Holiday packing tips

The secret to a perfect holiday trip home means focusing on what really matters. Family, friends, peace, love and happiness are certainly important, but when it comes to menswear, knowing what to pack and what to wear can also make a man joyful and triumphant.

For Club Monaco’s menswear designer Timothy Farah in New York, the go-to travel item is “the perfect blazer.” He adds, “It can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion” Club Monaco offers the Wright blazer and the Channing Tuxedo blazer, both for $349 (top, with Fair Isle sweater and bowtie). The jackets are “tailored and modern.”

For the finishing touch, Farah says, has to be “a handkerchief in the breast pocket.”

Jeffery Spivock, the public relations senior manager for the Gap in Toronto, would wear a Banana Republic velvet blazer on the plane to avoid crushing it, $310 (bottom). He says it “looks as good with a pair of destructed jeans ($160) as it does dressed up for holiday drinks.”

If the itineary is elaborate and takes you from cold to warm cities Spivock says, “I always pack neutral staples that I can layer in multiple combinations and still look fresh.”

He suggests accessories will also make the difference. “A bright scarf (linen or wool), a bow-tie to dress up a classic white shirt, a pocket square, loafers or even a simple fitted t-shirt (for under a blazer in warm weather),” says Spivock. “ These take up little room in the suitcase, but add a big punch to the outfit.”

Adrienne Shoom, head stylist for Joe Fresh Style, thinks adding a zip-front Fair Isle sweater, $39, to the checklist is a good idea. The sweater’s intricate geometric patterns are “festive without going overboard, perfect for the holiday season and then cozy for hitting the slopes.”

And since lounging with in-laws in boxers may not do, Shoom has a great
pointer: pyjamas.

Shoom says, “This season Joe Fresh did great plaid pjs for men - cozy and perfect for Christmas morning.”

Some packages, it would seem, should always stay under wraps.