DIY dressing on holiday

July 12, 2013

What would you pack for a tropical getaway? While I have travelled in tropical climes a few times in recent years, the itinerary has usually involved “roughing it” to some degree, so packing has usually meant chucking some old T-shirts, shorts and skirts into a tatty backpack. This meant I had to think quite a bit about my wardrobe for the trip to Indonesia with my boyfriend last month because I actually wanted to look decent instead of just slobbing around! I gave you a sneak peek into what I packed and showed you how I made a few of the pieces already, but I thought you might like to see some holiday outfit snaps – along with some touristy shots to see a bit of what we got up to!

On our first morning in Ubud, while we were still groggy from our late night arrival, our hotel owner told us there was a big ceremony happening at the temple nearby. “Temple” usually means “cover your legs”, so on went this batik maxi-skirt that I had packed with exactly this kind of situation in mind, along with the thinnest blouse I could find – plus earrings, sunglasses and a LOT of sunscreen, of course.

The ceremony was something to do with honouring dead ancestors I think, but I was not able to find out. There were lines of people carrying offerings and photos of their deceased relatives, and big groups of men carrying these portable shrines down the road.

On day 2, we took things at a leisurely pace and went for a stroll around the neighbourhood in Penestanan admiring the local architecture before heading into town to a museum and a lotus garden…

My outfit theme for that day somehow ended up being “citrus” – at least it felt like that to me in my orange mini-skirt and white tie-front top (both DIYs) and op shop jewellery in lime, yellow and green!

The orange skirt ended up being a bit of a favourite as the colour just makes me happy and it goes with everything. I made it from fabric I bought in the early 90s to make hotpants – who knows what I did with the hotpants but this skirt will not be leaving my wardrobe for the foreseeable future! Here it is at a fun park which was hideous but had some very photogenic spots (if you ignored huge painted concrete eagles jumping out from bushes, that is).

On the same day we visited the UNESCO-listed rice terraces at Jatiluwih, but the rice had recently been harvested so although the scenery was still pretty, we didn’t see the greener-than-green fields we’d been expecting. Still a nice backdrop, though! (Top and bellydancer belt necklace are DIYs too)

After five days we farewelled our hotel in Ubud, although, yes, this was hard to leave…

We soon made a new friend on Nusa Lembongan, although it was kind of awkward when we both turned up wearing the same hat…

Then again, seeing as practically everyone wears these hats if they’re working on the land, the chance of this happening was fairly high! (I bought mine at Jatiluwih for about $1).

I kind of got a bit obsessed with the hat, actually – I love the raw detail around the band which I think is less design, more just a result of the weaving process.

Whatever, it just says “island” to me! As does this… probably because it IS an island. Lombok, to be precise. This park next to the beach had cows grazing in it and people picnicking under the coconut palms, which I seem not to have got into this photo. Anyway, very pretty!

The black sparkly sand on the beach matched my gold nail polish!

We spent a bit of time on boats on this holiday as there was so much island hopping to be done. My reworked T-shirt came in handy for slipping on over my bikini – I decorated it with fabric crayons like I did with my animal-print singlet. So easy, but it really was like a facelift for this top!

We didn’t stay there for long but the Gili islands were very picturesque! They’re kind of on my radar for next time – tiny and totally tourist-dominated but interesting as there are no cars or motorised vehicles at all as far as I could tell, only bikes and horse-drawn carts (also known as Lombok Ferraris!) which makes a nice change from everywhere else we went. Motorbikes seem to be a necessary evil in most parts of Indonesia, so peace and quiet for half an hour during lunch on Gili Meno was greatly appreciated.

I have until now neglected to mention the essential item for any tropical style-setter, which is of course a snorkelling mask…

Worn with a snorkel, it’s a flattering yet functional combination that all the cool kids are wearing…

I didn’t get any outfit shots at our final destination, Jimbaran, where we had barbecued seafood on the beach. It was too dark, for one thing – but more to the point, how could anything I wore compete with this?

この数年、海外旅行したとき、結構汚いところに行っていたからどうでもいい服ばかり持っていて、帰りにその服を捨てたりRed Crossなどに寄付したりしちゃいました。でも今回のバリ島旅行はダーリンと始めての長い旅だし、ちゃんとしたホテルを予約していたのでおしゃれな感じで行きたいな〜と思って「ホリディワードローブ」を作ってみました。ほとんどの持っていた服は手作りかオプショップやフリーマーケットで買ったもので、「プリントものでちょっとレトロ風」と決めて統一感をつけました。アクセサリーはもちろん結構のヴァライティを持っていて、違うイヤリングをするなどでコーディネートの雰囲気を変えました。ラッフな格好で旅するのも好きですが、たまにはこういう風にちゃんとした「ホリディワードローブ」を作って、おしゃれ旅行するのもいいですね！