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The Insider Pick:
You can travel in style and comfort with excellent travel clothes that look as great as they feel. We tested lots of travel-friendly clothes to find the best shoes, hoodie, leggings, sweatpants, socks, bra, T-shirt, sweater, and button-up shirt for women to wear en route to the ultimate vacation.
As relaxing as your well-deserved vacation may be, there’s little in this world that is less relaxing than the plane, train, or car ride that takes you to your happy place. No matter what method of transportation you select, chances are you’ll be stuck in a confined space for quite a while longer than you’d like, forced to share facilities with strangers, and eating food that isn’t the delicious fare you know is waiting on the other side of your arduous trip. But even if you can’t make the actual travel situation much better, you can better situate yourself with some incredibly comfortable travel clothes.
Honestly, what in this world isn’t solved by a comfortable pair of leggings, a lounge-worthy t-shirt, and a great pair of travel shoes? With the right clothing (and a glass of wine), you may just be able to convince yourself that your vacation does, in fact, start on that eight-hour plane ride.
When deciding what to wear on your trek, you’ll want to keep a couple of things in mind. Obviously, comfort is at the top of your must-have list — no matter how great you may look going through security in your favorite skirt and blouse combination, chances are it isn’t something you’ll want to sit still in for hours on end. After all, if you have trouble with it at the office, you’ll probably have trouble with it en route to wherever you’re going.
Second, be sure that the clothes that you’re wearing are easily packable. Once you’ve actually reached your final destination, you may not want to touch your travel clothes again (until the ride back home). So pick articles that can be easily stowed or are wrinkle-resistant. You certainly don’t want to come home from vacation and suddenly be faced with tons of ironing.
You’ll also want to consider how functional your clothes are. If you’re going to wear a jacket, it better be a jacket with plenty of pockets so that you can store your ticket, your passport, and your chapstick without feeling like a pack mule. If you’re bringing socks, consider a pair of compression socks so that you don’t spend your plane ride worrying about blood clots.
Regardless of what you select from our selection of the best travel clothes, we’re quite confident that you’ll be almost as comfortable in your seat as you will on the beach. Here are our top picks:
- Best travel shoes: Vivo Barefoot Kanna Shoes
- Best travel hoodie: SCOTTeVest Chloe Glow
- Best travel leggings: Live the Process leggings
- Best travel sweatpants: Vuori Performance Jogger pants
- Best travel socks: Stance compression socks
- Best travel bra: Vuori Altitude Sports Bra
- Best travel T-shirt: Everlane Box Cut Tee
- Best travel sweater: Everlane Cashmere Crew
- Best travel button-up shirt: Everlane Relaxed Jean Shirt
Read on in the slides below to learn all about our top picks for women's travel clothes.
SEE ALSO: I travel all the time, and these are the 10 things I never get on a plane without
The best travel shoes
Why you'll love them: All of Vivo Barefoot's foldable shoes, particularly the Kanna, will quickly become a staple not only in your travel wardrobe but your everyday wardrobe, too.
If my feet aren’t comfortable, it doesn’t matter how the rest of my body feels. Consequently, having a pair of Kanna Shoes by Vivo Barefoot on my trip is non-negotiable.
The vegan shoes are produced using animal-free products and processes so that you’ll not only be comfortable, but guilt-free, too. The upper is made with a breathable mesh that is comprised of synthetic multi-ply materials that deliver lightweight breathability.
The sole is made of the company’s signature TPU Compound, which is extremely thin and lightweight but sacrifices nothing in terms of durability. In fact, the shoe is five times more puncture resistant than a standard sole of the same thickness. But because of how thin and flexible these shoes are, you can easily roll them up, which makes packing them away as easy as slipping them on.
While all the aforementioned attributes already make the Kanna a great travel shoe, perhaps my favorite aspect is that you can wear them without socks. The mesh hugs your foot in such a way that wearing anything between you and the shoe feels superfluous, and even if you normally would prefer to wear socks, there’s no denying that being stuck in a moving vehicle for a few hours too many creates rather musty environments for feet.
While the Kanna is certainly ideal for traveling, it’s also a shoe that I would not shy away from for my daily ensembles. Not only is it comfortable enough for walking around in for days at a time, but it’s also perfect for going to the gym, and then leaving the gym in style.
One happy buyer called the Kanna her “new favorite sneakers,” while another wrote that the shoes “keep getting better and better,” with perfect support.
Vivo Barefoot has dozens of styles that look like flats, loafers, and cute leather shoes, so if the Kanna aren't your style, you're sure to find a pair that suits you.
Pros: Beyond easy storage, no socks needed, breathable mesh, vegan materials
Cons: Some customers noted that the shoe might run a bit larger than expected
Buy the Kanna Women’s Shoes from Vivo Barefoot for $125
Shop all Vivo Barefoot foldable shoes
The best travel hoodie
Why you'll love it: With 18 pockets and moisture-wicking material, the SCOTTeVEST Chloe Glow hoodie is perfect for getting you through the airport and anything else life throws at you.
It would be nothing short of a rookie mistake for you to neglect packing a hoodie for your travels. After all, you absolutely require a cozy sweatshirt that you can burrow into, turn into a pillow, or otherwise use in creative ways. And no hoodie provides quite as many creative uses as the Chloe Glow from SCOTTeVest.
Promising to be the perfect top for anything from the gym to a hike to the plane, the Chloe Glow features 18 pockets that will help you store your keys, your sunglasses, your tablet, your phone, your passport, or honestly, just about anything else. Our very own Insider Picks guides editor always wears her SCOTTeVEST hoodie when she travels.
Thanks to its moisture-wicking fabric, you’ll be able to stay comfortable regardless of temperature, which is key on airplanes that seem to fluctuate between way too cold and way too hot in a matter of seconds. Plus, the fabric is stretchy, so you won’t be constricted.
There’s an extendable key-holder so you can put your car and home keys in your pocket and forget about them until you come back home, a sunglass pocket with an attached eyeglass chamois so that you’re always prepared for even the brightest lights, and of course, plenty of other additional pockets for your credit cards, sunscreen, ID, and basically every electronic you own.
Caring for the Chloe Glow is pretty straightforward, too. Once you’ve checked all the pockets, zip them all up, turn the hoodie inside out, and throw it in your laundry machine. The Nylon, cotton, and Spandex blend jacket will stand up to your wash cycle.
Chloe Glow owners have given the hoodie a 4.3 out of 5-star rating, with one satisfied buyer noting, “I can now transport my office to the field or anywhere else I go. It is so warm and cozy feeling.”
And as Rachel’s Ruminations noted, despite the multiplicity of pockets in SCOTTeVEST clothing, you won’t look particularly bulky. That said, it is recommended to size up if you want to take advantage of all the pockets the hoodie offers.
SCOTTeVEST also makes many other coats, jackets, vests, pants, and other apparel with a multitude of pockets, so if you don't love this hoodie, you should check out its other clothing.
Pros: Plenty of pockets for all your storage, super comfortable material, great for traveling and for layering
Cons: This isn’t necessarily a hoodie for fashionistas, but it certainly performs well when it comes to function. Some folks also noted that the sleeves are too long
Buy the Chloe Glow from SCOTTeVEST for $95
Shop all SCOTTeVEST clothing
The best travel pants
Why you'll love them: Simply put, Live The Process’ leggings are the most comfortable leggings around, and Vuori's Performance Jogger pants are a great alternative if you're not a fan of traveling in form-fitting leggings.
It’s not surprising that Live the Process makes what I can confidently call the most comfortable leggings I’ve ever worn.
The company was founded by a certified yoga instructor, so you know that the brand is very in touch with what it takes to stay comfortable in your practice. If the leggings from Live the Process can get you through a vinyasa class, you can bet that it’ll also get you through your travels. Live the Process' pieces are all ethically produced in the United States and are created using methods that seek to minimize environmental impact.
The material is also quite high-tech, with features like four-way stretch (key for running through an airport or train station), breathability (important when you’re immobile), heat retention (again, you never know when the AC will suddenly crank up), moisture-wicking (so that your stress sweat doesn’t stay trapped in your legs), and water and wind repellent fabrication. I was initially skeptical of these last two features, but after wearing the tights in a snowstorm, I’ve been converted.
Aside from the extremely comfortable fabrication, the leggings look great. While you probably wouldn’t want people to see you in most of your travel outfits, these leggings are a piece that you would be proud to wear anytime.
If you're not the sort who wears leggings in public, Vuori's Performance Jogger pants are ideal for travel, too. These jogger pants are made of a light-weight moss jersey fabric that is breathable, moisture wicking, quick drying, and four-way stretching for the ultimate in flexibility.
There’s a tiny pocket in the inside of the waistband that you can use to secure your phone, credit card, or keys while you rush through the airport, although to be perfectly honest, you’ll probably do a lot more than just travel in these joggers.
Pros: Flattering and extremely comfortable fit, warm material, ethically made
Cons: At more than $100, this kind of comfort comes with quite a hefty price tag
Buy Live the Process leggings from Net-a-Porter for $110
Buy the Vuori Performance Jogger for $84
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