Woman’s Guide to Packing for Hot Weather in London

You know what I’m going to say first. I wouldn’t be credible if I didn’t say it…

It’s not always warm in the summertime in London! 🙂 

That being said, it was unseasonably hot the last two times I have been to London in July, so I think it’s important to talk about how a warm temperature anomaly can affect the typical London packing advice.

Thus, in the spirit of giving helpful tips, I will walk you through what I brought on our trip to London in summer 2018 when it was in the mid to upper 80’sF each day – with limited access to air conditioning.

But let’s rewind for a minute and lay some groundwork. Regardless of what time of year you go to London, you will likely do tourist activities during the day, and then something chic in the evening (dinner, musical, play, pub, etc.).

The most difficult outfit issue I find myself grappling with as a tourist in London is needing two different shoes on any given day – one pair for daytime touring, and one pair for evening activities.

During the day, I usually need outfits that pair with comfortable (and ideally waterproof!) walking shoes. However, at night I like to wear nicer footwear. In fact, many evening venues do not allow sneakers. You ARE NOT in casual America anymore! Londoners are known for being very well dressed – and you will absolutely stand out if you do not do the same.

Now, back to my personal experience this past summer. As I previously mentioned about our trip to London this past July, the city was experiencing an epic heatwave, and I found myself needing to wear shorts during the day to stay cool. Luckily the temperature would usually dip down into the 70’sF and 60’sF during the evenings, giving a slight reprieve. This is in stark contrast to most of my other experiences with London weather, since their climate is famous for cool summers where residents’ legs stay covered all year long.

Because it was so hot during the day yet would cool off at night, my family and I ended up heading back to our hotel and AirBNB after our daytime tourist activities in order to change into more posh ensembles (for me, usually a nice dress and stylish open-toe shoes). This routine also allowed us to freshen up for a few minutes by sitting in front of the electric fans or AC, haha! However, we essentially doubled the number of outfits we needed on the vacation.

If you are going to London when the weather is expected to have highs around 70F or below (which is typical for summer), you could probably avoid a mid-day outfit change by wearing nice pants (aka trousers) and a nice top each day, while bringing a jacket and a change of shoes in your daypack.

And frankly that is because shoes are incredibly important to consider for your London outfits.

It is acceptable to wear sneakers (aka trainers) during the day if you are walking around a lot, but you will mostly see them on Londoners in neutral colors or designer versions only. You will never see neon gym shoes on a local, and sneaker styles typically lean towards sleek, narrower designs instead of boxy options.

But, despite the elevated styles of sneakers in London, most locals and tourists alike would not be caught dead wearing sneakers after dark.

As a result, as you pack, my recommendation for your trip to London is to stop thinking about what clothes you want to bring first, and instead build all of your travel outfits around your shoe decisions!

This past summer during the heatwave, I brought five pairs of shoes (WAY more than I usually take on a trip!), but I easily could have gotten away with only bringing three. All of my outfits could match with every shoe. Here are the five shoes I brought, and how much they were used.

• Silver Ron White sneakers (with airfeet inserts) – USED EVERY DAY
• Black patent leather Vaneli flat evening sandals with gold studs – USED ALMOST EVERY EVENING
• Black waterproof Clarks Wavewalks sneakers – did not use because it barely rained
• Neutral G.H. Bass strappy sandals – wore during our day trip to Bath, but I highly regretted not having the sturdy, cushioned soles of my silver sneakers
• Neutral Clarks 3” heeled sandals – only used on evenings when we took taxis

Had it rained while we were in London, the black waterproof sneakers from Clark’s would have been incredibly important. Even though I did not use them, I do not regret bringing them, since London weather is often very unpredictable. We easily could have experienced a situation where they would have been useful, and waterproof shoes are not cheap to buy in a pinch.

As you will note, not all of my shoes were one color. In the winter, bringing a suite of black shoes would actually be very practical and easy to build a capsule wardrobe around. However, since it was summertime, I wanted to lighten the colors of my outfits, and thus needed to lighten my shoe color choices.

So, how did I build my travel wardrobe around various shoe colors?

All of my shoe color choices could pair well with colorful outfits, so I was able to pack an assortment of fun items to mix and match. Here is a list of my hot weather London wardrobe:

• One pair of jeans (Paige)
• One pair of red chino shorts (Maison Jules for Macy’s)
• One pair of black shorts (J Crew Factory)
• One pair of blue chino shorts (J Crew Factory)
• Two pairs of leggings, black and gray (Athleta)
• One blue and white rayon sundress (Maison Jules for Macy’s)
• One lightweight tweed shift dress (Zara)
• One black rayon midi dress with lace hem (Target)
• Black leather jacket (custom, Uru Buenos Aires)
• White cotton cardigan (Boden)
• Long gray cashmere cardigan (Neiman Marcus) – only wore on flights
• Lightweight gray zip up hoodie (Aerie)
• Blue packable rain jacket (LL Bean – did not use since it did not rain)
• Two nice cotton t-shirts (Talbots petite)
• Two nice cotton tank tops (Gap and Talbots petite)
• Two rayon sleeveless blouses (Target)
• Two long rayon sleeveless shirts for the airplane (Target)
• Eight pairs of ankle socks (mostly black)
• (2) Cotton t-shirts and (1) capris for sleeping
• One pair of opaque black tights – did not use
• Two black teddies for layering
• One neutral color daytime backpack (used all the time)
• One larger black backpack (only used once because I found it too bulky)
• One small black evening crossbody handbag (Kate Spade)
• One small neutral color evening handbag (Target)
  Not Pictured
• Four bras that would all work with the shirts and dresses (strapless, t-strap, sports bra, and traditional)
• 10 pairs of underwear
• Minimal jewelry and sunglasses
• Compression socks for plane
• One black belt

I ended up wearing the shorts exclusively during the day, and then would wear the dresses and jeans in the evenings when I needed to dress up. It was the perfect system, given my two-outfit-per-day needs. Plus, combining neutral shoe and bag colors allowed my colorful outfits to be the fashion stand-outs.

With that, we also brought laundry materials to do sink washing at our AirBNB half-way through our trip. We happened to book an AirBNB that had a balcony with railings, which worked out great for testing the clotheslines and folding travel hangers that I had ordered off of Amazon prior to our trip (they worked great for air drying our items over two days!!! Most items don’t dry overnight in London.) The only other laundry item that we brought was a 2-oz bottle of Woolite, which we used to wash all items. I find Woolite to be the best detergent to bring on trips because it can be used when doing laundry in either sinks or machines, and it works with every type of fabric.

A few things to consider, which I did not bring:

• Casual flip flops for walking around a hotel or hostel
• Swimsuit if your hotel has swim amenities
• Lightweight scarf to dress up casual outfits or add a layer of warmth
• Hat (my aunt and cousin both brought hats and they looked very chic!)
• Skirts – I don’t wear skirts very often, but if you do, feel free to swap one in!
• Exercise clothes – I don’t do cardio on vacation, so my yoga pants and sleep t-shirts are enough for my needs. If you don’t want to skip your regular workouts, make sure to save some room!

I feel the above list will set you up perfectly for your trip to London during any hot summer days. During the last few days before you leave, don’t forget to double-check the weather and make sure you’ve packed for all forecasts throughout your trip, as well as ensure the predictions have not changed. Further, if you want to pack for your trip in just a carry on, pare down the above packing list by a few tops and bottoms, and plan for laundry!

Is there anything else that you would bring? If you feel I missed anything on the above list, feel free to let everyone know in the comments section! Cheerio, classy London ladies!

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