Every year I go to Spain with my family for a month and every year I make the same mistake. I pack elaborate outfits, complete with sexy sequined tops, impractical kitten heels, and small vintage bags that barely hold my phone. And they're so great for when I really want to put on a fit that feels as carefree as the season. But on a twenty-something long day trip, there's always a couple of lazy moments where all I want to do is throw on a simple slip dress and comfortable flip flops and be done with it. Every year I struggle to pack with those more casual days in mind and I regret it every time.
This year was no different. If anything, I actually packed even more formal fits than normal because I spent some time in Madrid for the first time in years, before heading down south to the beach town of Cadiz. I had seen much about the fashionable women in the Spanish capital from one of my favorite street style accounts, @madrileniansinmadrid. But actually being in the city, I learned that even though they were chic and stylish and trendy women everywhere, there was still a simplicity and ease in the way that they put together outfits I had yet to grasp and master.
Something that particularly intrigued me was the way women would style simple sweatshirts, a classic basic I often associated with uninspired American outfits. I never wear a sweatshirt unless I throw one over my workout outfit! But in Madrid, women everywhere made me reconsider the overlooked essential.
They wore them with ruffled skirts, vintage jeans and designer bags. They wore them with everything but athleisure, which is normally what I would associate with the wardrobe basic. It does though, feel very Spanish to throw on something so simple and still give it flare without much thought.
While it was hot in Madrid, I did find myself a little colder at night once the heat subsided. And when that happened I started really craving something simple to layer on top of my more thought out summer fits. Of course, a sweatshirt came to mind almost instantly.
In the most Spanish twist of fate, I walked into my hotel, the newly opened Brach Madrid, and realized that their merch was actually a recent collaboration with Lacoste, a limited edition collaboration that was first launched for the Paris Tennis Open. The crewneck is also available at the Brach Paris location, but of course to me it'll always remind me of my time in Madrid.
Me in my new favorite sweatshirt and piece of hotel merch ever: Brach Madrid's collaboration sweatshirt with Lacoste.
I decided to channel the Spanish women around me and pair it with a flirty silk vintage Roberto Cavalli skirt. It kept the look feeling just elevated enough but with the kind of casualness I typically don't prepare for. This is a look I would never normally pack but that I will be packing for the foreseeable future. Ironically, it only took me traveling across the ocean to Spain to realize a good sweatshirt is a essential for a reason.
A selfie in my favorite sweatshirt in my favorite hotel bathroom.
My exact sweatshirt.
Perhaps the best detail is that the sweatshirt isn't just any sweatshirt but a piece of merch from one of my favorite hotels I've ever stayed at. It's a way to take my vacation back home with me. It'll remind me of my travels when I'm just hanging out wearing this on my couch binge watching television. But it'll also come with me on every vacation from here on out for when I'm craving the kind of easy comfort that comes from a night in at home. And I'd like to think I'll always style it in a way that'll make the girls of Madrid proud.
Below, more sweatshirts to shop to channel the casual Madrid-approved look.
