is used.
• A flat, sealable bag for anything damp on the day of departure.
• Anything liquid goes in a sealed bag regardless of what the packaging claims, from a travel wash to an intimate product of the kind sold at inWonderstate. Cabin pressure and heat both find weak seals.
• A spare set kept in hand luggage, which turns a lost suitcase into an inconvenience rather than an emergency.

Long flights and long train journeys are hours of sitting still in dry air. A wire free bra with a wide soft band and a cotton or modal brief are the sensible choices, for the same reason that wired and wireless gives: a rigid arc pressing on tissue for eight hours while the body shifts position is the situation wires handle worst.

Dry cabin air also increases static and dries skin, which makes friction more noticeable. A slip under a dress and a fabric that absorbs a little moisture both help. Skin and friction covers the mechanism.