What I wore in Hawaii over the holidays
Short answer - sparkle, suede, terrycloth, and a whole lot of pink :)
This holiday break I did my annual trip back home to Oahu to visit family, relax and eat (the three tenets of the holidays?). I packed for our typical warm, slightly humid weather but unexpectedly landed in a winter swell which made me vastly underprepared for just how cold it was!
To the rescue - the Chanel Cruise collection 2023 / 2024 terry tweed coat in the dreamiest shades of the pink Barbie rainbow. I had my eye on this for the better half of last year since watching the collection show (online :) in L.A., and just could not stop thinking about how perfect it would be for a slightly cold but not really cold day in Hawaii. Sometimes cashmere or wool feels too warm (and wrong) in tropical climates. This cotton-based coat was perfect, the best way to snuggle against the rain and feel super glamorous doing it. The best part - it evokes a hotel bathrobe in the most delicious way. I love how Virginie Viard adds just the right sardonic twist to her clothes that makes you really want to wear it.
For our casual dinners and shopping trips I did my usual mix of shirt and Dior skort combo - a formula I’ve been using for the past several years. I also brought my trusty cream knit dress from Metiers d’Art 2023 which has come with me on every trip since I picked it up this summer. One of my favorite things about Waikiki is that you can often find other women (particularly at the Halekulani hotel) wearing Chanel pieces casually about, and on this trip, I spotted a very chic woman wearing this same knit dress on the beach building a sandcastle with her kids :)
I picked up a pair of Hermes Oasis suede sandals while I was there, and found them to be super comfy (much moreso than the epsom leather version).
For our fancier dinners, I brought out some of the fun, sparkly knits that I rarely wear outside of vacation. I find these to be the perfect weight for Hawaii when you want something to stave off restaurant air conditioning. This purple set was so sparkly and fun to wear. I say go big or go home when you’re on vacation.
For the beach, I brought my usual favorites - a striped tunic that I picked up last year in a boutique in Hawaii and this terrycloth black and white Chanel dress. I do feel that this dress is a bit too thin to wear in California, but that sort of makes it perfect for wearing on vacation. One thing I’ve learned is that it can sometimes be cold and windy on the North shore, so I’ve taken to packing a cotton cardigan that I can throw on for those cold beach days.
