Men's Resort Wear: What to Pack for a Holiday

Flights booked, resort booked, and now the bag. Pack for a warm-weather holiday properly and you need far less than you think. Three tees, two linen shirts, two pairs of shorts, swim shorts, one shirt for evenings, a pair of chinos and three pairs of shoes will carry you through a week without repeating an outfit.

The trick isn't packing more. It's packing pieces that work with each other, so a shirt you wore over swim shorts at lunch goes to dinner with chinos that night. Below is the list we'd give a customer walking into the store before a trip: what to take, how many, and how to wear each piece from breakfast through to the evening.

In short

• Build around a neutral base of tees and polos in white, navy and black

• Two linen shirts will do more work than any other item in the bag

• Count shirts, not outfits. Each one should give you three or four looks

• Three pairs of shoes is the ceiling, not the target

• Fabric matters more than quantity once the humidity climbs

What is resort wear for men?

Resort wear is relaxed warm-weather clothing that still looks considered: linen and cotton shirts, tailored shorts, swim shorts, chinos and loafers or boat shoes. It sits between beachwear and smart casual, which is exactly why it travels so well. The same pieces take you from the pool at midday to dinner in the evening without a full change of gear.

The distinction that matters is fit and fabric. A creased cotton shirt in a good cut reads as resort wear. The same shirt two sizes too big reads as holiday clothes. Nothing here needs to be formal, but everything needs to fit, which is how we cut our men's holiday shirts.

The seven-day packing list

Numbers first, because this is the part most men get wrong in both directions.

Anywhere with laundry, treat the ten-day column as optional. Most resorts and every cruise ship will wash a bag of clothes for you, and it costs less than the excess baggage fee.

Tees and polos: the base layer

Everything else gets built on these, so keep them plain and keep them light. White, navy and black in a soft lightweight cotton will mix with every shirt and short in the bag. Three cotton tees and two polos covers a week comfortably.

Skip anything heavy, and skip the graphic you'll be tired of by day three. Pack one polo good enough for dinner. On most resort and cruise itineraries, a well-cut polo with chinos clears a smart-casual dress code without a second thought.

The linen shirt: the piece that does five jobs

If you take one thing from this list, take this. A linen shirt is the single most useful item you can put in a holiday bag, and two of them will out-work everything else combined.

White is the classic, though not everyone wants to eat dinner in a white shirt, and a colour works just as hard. Either way, here's the range you get from one shirt:

• Beach: open over swim shorts, sleeves rolled

• Breakfast: over a tee with chino shorts

• Lunch in town: buttoned, tucked, with linen shorts

• Dinner: with dark chinos and loafers

• Cooler evening: under a bomber jacket or unstructured blazer

That's five outfits from one item, which is the whole principle of packing light.

Keeping linen from creasing in a suitcase

Linen creases. That's the fabric working, not a fault, and a few soft creases are part of how it should look. But there's a difference between lived-in and slept-in.

Roll rather than fold, and pack linen last so it sits on top with nothing pressing down on it. On arrival, hang the shirt in the bathroom while you shower. Ten minutes of steam drops out most travel creases without going near an iron. Our shirt care guide covers the rest.

Short sleeve shirts: cotton or viscose ?

Pure cotton prints are the safe pick. Breathable, easy to wash on the road, and they sit well with cotton shorts in a regular or longer length. Pack one or two short sleeve shirts you already know you like wearing, because a holiday is not the place to find out a shirt annoys you.

Viscose is the one to reach for if you're heading somewhere genuinely humid. Our Traveller Shirts are cut from lightweight 100% viscose, which breathes exceptionally well and has a soft, flowing drape that moves with you rather than clinging. The flat hem means it sits neatly untucked, and the chest pocket keeps the whole thing relaxed, which is why it looks equally at home on the Gold Coast, on a European getaway or at a weekend lunch with friends.

It also packs down smaller than cotton and settles quickly once it's hung up, so it's an easy one to reach for on the first evening of a trip. Wash it cool and hang it to dry rather than putting it through a hot cycle.

Shorts and swim shorts

Three pairs of shorts and two pairs of swim shorts is a week sorted.

For the shorts, one pair in a neutral you can wear to dinner, one in a colour, and one you don't mind getting sandy. Regular length sits above the knee and works with everything; a longer length is the safer bet if you're not sure. Linen shorts are worth the space if you're somewhere hot. They breathe better than cotton and they look more considered than they have any right to.

For swim shorts, quick-drying fabric is the whole game. The point is being able to get out of the water, sit down for lunch, and be dry before the food arrives. An elastic waist is more comfortable on a long day; a fixed waist with a drawstring holds its shape better. Two pairs means you're never pulling on a wet pair on day four.

One shirt for evenings

Pack one long sleeve shirt you'd be happy to be photographed in. A print or a paisley with white or light pants, or something plainer with dark navy or black, and you're covered for every dinner on the trip.

This is the one item where it's worth taking the better shirt rather than the safer one. It's the shirt in most of your photographs.

Sleep shorts

You may sleep in nothing at all, but a pair of cotton sleep shorts earns its space the first morning you want a coffee on the balcony without getting dressed for it.

Look for pure cotton, an elasticated waist, and no back seam, because the seam is what rides up overnight. A good pair rolls down to almost nothing in the bag.

Shoes: three pairs, no more

Shoes are where suitcases go wrong. Three pairs covers a holiday:

1. Thongs or slides for the pool and the walk to the beach

2. A comfortable sneaker for walking, sightseeing and any trekking

3. Boat shoes or slip-on loafers for evenings

Anything beyond those three tends to travel there and back unworn. If you're going to spend on one pair, spend on the third. A soft leather boat shoe or a well-made loafer will be the difference between staying out after dinner and heading back to change.

Packing for the trip you're actually taking

The list above is the foundation. These are the adjustments.

Cruise. Check your line's dress code before you pack, because they vary more than people expect. Ordinary evenings almost always run smart casual, which a linen or cotton shirt with chinos and loafers clears easily. Formal nights usually ask for a jacket, so if your itinerary has one, that's the single extra item worth the space.

Tropical and island (Bali, Fiji, Far North Queensland). Lean harder on linen and TENCEL™ and drop a pair of shorts to make room for an extra shirt. You'll change more often than you expect in that humidity. A long sleeve linen shirt is also your best defence against the sun and against mosquitoes at dusk.

European summer. More walking, more restaurants, fewer pools. Swap one pair of swim shorts for a second pair of chinos, and take a proper shoe rather than a second pair of slides. Dress codes at dinner are quietly stricter than they are in Australia.

What to leave at home

• Denim. Heavy, slow to dry, and hot. There's no warm-weather holiday, it improves.

• The third pair of "just in case" shoes. You know the ones.

• Anything you haven't worn in the last three months. A holiday won't change your mind about it.

• More than one jacket. One layer for cool evenings is genuinely enough.

• Formal shirts, unless you have a specific event. A good linen shirt covers everything else.

The short version

Two linen shirts, three tees, two pairs of shorts, swim shorts, one shirt for evenings, chinos and three pairs of shoes. That's a week, packed, with room left over for the way home.

Pack pieces that work together rather than pieces that work alone, and you'll wear everything you brought, which is more than most men can say at the end of a holiday.

Browse the full range of men's holiday clothing before your next trip.