116/ What I'm Wearing: Weeks 31 & 32

+ what I'm packing for a seven-day, hut-to-hut hike through the Alps

What I’m Wearing is a series where I share all of the outfits I’ve worn over a given week (or two), along with styling notes, links and related thoughts. If you see an outfit you like on my Instagram, you’ll find it here.

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Dear readers,

This letter comes to you from a rather musty hotel room near Charles de Gaulle airport. As of today, the family vacation portion of our summer has ended, and in nine hours, my husband and sons will be in the air, headed back to Toronto. I, on the other hand, will be on a 6.5-hour train ride bound for Chamonix.

Every year, I try to take a non-work trip alone, without my husband or kids. When the kids were babies, I would pump my boobies off so I could just have 24 glorious hours to myself. As the boys became less physically dependent, I gradually lengthened my time away, to two nights, then four. This year, I accidentally clicked the wrong return date when buying my ticket (silly me) and now I have 10 days all to myself!

How to spend it? I tinkered with a few ideas, and ultimately landed on trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB): a 7-day, 180km (112 miles) hut-to-hut hike around Mont Blanc, passing through France, Italy, and Switzerland.

By the time I finally decided to do the TMB, it was June 29 — just five days before I was supposed to leave for France. And because I’m doing the trek solo without a guide or a tour, I had to get my sh*t together fast.

Most advice you’ll read about TMB suggests you book rooms by at least January. This is probably correct. Of the eight nights, I had difficulty securing a room (or even a bed!) for three. Two were along stretches of the trail with few accommodation options, all of which are basic, dormitory-style. The third night was in Courmayeur where I had the opposite problem: all of the reasonably priced rooms were sold out, and what was left was way above my budget.

Finally, last week — after checking for cancellations every few days — I managed to secure a place to sleep for every night of my hike.

One of the refuges I’m staying it. I’ve stayed in many dormitory style hostels in my life, but none where the beds are so close together? Usually there’s some separation between mattresses? And where is the plug for my CPAP machine? Beggers can’t be choosers, I guess.

I was stressed but not stressed. If I couldn’t find a room, I knew that I had options; unlike other treks I’ve done, like in Nepal and Morocco, there’s enough infrastructure in the area such that a room is just a bus or an (expensive) taxi ride away. Which is part of the reason I’m completely comfortable and confident about doing this hike alone. It’s such a well-worn, popular trail with relatively easy access to well-serviced towns. Also, I love (and actually prefer) travelling alone.

And, in case you’re wondering, I’ll be rolling into the Grand Hotel Courmayeur like Pigpen with a dirt cloud around me, backpack in tow, which I think is kind of hilarious.

A couple of photos along the trail.

Packing for the Tour du Mont Blanc

I know that packing for a hiking trip is probably not on-brand for this newsletter, but it’s an integral part of me, so I decided to include it anyway :).

The first key piece of information is that I’ll be carrying my backpack for the duration of the hike. There are transfer services that will drive your pack from one hut to next, so at least I have that option if I’m finding the carrying too difficult.

I read that your bag should be no heavier than 10kg total, although lighter is obviously better.

Totally Recommend

and I have been trading notes on her 30-day Camino walk where she kept her bag to an impressive 7kg. This means limiting what you carry to the absolute essentials.

The second key piece of information is that daytime temps can climb as high as 30C and lows can drop to 7C. Rain is a possibility. You need to be prepared for these conditions, even if they ultimately don’t happen. From experience, hypothermia is real.

Most of what I packed is stuff I already own and use for working out and/or skiing. Everything with an asterisk (*) is something I bought specifically for this trip. I chose lightweight, quick-dry garments as much as possible.

This is literally everything I will have on back:

• Ultra lightweight 40L backpack with cover* (my 60L pack was too big and heavy)

• Outerwear: 1 rain jacket + 1 rain pant, 1 fleece zip-up jacket, Aritzia baseball cap, Janessa Leone Dakin hood, Uniqlo cashmere gloves, sunglasses, glasses

• Bottoms: 1 pair of full-length leggings, 1 pair of running shorts

• Tops: 1 short-sleeve running tee, 1 running tank

• Undergarments: We Norwegians long-sleeve wool top and leggings, Hod Paris set as pyjamas, 6 pairs of wool socks, 8 pairs of underwear, 1 sports bra, 1 bra

• Shoes: hiking shoes, Arizona Love pearl trekkies (for indoor hut use)

• Bare minimum toiletries (all in travel sizes): face wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, medications, Polysporin, bandaids, hair elastic

• Travel towel*, hiking poles*, travel CPAP machine*, sleeping bag liner

• iPhone, Apple Watch + chargers and converters

• Water bottle, snacks, toilet paper, 3 large ziplock bags

• Personal effects: wallet, passport, etc…

No laptop!! I haven’t been away from my laptop for this long in years. This will be interesting. It also means that this will be the last newsletter for the next 10 days or so.

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Reflections On Packing

Moving onto what I packed for our family vacation, I realized something important on this trip, and it has to do with this piece of advice in my comprehensive Packing Primer that I ignored in a moment of optimism:

Ask yourself how often you need to launder the clothes you’re bringing, if at all, and whether you have access to a laundry machine or services. If you know you won’t have access to an iron for a stretch of time, factor that into the types of pieces you’re bringing.

I had hopes for head-to-toe airy linen outfits and cute matching cotton sets, but ultimately I brought four cotton/linen button-up dress shirts and two pairs of cotton/linen shorts that I didn’t wear a single time. The few I did wear, I wore to the beach, so I didn’t really care if they were wrinkled or not.

Yes, I didn’t have an iron for half the trip. But for the other half of the trip? I just couldn’t be bothered.

039/ The In Moda Veritas Packing Primer: Six Weeks in S. Korea and Japan

I know this about myself: I can steam all day, but have a mental block when it comes to getting out an iron and ironing board. I end up defaulting to pieces that don’t look half bad when not steamed or pressed.

Which is why I dressed like I did over the past two weeks:

Loulou Studios Limba tank, Agolde 90’s denim shorts, Aritzia baseball cap, me Issey Miyake pleated trunk bag, Ancient Greek Celia sandals.

Shirt from random seaside stall in Timmendorfer Strand on the Baltic Sea, Donni nylon cargo shorts via VSP Consignment (get 10% off regular price with code IRENEKIM10), Janessa Leone Felix hat, Heidi Merrick Vicent top and Vicent bottom, Vanessa Bruno canvas sequin tote. Maison Monik Louise necklace.

Zara jacquard midi dress, Ancient Greek Celia sandals. I cheated here because I had just bought the dress the day before and it was still wrinkle-free!

Pre-wrinkled (!) Hod Paris set, Bottega sunglasses, me Issey Miyake pleated trunk bag, Arizona Love pearl trekkies, Janessa Leone Felix hat, Maison Monik Louise necklace.

The fabric of this Massimo Dutti sweetheart top is quite thick and not prone to wrinkling. Agolde 90s denim shorts, APC Eva bag (similar Grace bag), Ancient Greek Celia sandals.

Tibi’s asymmetrical cami dress was a bit wrinkly out of the suitcase, but after I hung it for a day, most of the wrinkles shook out. me Issey Miyake pleated trunk bag, Ancient Greek Celia sandals.

Finally, an iron! Icon Denim Noa jacket, COS mens tee, Saint Laurent skirt via VSP Consignment (get 10% off regular price with code IRENEKIM10), APC Eva bag (similar Grace bag), Los Angeles Apparel jellies, Maison Monik Louise necklace.

LOF Sweet Victory top and Hi Hi Bottom, Vintage Vuarnet sunglasses, By Alona Adella pearl necklace, Fortruss paperclip necklace, Sarah Abaza turquoise/diamond necklace, Jessica Jewellery H & R initial charms, Maison Monik Louise necklace.

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Finally, I wanted to share this piece by

Sarah Shapiro

: Fashion 🌀 Spiral: Chore vs Barn vs Army vs Field Jackets. In April, I wrote a newsletter about the different ways I was styling my favourite Riand28 utility jacket. In it, I also shared that, due to demand, the brand was recutting the jacket for a second run. Well that run has come and gone, and the jacket is sold out again!

In her piece, Sarah has rounded up some good utility jacket options, and — if you have the jacket already — styling inspiration from

Leandra Medine Cohen

,

Jess Graves

and

Sarah | Fewer & Better

.

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That’s it from me today! I have 6-7 newsletters on the go and I can’t wait to share them with you soon. See you on the other side of TMB!

Love and gratitude,
Irene