Solve Your Travel-Outfit Puzzles With the Sudoku Packing Method
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I’m a reasonably good packer, but even I sometimes take more clothing than I end up needing: a seasonally inappropriate sweater, two pairs of jeans that serve the exact same purpose, cute dinner dresses that can’t be worn during the day. These miscalculations aren’t trip-ruining, but they do make myluggageheavier than it needs to be.
The “sudoku method” was designed for people like me. It’s a viral packing trend where you plan travel outfits by assembling just nine clothing items into a three-by-three grid before they go in your suitcase. Each item is versatile enough to be mixed and matched into 27 possibleoutfits, virtually guaranteeing that you’ll wear everything you pack and don’t pack anything you won’t wear.
After speaking with numerous stylish and well-traveled people who use the sudoku method to figure out their clothes before they fly, I’ve become convinced that it’s superior to all the other packing “hacks” out there. Here’s how it works.
Solve the puzzle
Whichever destination you’re packing for, your grid should have “three tops, three bottoms, and three layering pieces,” explainsNatalie Shaquer, the travel influencer often credited with popularizing the sudoku method (which has its origins in Donna Karan’s “capsule wardrobe” concept from back in the 1980s). Each row and column forms an outfit with one of each.
Shaquer recommends laying out your grid on your bed and trying on everything as you go, building it out item by item. You can’t commit to a piece of clothing unless it can be worn with the others in the same row and column, so this process ends up being slow and methodical. Picking out your three bottoms (say, blue jeans, white pants, and black pants) first, then filling out the rest of the grid, will make the process quicker, saysLeslie Stephens, who writes the lifestyle newsletterMorning Person.
Make sure youactuallytry on all the different clothing combinations, because “things can look completely different laid on your bed versus actually wearing them,” says wardrobe stylistAlexis Wormley. The goal is to do all the hard work at home and then spend zero time figuring out how to dress while you’re away.
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A classic grid
The below packing grid uses some of ourBest in Classwomenswear, including our favoritetrench coat,white T-shirt, andtank top.
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It doesn’t all have to be beige
Neutral tones will always go together. But if that’s not your vibe, feel free to base your sudoku grid around complementary colors, shapes, and prints rather than matching monochrome ones. “It doesn’t all have to be beige,” says Shaquer. “It’s not about quiet colors, necessarily, just nine pieces that all work with each other.”
The safest way to introduce bolder items is to start small, says Wormley. “If I want to play with any kind of pop of color, I try and bring that in with a jacket or some kind of outerwear piece, or an accessory. Because otherwise when you get there the idea of wearing some brightly colored top might be overwhelming.”
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A colorful grid
I played around and created a grid full of brighter pieces that are balanced out with classic staples for when you feel like looking a bit more anonymous at the airport.
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Wear the same stuff you would at home
On a similar note, the best outfits to wear on vacation are definitely the ones you feel good in normally. Avoid packing “fantasy” clothing, says Shaquer. “Don’t pack a silk dress that you’d never wear at home. Just choose everyday pieces that you love.” Stephens likes to take pictures of any everyday outfits she wears that she really likes so she can remember to take them on vacation later.
It’s also important to avoid packing what Shaquer calls random “just in case items.” Instead, “Trust your future self that you’ll figure out something once you get there rather than packing one more extra thing that won’t get used.”
But adapt to the seasons
The sudoku method works surprisingly well across different climates and seasons, with summer being the outlier because it requires less layering. Shaquer notes that you should still bringsomelayers, whether to avoid sunburn or stay warm when being blasted with air-conditioning. Still, the system still has to be modified somewhat in warm weather: “I take out one layer, but keep three bottoms.”
Dresses don’t have a place in the standard packing sudoku grid, but if you’re heading to Hydra for your honeymoon, you might very well want to pack one. Shaquer says that’s more than okay. “Just look for a hero dress that can be worn a few ways, and that goes with your jacket or button-up, rather than a dress that you wear once and then it sits in your suitcase for the rest of the trip.”
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You’re allowed three pairs of shoes
Shoes don’t feature in the grid, but they’re still essential to creating it, and you should have them on hand (or, rather, feet) as you try out your outfits. Everyone I spoke with recommended packing a maximum of three pairs, all of them serving different functions.
Shaquer likes to pack a walking shoe (“probably a white sneaker”), either a sandal or boot depending on season (“basically, a weather-dependent shoe”), and a third fun everyday shoe that you feel most yourself in (“for me, it’s a ballet flat — although when I was in my 20s, it was a stiletto, and for some people, it might just be a Birkenstock”).
But lots of jewelry
Accessories aren’t included in the grid either, and happily, they don’t usually take up much suitcase space. So feel free to go wild. “Jewelry and scarves are the two things that make this fun,” says Shaquer. “They can change an outfit entirely, and jewelry in particular takes an outfit from day to night super easily.” Jamie Lee, who writes the style newsletterThe Monthly Edit, says that a cashmere scarf helped make her grid feel way more fun on a recent trip where she otherwise wore very matchy-matchy clothing.“I wore it with every single outfit — as a bandanna, around my shoulders, and even tied around my waist.”
Adapt the grid to your needs
Advanced sudoku packing-method users can deviate from the standard tops-bottoms-layers formula and start coming up with their own trip-specific strategies. Ultimately, the idea is to think seriously about how your clothing items go together, whatever they might be, using the three-by-three grid as an easy visualization method that reduces the overall number of items.
For a surf trip to Costa Rica, Stephens wanted to bring three swimsuits, so “I swapped in my three bikinis instead of three pants.” She also used a grid system to figure out three different destination-wedding weekend outfits (for the rehearsal dinner, main ceremony, and brunch).
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A sporty grid
I also made a grid for a theoretical summer trip that involves lots of hiking and outdoor activities. I switched out some of the outer layers for footwear in order to pack even lighter, but still kept three bottoms and three tops.
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Travel carry-on-only
The beauty of the sudoku packing method is that it enables you to travel carry-on-only. Everybody I spoke with likes using the Away Bigger Carry-On suitcase for this purpose (Stephens has had hers for 15 years, with no repairs needed yet). Shaquer packs her nine items of clothing flat, then adds a small separate packing cube for underwear and pajamas, as well as her toiletry bag. Stephens and Wormley prefer to separate tops, bottoms, and layers into their own cubes — although Stephens advises unpacking everything into drawers as soon as you arrive at your destination, because then you can see all of your carefully chosen pieces and how they might work with one another. For optimum travel efficiency, bring clothes that can be washed in the hotel sink and then easily reworn.
In order to best make everything fit, wear your bulkiest items (boots, winter coat) onto the plane. Store them overhead once you get to your seat, put on a sleep mask and socks, then fall asleep and dream of your 27 perfect outfits.
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