Suzanne Carillo

I am currently in Arizona with the lovely Sherry from Petite Over 40 for a fab blogger meet-up and visit. I prepared this post about what evening wear I packed for a seven day all inclusive resort in Cuba prior to my departure.

Daytime vacation wear to me means dressing down, casual and comfortable.

Vacation evening wear though I like to put in a little effort to feel sexy. I like to make the most of my holiday if you know what I mean, hint-hint, nudge-nudge, wink-wink.

Vacation Evening Wear

I need to amend my list to seven dresses. I must have snuck another one in without realizing it. Haha! Oops.

My tips for choosing the right vacation evening wear is to choose something with lots of stretch that makes you feel good about yourself and your body.

Stretch dresses are perfect for travel. You can bunch them up in a small ball and pull them out of your suitcase looking pristine. Not to mention the comfort factor. If you’ve ever been to an all inclusive resort with limitless buffets you’ll know that having some extra room for more dessert isn’t a bad thing.

I have a style of dress that I know flatters my body shape and when I come across this style while thrifting I often buy it.

I don’t care that it is almost the same cut as my other dresses as long as the colours are different. When you find something that works no need to try to go out and reinvent the wheel. Use what you know.

These first three dresses are made out of the same material and almost have the same cut ideal for an hour glass shape, body conscious with a deep v-neckline with a waist/hip defining ruching.

The dress below has a similar shape but with a wider more open neckline. This was the one dress I didn’t wear.

I wore the same sandals with each dress. A neutral wedge sandal that is comfortable by Clarks.

This wild asymmetrical animal print body con dress was a big thrifting score.

I took one long velvet duster cover-up that was perfect for the evening it rained. It worked over all of the dresses.

You may remember this gorgeous floral maxi dress from my trip to Holland. I bought it while shopping with Anja.

This dress below may have been my favourite. I felt like a princess in it. It is one of the very rare pieces I was given in exchange for partnering with a brand.

It’s a shame I don’t have photos of this blowing in the wind. It is so full and dramatic.

I was wearing makeup in the photos but when I was on vacation the only makeup I packed was lipstick.

It was divine! This is wear having dyed brows and last extensions really pays off.

That was my suitcase. A bunch of easy-to-wear dresses that made me feel good about my body.

I’ll be back soon with tales from the blogger meet-up.

What do you pack for evenings while at an all inclusive resort?

Linking up with Visible Monday, I Will Wear What I Like, Shoe and Tell, Turning Heads Tuesdays, Hat Attack

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I’m baaaack! Well for a few days at least. I will be leaving again soon for a fun blogger meet-up in Phoenix.

Spending a full week on a beach without a care in the world was total bliss.

This wasn’t our first time in Cuba so we’d done most of the touristy activities and tours already. This time was all about scoring the best spot on the beach and then kicking back with my Kindle.

What I Packed For One Week All Inclusive Vacation

It was a week long trip. I knew that I had to pack snorkelling gear so carry on luggage was not an option.

For seven days I packed,

3 two piece bathing suits
2 beach cover-ups
2 hats (one for swimming, I always wear a hat in the sun)
1 pair of shorts
6 t-shirts
1 long velvet duster
1 rash guard
6 dresses
1 pair of water shoes
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of flip-flops

For the plane ride I wore

a long black maxi skirt with a top, black closed toe Clarks, my black scarf, a beret and my thin down jacket with a hood. Coming back on the plane I wore a t-shirt with the same outfit. Since we went from -5 C to 30 C I needed something warm enough to get to and from the airport. I wore socks with my shoes to keep my toes warm also so that I can kick my shoes off on the plane as my feet swell up like balloons. The lightweight down jacket folds up into a tiny ball and can be used as a pillow. On a windy evening the scarf came in handy as a shawl. The beret was great coming back with my beach hair.

I was happy with my packing overall.

Turns out that two of the bathing suits were unnecessary but that is because I have a pinched nerve and wasn’t able to get in the water and snorkel or swim as I would have liked. I will be heading to the chiropractor in hopes of a miracle cure. My pointer finger and thumb on my left arm have been numb for ten days now. They have a pins and needles sensation in them that can extend to the whole arm with severe pain when it gets really bad. I was hoping that a week on the beach would clear it up without any kind of medical intervention but that hasn’t worked. So that is the long story as to why I only ended up using the one bathing suit.

Every day for breakfast I wore shorts and a t-shirt.

Nothing fancy. I realize now that I could have only taken two t-shirts as I only wore them for breakfast and could have just alternated. Yes! I’m that ~~boring~~ relaxed when I’m on vacation.

Since I knew we’d spend every day at the beach only a cover-up, hat and bathing suit with flip-flops was necessary for daytime.

This is my favourite cover-up ever. I’ve had it for years and love it. You may recognize it from my last Cuba trip…

Or from my Jamaica trip…

This “new” cover-up is actually a dress I bought at ModCloth which I haven’t shown on the blog. It has a very unique handkerchief hem.

I styled it for winter with a sweater, tall boots and a belt but actually prefer it on the beach.

I think I might prefer everything on the beach.

We only took the camera out twice so I have a limited number of photos from this trip.

I made every effort to stay unconnected and totally in the moment.

It was wonderful, you should try it!

Lots of women I saw at this resort didn’t even bother with beach cover-ups.

It was an adults only resort and I was delighted with the number of women I saw of all ages and sizes wearing whatever kind of bathing suit they wanted and showing it all off.

Everyone was loving the skin they were in.

Maybe it was the joy and freedom that comes with being on vacation that allowed women to let go of any negative body issues and celebrate their bodies in such positive way.

No shame, just love.

Now to figure out how to carry that through to the rest of our lives…

I read this today and thought it touched on the subject perfectly,

“Society’s obsession with outer beauty. – As you grow older, what you look like on the outside becomes less and less of an issue, and who you are on the inside becomes the primary point of interest. You eventually realize that beauty has almost nothing to do with looks – it’s who you are as a person, how you make others feel about themselves, and most importantly, how you feel about yourself.” Marc and Angel

Next time I’ll share the dresses I chose for this vacation.