Great stuffs for travel: a seven-day capsule wardrobe

Seven days, one carry-on and nothing that needs an iron. This is the edit we pack ourselves.

Start with the shoes

Everything else in a bag is negotiable; shoes are not. Two pairs, no more: one you can walk fifteen kilometres in and one you can wear to dinner. Our white escaper sports shoes handle the first job and a pair of dark loafers the second, and the loafers pack flat against the spine of the case.

Wear the bulkier pair onto the plane. It is the oldest trick in packing and it still buys you two litres of space.

Three tops, two bottoms, one layer

Three roundneck tees in colours that share a temperature (bone, olive, navy) will read as different outfits against two bottoms. Add one overshirt that works as a jacket indoors and a mid-layer outdoors, and the whole week resolves.

The arithmetic matters more than the pieces. Three over two gives six combinations before the layer is counted; a fourth top would only give you two more and cost you a quarter of the bag.

Fabric does the ironing

A brushed-cotton shirt hung in a bathroom while you shower will drop its creases in eleven minutes. A linen one will not, however hopefully you hang it. If a garment needs pressing to look deliberate, it stays home.

Pack for the trip you will actually take, not the one in the brochure.

What we leave behind

A second belt. A jumper "just in case". The shoes that are only right with one outfit. Every one of those has been in our bag and every one has come home unworn.