Packing experts reveal their best space-saving hacks to fit all your summer-trip essentials into a carry-on without repeating an outfit

Are you worried about fitting everything into your suitcase this summer to avoid repeating vacation outfits in Instagram photos? 

As the amount of airline luggage lost has hit its highest levels in a decade, it can be daunting to check a bag, but a carry-on doesn't leave much room for a wide variety of outfits.

To find out how to pack for a summer trip perfectly, FEMAIL consulted experts, speaking to a travel publicist, a luggage founder and designer, a stylist, and clothing brand creators about their go-to tips. 

From leaving toiletries in a carry-on to using the 333 method, here's how to guarantee you'll be ready to hop on a plane at a moment's notice for summer getaways. 

Jennifer Maguire is a seasoned traveler as the president of travel industry public relations firm JMCPR in New York City, where she does PR for resorts, surf towns, airlines and more. 

With how often luggage gets lost, it can be daunting to check a bag for a quick weekend trip, but a carry-on doesn't leave you much room for making sure you have a wide variety of outfits

FEMAIL consulted travel experts, including SteamLine Luggage founder Sara Banks, who has traveled the world with her husband and four young children

Jennifer's biggest time-saver is never unpacking toiletries from her carry-on, guaranteeing she always has miniature versions of everything she needs.   

Jennifer swears by packing cubes, telling DailyMail.com, 'Your house has organized cabinets, your bedroom has organized drawers, so why lose space (and sanity) with a sloppy suitcase?' 

Jennifer Maguire is a seasoned traveler as the president of travel industry public relations firm JMCPR in New York City

Jennifer lives by the 333 packing method, where she packs three multi-tasking tops, three bottoms and three pairs of shoes. For longer trips, she bumps it up to 444.

Her most necessary item is an Apple AirTag, just in case she has to gate check.

SteamLine Luggage founder Sara Banks has traveled the world with her husband and four young children, mastering packing for herself and her family along the way. This year, they've traveled to the Greek islands, the Maldives, Mauritius, Bali, Australia and Columbia. 

Sara's approach is 'less is always more,' and 'there is no such thing as under-packing,' because it's easy to replace essentials while on the road. Sara's a fan of investing in packing cubes or organizational pouches, which are also 'a great way to store dirty laundry separate from items that remain clean.'

'Organize your clothes vertically and tightly. Roll the clothes that wrinkle,' Sara suggested.

Mollye Rivera, brand director and stylist at Fashivly, promised she's 'become a master packer in a carry-on,' joking, 'Sometimes I wonder how my zippers are still intact.'

Mollye Rivera, the brand director and stylist at Fashivly, promised she's 'become a master packer in a carry-on,' joking, 'Sometimes I wonder how my zippers are still intact'

Fashivly offers clients shoppable digital style guides for events and vacations with pieces to mix and match, like the graphic tee paired with shorts and a skirt, above 

She makes sure her travel day outfits includes pieces she'll wear throughout the vacation, like linen pants instead of a sweatsuit for somewhere warm

Mollye doesn't quite follow 333 - instead, for a seven-day vacation she goes with four pants, five tops, two dresses, two bathing suits to keep the same tan line, and three pairs of shoes

Mollye's packing list

  • Linen pant and linen short
  • Denim short
  • Casual tank top 
  • Graphic tee
  • Button down
  • Night out top
  • Casual and dressy dress
  • Bikinis 
  • Casual and dressy sandal  
  • Sneakers 
Advertisement

Fittingly, Fashivly offers clients shoppable digital style guides for events and vacations with pieces to mix and match.  

Mollye, based in North Carolina, doesn't quite follow 333 - instead, for a seven-day vacation she goes with four pants, five tops, two dresses, two bathing suits to keep the same tan line, and three pairs of shoes. 

She makes sure her travel day outfits includes pieces she'll wear throughout the vacation, like linen pants instead of a sweat suit for somewhere warm. 

A graphic tee is another must, as Mollye said it can be paired with a skirt, denim shorts, or worn as a cover-up for the beach.

Michael Toccin, the designer behind the beloved eponymous vacation-ready brand, is a big fan of buying sets for travel this summer - one in a neutral tone and the other a novelty print.  

'This way you can break apart the sets to create different looks,' Michael advised. 'If you buy a three piece suit you can pair the jacket or top with a different bottom to create many outfits.'

He also supports creating a color palette based off of the set, and then pairing it with basics in neutrals for mixing and matching. 

Michael uses packing cubes to save space and reduce wrinkles, and also supports bringing knits and crochet pieces, which are 'easy to roll up with no steaming needed.'

Away's vice president of design Luigi Auricchio suggests the popular luggage brand's Bigger Carry-On to 'maximize every inch without checking a bag'

The lightweight, durable bag fits in most overhead bins, and the interior compression system and pockets help Luigi keep everything in place

Luigi, who's based in New York City, always plans around his shoes, which are 'typically the least malleable,' so he packs them first, along with toiletries and other hard and bulky items

Away's vice president of design Luigi Auricchio suggests the popular luggage brand's Bigger Carry-On to 'maximize every inch without checking a bag,' and fittingly, it was a favorite with many of the other travel influencers. 

Away's vice president of design Luigi Auricchio has mastered packing

The lightweight, durable bag fits in most overhead bins, and the interior compression system and pockets help Luigi keep everything in place. 

Luigi also uses the brand's packing cubes and groups similar items together to easily find items while traveling. 

Luigi, who's based in New York City, always plans around his shoes, which are 'typically the least malleable,' so he packs them first, along with toiletries and other hard and bulky items on the zippered side. 

'I also recommend you keep clothing and softer items on the other side of the bag to ensure maximum benefit of the compression pad,' Luigi said. 'This approach helps utilize every inch of packable space.'

On the plane, he carries Away's Everywhere Bag, which has padded shoulder straps and an interior organization system with pockets, including a water bottle pocket, and a detachable key clip.

He puts soft belongings for the flight, like a sweater and compression socks, right on top so he can easily grab them. 

Melanie Bolin and Lina Dickinson founded Mersea, a travel-focused Kansas-based clothing brand with pieces that are meant to mix and match

Melanie Bolin and Lina Dickinson founded Mersea, a travel-focused clothing brand with easy pieces that are meant to mix and match. 

The founders travel half of the year for trade shows and photoshoots, so they've put their outfits to the test. 

Lina never goes on trips without the Kansas-based womenswear brand's travel wrap, which is perfect for chilly planes, and wears the travel jeans, which feels like loungewear. 

Like Luigi, Melanie typically builds her travel wardrobe around shoes because they take up space, and then packs the rest tonally. 

Melanie is all about making her own capsule collection and said: 'I pick colors that go together so I can easily mix and match them - it's usually navy and white for me.

'Then I pick a couple things to give me a pop of color - like a bright red sweater or a colorful scarf.' 

Lina doesn't use packing cubes, and instead rolls everything to save space. 

'It's a tried and true packing method that always works - I can get twice as much stuff packed in my bag and have less wrinkles!' she said.