The Straw Bag Moves to Paris

How I organized my packing. Plus, I finally got my hands on a Vinted account!

I’m currently writing this letter from Paris, where I’ll be living for the next few months attending classes for the second year of my grad program. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t waiting for this moment since starting my degree last Fall. Despite the lengthy visa process, a high-pressure apartment hunt, and two fifty-pound suitcases later, I’m finally here.

When packing, I rarely ever plan ahead, but I decided that this one time there’d have to be a method to the madness—to get over my laziness and actually create a few outfit ideas for my time here while also leaving some space for inevitable purchases.

There are many unglamorous things about having your life split between two different continents, one of them being that the one thing you need from your closet is always somewhere else. My photographic memory isn’t so strong when it comes to closets and I can never remember which piece is where. Did I leave it in my storage unit or in my old teenage bedroom? Which Sterilite container is it in? And if it’s not where I thought it was, can I definitively say that I’ve lost it?

When I was home in California last month, I acquiesced and downloaded Indyx, partly as a way to wear and style more of my closet and also to ease any lingering anxiety of wearing a bad outfit dans la rue. My philosophy is to think of cities as living, breathing entities. My experience in Paris so far has been very welcoming, and in hopes that it will continue that way, I like to wear a good outfit in order to say a “thank you” to her. It doesn’t have to be the best, most well composed and expensive outfit one has ever seen, but definitely something thoughtful. Plus, Eleanor’s deep dive on Indyx vs Stylebook was so informative that it finally convinced me I needed a digital clothing catalog of some sort. Maybe it wouldn’t be so scary if I only started recording the items I brought with me back to Europe and organizing the pieces that would make it to Paris. Baby steps.

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As I packed, I simultaneously performed the uploading process onto Indyx, which felt very streamlined. In the end, there were a few things I decided not to bring with me, but did make it onto the app, which allowed me to use the “Collections” feature. It was easy to add to the designated folder I created, and I also like how the outfits styled with these specific items are also placed within the same folder.

Even though Indyx removes the background for you on the photos (which is a life saver), I still prefer to find the official flat lay image on the retailer’s website. When it couldn’t be found, I did not take much care to steam or make sure the lighting was perfect (oops). This is fine with me, as I just needed something to get the essence of the piece for the outfit styling part. I figured the real work and adjustments would need to be done during try on.

The final outfits are not meant to be followed dutifully, rather just as a way to help me remember what I brought since it’s all organized and stored away now. For example, in the top left outfit, I chose a vintage Moschino sweater for the top half of the outfit, but once I tried it on, it was a little too baggy for the jeans I had chosen which also have a looser fit through the leg. I swapped it out with a vintage Gap cotton voile button up bought off Depop and the rest of the outfit just looked so much better shape-wise.

The app also helped me realize that most of the weight in my suitcase was due to shoes instead of actual clothes, which will make for some interesting footwear experimentations this season. This fact didn’t bother me much because I finally got my hands on a Vinted account a few days ago, thanks to a good friend who let me sign up with her French phone number! I’m starting to get the hang of the app, and there are a ton of great vintage sellers (with reasonable prices!) whose items are making their way into my favorites. I bought my first item this morning: a white cotton skirt from Comptoir des Cotonniers NWT for 20 euros that I’ll make work with the cold weather by pairing it with suede boots of some sort and a layer of tights.

Paris is also an amazing city for secondhand shopping. I love how this country is so obsessed with open-air flea markets. On the weekends, there are more than a dozen you can go to in the arrondissement of your choosing. I am so giddy at the fact that I can go to a flea market almost every weekend instead of having to wait once or twice a month. Not to mention, there is always the famed Les Puces in Saint-Ouen — somewhat of a trek if you’re in the heart of Paris but I will make my way out one of these weekends. If you’re in Paris, I like to find local markets and brocantes on vide-greniers.org.

I love being back in a city again. I love seeing people doing their thing, going places, and enjoying the one thing we all have in common: Paris. As the old adage goes, I could get used to this.

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My reading, internet browsing, and music consumption has been on a bit of a hold this past month due to moving, but here are some recommendations. I’ll be back in the swing of things in the next letter.

1. “Zé e Paraná” by Azymuth

2. Not the best looking travel bag, but this one has been very useful. It stores so much, especially with the bottom packing cube part. And I think because it’s not a typical roller suitcase, it doesn’t tip off any check-in desk agents even when I am definitely over the carry-on weight limit.

3. My flight back to Europe was the first time I used a folding gel seat cushion to sit on in the airplane. This paired with compression socks was life saving for my recurring sciatica.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in the next one <3