Joan Didion's Packing List

Joan Didion is, without a doubt, a Normcore, minimalist OG.

She cemented her place among the best American writers and memoirists decades ago, and today, almost thirty years after appearing in a Gap ad alongside her daughter Quintanna Roo, Joan Didion is still a style icon. Indeed, Didion is as well-known and loved for her laconic, soulful writing as she is for her perfectly pared-down style, and her packing list, which she published in her 1979 book The White Album, shows that with a well-planned outline of her travel wardrobe, style is second nature. 

TO PACK AND WEAR:
2 skirts
2 jerseys or leotards
1 pullover sweater
2 pair shoes
stockings
bra
nightgown, robe, slippers
cigarettes
bourbon
bag with: shampoo
toothbrush and paste
Basis soap, razor
deodorant
aspirin
prescriptions
Tampax
face cream
powder
baby oil

TO CARRY:
mohair throw
typewriter
2 legal pads and pens
files
house key

“This is a list which was taped inside my closet door in Hollywood during those years when I was reporting more or less steadily. The list enabled me to pack, without thinking, for any piece I was likely to do. Notice the deliberate anonymity of costume: in a skirt, a leotard, and stockings, I could pass on either side of the culture. Notice the mohair throw for trunk-line flights (i.e. no blankets) and for the motel room in which the air conditioning could not be turned off. Notice the bourbon for the same motel room. Notice the typewriter for the airport, coming home: the idea was to turn in the Hertz car, check in, find an empty bench, and start typing the day’s notes.”

—Joan Didion, “The White Album”