Travel Fashion: Looking Good When You Go On Your Adventures

The traveller lives for the moment when the suitcase snaps shut; the taxi pulls up outside his or her house; and the passport is firmly clutched in the hand. He or she lives for the sound of jet wheels touching down on a far flung runway. The hit of hot air when the gangway opens up. That first sight of palm trees and wildly bustling streets.

There are two fashions in travel – a visual fashion and a functional one. The professional traveller in any field (and by this, frequent amateur travellers are also included) knows the value of a good piece of luggage. So he or she is as likely to look at Samsonite suitcases, or any other suitcases, with an eye primarily on what they do, as he or she is to look at the colour of the shell.

Ultimately, travel luggage is (or should be, anyway) all about making life as easy as possible for someone who has suddenly left behind all wardrobes; chests of drawers; tall boys; and other places where you might normally store clothes and toiletries. Indeed, for anyone going away for more than just a few days, the suitcase becomes a whole travelling home – like a tiny caravan for all your vital possessions.

Travel on a regular basis strips down the accoutrements of your life to their bare essentials. You suddenly realise that what you need isn’t half as much as you thought it was. Different objects begin to take on a much greater significance than you ever though they would. Other things, which seemed so important and fun when you were at home (like big TV sets and DVD players, for example) pale into insignificance next to the functionality and usefulness of these new things.

The penknife, for example, takes on a huge role in the life of a traveller. It can do anything, from opening bottles of beer to cutting string for a suitcase fix. Though of course if you’re lucky enough to be toting a brand new suitcase that last one shouldn’t happen. Still, you never know when you will wish you had a knife blade or a pair of grippers in your pocket – which is why most travellers pack a penknife before they pack their shoes.

Clearly there are several kinds of travelling – and there are bits of equipment and cases suited to each one. A business traveller, for example, follows a slightly different fashion – for single, small pieces of smart-looking luggage that can protect all of his or her clothes and equipment without exceeding size and weight limits imposed by the airline he or she is using.

The look of a suitcase is important in every situation – despite what has already been said about functionality. Indeed, in many ways the look of a suitcase becomes part of its function – the way it has been built effectively defining the kind of travel for which it is suited.

Business travel, for instance, requires that the traveller always pack a smart suitcase – normally in a very neutral colour like gunmetal or black. Leisure travel, on the other hand, may call for different colour schemes. The leisure traveller can pick a bright coloured suitcase to make it much easier to spot when it comes round the carousel: or, he or she can choose one coloured to accept the inevitable grime of long haul travel without showing it up too much.

Author Bio

Bob Bell is a frequent flyer. He has written several articles about fashion in Samsonite suitcases and other kinds of suitcase.