As we have previously observed, planning (or, perhaps more accurately, imagining) what cruise clothing you need can induce worry.
This is because all those who have not yet been on one of these fabulous floating holidays that allow you to visit lots of beautiful and exotic places without having to constantly pack and unpack a suitcase, believe (or perhaps were once told) that they need loads of elaborate evening dresses for formal nights – and who owns a wardrobe like that, these days!
So what is the perfect cruise ship attire for women? And in particular, what is the perfect cruise clothing for women over 50?
Well, we’re nice like that, so we’ll tell you all about cruise ship clothing for women over 50, including plus-size cruise wear.
Cruise clothing for women over 50 is, in reality, not that different from resort wear for women over 50. Yes, you will want to pack a gorgeous dress (or two) for dining on board ship (and perhaps a jumpsuit, suggests Jan), and evening separates also work really well, for dinner, dancing or watching the onboard shows – and give you real flexibility as you pack fewer things but get multiple permutations.
At SoSensational, we love a maxi dress and some maxis can be easily styled to be appropriate both for daytimes spent on-shore exploring, and – with a clever switch of accessories – can also be perfect for night-time glamour.
For daytimes, style your maxi with flats and a big tote (for stowing maps, sun-prep, guide books, etc), and then for evenings style it with a smaller bag (maybe a cross-body bag, a shoulder bag on a chain or a clutch), and some jewelled sandals. Evenings are also the time to bring out the statement jewellery because that’s when you want to transform your maxi dress for optimum glamour.
Much as we love a maxi dress for a cruise, we also love jumpsuits and cocktail dresses for a cruise. Here are some of our favourite jumpsuits and cocktail dresses with sleeves, including some frocks which could be dressed up for the cruise or dressed down at home, to provide optimum versatility from a single purchase.
And here are the evening separates we mentioned, which offer maximum flexibility. Our favourite pieces include maxi and midi skirts (which could also be worn for daytimes with a simple tee instead of a glamorous top) as well as palazzos and silky wide-leg trousers. We have also found you gorgeous embellished tops. But if you prefer, you can easily style an embellished skirt or evening palazzos with a plainer top and use jewellery shoes and bag to ramp up the glamour!
Don’t forget to pack a shawl, a pashmina or a wrap – as it can get cool outdoors if you venture on deck for an after-dinner moonlight stroll. Rather than pack loads to match all your outfits, we would recommend finding one in a neutral colour or one in your favourite accent colour (Jan, for instance, always packs one in mushroom or in light pink; Cyndy packs one in cream or orange). That way, one (or at most two), will match most outfits!
Finally, do keep in mind that metallics are not only perfectly on trend but are neutral so if you want to avoid packing lots of bags (or shoes) pack one really great bag for evenings (though not necessarily an “evening bag” per se) in gold or silver (whichever is your best metallic) and you won’t have to think about which bag goes with what outfit.
We think that when it comes to daytime cruise apparel, you know what to pack: if your cruise is calling mainly at cities, pack exactly what you would pack for a city-break trip. Or, if you are cruising in the Caribbean, pack pretty much what you would pack for a beach holiday.
You can also find more tips for what to pack for a cruise here.
And find general advice on what to wear on a cruise, here.
Are you thinking about a cruise? Tell us why or why not, below!
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