Conference packing: Winter in the south

I’m packing for my annual conference! This year, it’s in New Orleans, so the weather should be fairly temperate for winter, but with some rainy days and humidity. So, what to pack for the annual academic conference? Here are some outfits I have considered!

The packing formula

I try to structure my packing list around the bulkiest item–blazers. I plan for half as many blazers as conference days and rewear them twice. This year for four days of conferencing I planned for 2 blazers.

From there, I build out my outfits by trying a lot of stuff on. I really recommend taking pictures of your outfits! It may feel awkward but it allows you to take in the full outfit more objectively than looking in a mirror.

I started with this herringbone blazer and tried on a few options until I settled on two I liked.

These corduroy pants didn’t make the cut, but the black pants did because I ended up with several outfit ideas for them:

With that in mind, here was my list for 4 days of conference this year:

-2 blazers: herringbone, navy (both found secondhand)

-2 dress pants: straight leg (super sale right now) and wide leg (get 20% off with code PHDINCLOTHES)

-2 pairs of shoes: boots (waterproof!), flats

-4 shirts: red mockneck, white button down (similar), short sleeve sweater (similar on sale!), tank

-1 sweater (always)

The non-presenting days

From there, I try to remember that conferences involve a lot more than conferencing! I used to forget to pack casual outfits, hotel lounging outfits, just going downstairs for breakfast outfits, etc. That stuff is just as important! I tried on a couple outfits that could go from conference-to-out exploring: