From Prada to Zara—Here's Everything I Packed for 7 Days in Monaco

It's hard to believe that I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea on the morning of my flight back to New York from Monaco just a few weeks ago, a practice I highly recommend as a pre-travel pick-me-up. I'd spent a total of seven days between the municipality and Nice, France, covering all things fashion and Formula One with BWT Alpine F1 Team for the Monaco Grand Prix. It was the trip of a lifetime, something I knew would be the case long before I touched down in the French Riviera. This is why I spent weeks meticulously planning my outfits. Before I'd even done my interview prep (stay tuned for that), I'd built a Google Drive to organize the potential contents of my two Tumi suitcases. As this was perhaps the most significant dressing opportunity of my 28 years thus far, I had to do it right.

Everyone I asked ahead of my travels told me that Monaco pretty much epitomized the old money, quiet luxury trend. They said to expect a lot of white linen, neutral colors, and quintessential designer pieces like Hermès Kellys and Oran sandals, Loro Piana L27 mini bags, and Chanel cap-toe slingbacks. I did see all of those things on multiple occasions, but since my budget was limited and I don't own any of those items, I pretty much chose to throw out all the packing advice I was given and go rogue.

With 75-degree days on the forecast for almost the entire time I was away (with the exception of one very wet afternoon), I set out to plan outfits that felt like me, picking pieces I knew I'd be excited to wear and document. For the first few days, I set aside outfits that were easy and casual but still elegant and refined. Later, as the biggest F1 weekend of the year commenced, my looks got a touch more intentional. Scroll down to find out exactly what I mean—I've laid out all eight of my hand-chosen ensembles from the week I just spent in Monte Carlo. There's Prada and Zara, H&M and Tory Burch, Dissh and Bottega Veneta—essentially, I packed a little bit of everything. Shocker, no packed item, apart from one dress, went unworn. Impressive, I know.

Outfit 1: Explore Nice and Settle In

Since we flew overnight from New York to Nice, I definitely needed some downtime to get acquainted to the new time zone, unpack, and, of course, go to a French pharmacy and stock up on products that aren't available in the States. Immediately upon arriving at the hotel, I changed out of my plane clothes—a charcoal cashmere sweater from J.Crew and my favorite Tibi Tuck Jeans that feel like sweatpants but look like they were on the runway (because they were)—and into a fresh, temperature-appropriate ensemble. I'd been eyeing this halter top from Zara for weeks because of how Khaite-like it appeared online—mine has sold out, but this below alt from Other Stories is every bit as good IRL. site. I paired it with long, dark-wash denim Dissh shorts, and together, the pieces felt easy but nice at the same time.

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Outfit 2: Lunch at Le Plongeoir in Nice

I've heard so much about Le Plongeoir from friends who've been there and TikTok reviews, but I never thought I'd actually go there. When I saw the famous seaside restaurant on our trip's itinerary, I knew I wanted to wear something fun for the occasion. To enjoy ceviche and grilled octopus with waves crashing against the seawall as background music, I picked a super-lightweight brown V-neck sweater and a patterned linen pencil skirt colored in shades of pink and burgundy. These two items were actually styled together on the Zara website, prompting the pairing, and the slightly unexpected color-combo is so easy to recreate.

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Outfit 3: Dinner in Nice

Since lunch was quite the occasion—let's just say that it took a significant amount of time and effort to get the reservation—our group wanted dinner to be on the low-maintenance side, so we popped into an adorable, twinkle-lit restaurant for fresh fish and homemade pasta. I've owned this H&M halter dress for a few months now and haven't yet had the chance to wear it. I nearly didn't even bring it on this trip, but I had some extra room in my check bag and figured, Why not? Suffice to say, it ended up being the perfect choice for our evening, which ended at a great dive with even better live music. Did I mention that it's under-$50?

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Outfit 4: Exploring Monaco and Vintage Alpine Car Tour

For our first day in Monaco, we had plans to meet Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and get a tour around one of the French car brand's oldest and most prestigious models from the 1970s: the Alpine Renault Berlinette 1300. As someone who clearly loves cars, especially vintage ones, I was psyched, leading me to choose my best outfit of the trip for this occasion.

I've been obsessed with Prada's S/S 22 collection ever since it debuted on the runway at Milan Fashion Week, searching for pieces from it at The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, and eBay every morning for years. Just before my Monaco trip, I finally scored a knit skort from the collection at a fantastic price, practically forcing me to bring it along. I styled the brown bottoms (a mini skirt would work just as well) with a white sleeveless tee from Zara's latest Studio Collection (similar shopped out below) and my go-to black satin mules from BY FAR that I've broken in to the extent that they're essentially as comfortable as sneakers at this point.

After chatting with Ocon and getting an impromptu joy ride around the streets of Monte Carlo, we decided to adventure around the municipality, stopping to do some shopping—both vintage and new, including Prada, Zara, and Bottega Veneta—before heading to dinner at Crazy Pizza, a restaurant located literally on the Circuit de Monaco.

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Outfit 5: Media Day at the Monaco Grand Prix and Rooftop Dinner in Nice

Though my heels from the day before are my most comfortable, they're still heels, so with media day being so jam-packed in Monaco, I knew I had to select an outfit that worked with flats for the busy schedule ahead. My solution was a white mixed-media maxi from Zara (the below option from COS is even more breezy). I paired it with leopard-print ballet flats that feel like you're wearing nothing at all (bless) and my favorite Bottega Veneta Andiamo bag that surprisingly fits so much and can be worn in three ways. This makes it great for those situations when you need to be hands-free, like, for instance, when you're interviewing F1 drivers!

After my interviews with Alpine driver Pierre Gasly and Ocon, I spent some time exploring the F1 paddock, especially Alpine's garage. From the balcony above, you can see Gasly performing more of his media-day duties, being filmed explaining the dozens of different, very important functions on his steering wheel. After our own commitments were completed, we headed back to Nice and enjoyed a sunset dinner on the rooftop at Le Méridien Nice, a seaside hotel with stunning views and even better frites.

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Outfit 6: Free Practice 1 and 2 at the Monaco Grand Prix

For Free Practice 1 and 2 on the Friday of the Monaco Grand Prix, I was an outfit repeater, but luckily, that's never something I'd ashamed about, especially when I'm living out of a suitcase. I loved the way this halter looked with denim shorts, but I wanted to dress it up a little bit the second time I wore it. I swapped out the jeans for my new favorite capris that I've been wearing nonstop ever since I got them a few months ago. Because everything from this outfit was super stretchy and comfortable, I felt ready to bring the heels back out.

We watched both practice sessions from a balcony above Alpine's garage, giving us the absolute best view of the pits and turn 15 and 16, which arrive after Monaco's famous swimming pool.

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Outfit 7: Qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix

Qualifying in Monaco is what race day is at practically every other race on the F1 calendar. The streets are so tight, and modern F1 cars are so big that the position you start in on Sunday is usually the same one you end in, barring any major crashes or strategic errors. Knowing that, when I went about deciding what to wear on quali day, I knew I wanted it to be my best, most standout outfit of the trip. This is how I ended up watching the excitement unfold in a draped silk-jersey minidress from Tory Burch's S/S 24 runway collection that I haven't stopped thinking about since I watched it debut way back in September 2023. It's a perfect dress—period—which worked out great since Saturday was a perfect day.

We were lucky enough to watch qualifying from Alpine's yacht, which offered a view of the straight between the Nouvelle Chicane (turns 10 and 11) and Tabac (turn 12) and some truly stellar catering, including dessert trays full of madeleines, macarons, and more. The look was just the icing on top.

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Outfit 8: Race Day at the Monaco Grand Prix

Qualifying is often called the most important day of the Monaco Grand Prix, but given that this year saw a local Monégasque driver start from pole position (first place), race day was hardly chill. I had initially planned to wear a red Prada dress from the same S/S 22 collection as my skort, knowing that it was fit for the occasion. However, when I found out that we'd once again be watching from the Alpine boat, I decided against a fitted pencil dress, as the shape is not exactly flexible enough for boarding and deboarding a yacht via rope ladder. Instead, I opted for this casual but still polished ensemble. Specifically, I chose a cropped white V-neck knit from Zara and some old Proenza Schouler chinos that are perfect for wearing with ballet flats.

The race began with a whole lot of chaos, but after lap one, things mellowed out significantly. In the end, Gasly scored his first points of the season in 10th place, which our group celebrated beautifully with entire pizzas at our go-to restaurant just a few streets up from the paddock entrance. By way of a miracle, no sauce made it onto my sweater or pants, further proving that this trip was an epic success.

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This post was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.