If you’re planning a winter trip to St. Moritz (or anywhere in the Swiss Alps), figuring out what to pack can be surprisingly confusing.

We headed to St. Moritz for winter break, and I, of course, started by searching Pinterest for outfit ideas. And then…googling. I honestly can’t recall the last time the results were this disappointing (as one example, this). If I’m to believe the internets, the only acceptable outfits in a place like St. Moritz are one-piece ski suits and fur hats. Or leggings with fur coats. Or bodysuits with fur boots. One “helpful” article even stated that for going out at night, most women would be in heels and mini dresses. In a ski town in the Swiss Alps. In winter.

Guys, I can’t.

jacket – s | cardigan – 4 | jeans – 28 | boots | bag

Now, if you are the kind of person who can rock some leggings with fur boots (Scotti, I’m looking at you), that’s great. It’s just not my vibe. I barely wear heels on a good day in the summer, and I sure as heck am not packing them on a ski trip. Because as fun as St. Moritz is as a town, we are still there to ski.

And, uh, eat fondue. Obviously.

So I ended up pulling together a packing list based mostly on what I usually pack for ski trips, but with a little European twist. And after being there (and seeing what people were actually wearing – yes, a few were in those fur boots), I’m still pretty happy with my choices. For next time, I also pulled together a complete packing list for a St. Moritz ski trip (at the bottom of this post), if interested.

Freda Salvador Winnie Moccasin Boots With Shearling

After throwing a few selfies of test outfits into our TME Unfiltered Community, the feedback was clear: bring the black Freda Salvador Boots. And they were 100% right. These boots have alpine-luxe vibes, yet are comfortable as heck. They were perfect for walking around Zurich, they were perfect for wandering through St. Moritz, and they were even perfect for going out at night. I can’t imagine a better footwear choice for a ski vacation.

In addition, I also packed one pair of true winter boots…which I also ended up using for something called sledging.

cardigan – 4 | layering top – m | jeans – 27 | boots | mittens | similar beanie

It was nice having one pair of (warmer) boots, as well as a pair of fancier boots. That’s literally all I needed.

cardigan – 4 | jeans – 28 | boots | carry-on | luggage

We were only gone a week, so I basically brought one main outfit for most of our everyday exploring: dark-wash jeans, the fancy shearling boots I talked about already, and a fair isle cardigan. I simply swapped out the base layers depending on the activity.

For example, for sledging, I wore the cardigan and jeans over actual baselayers.

cardigan – 4 | baselayers – m | jeans – 27 | boots | mittens | similar beanie | bag

And then, when we were exploring St. Moritz before dinner one night, I slipped the cardigan on over a silky top and under a refined wool blazer.

jacket – s | cardigan – 4 | jeans – 28 | boots | bag

Bringing one on-theme sweater and a few well-chosen accessories (this ring was all I needed for going out at night) is exactly what my basic pieces needed to feel like a St. Moritz outfit. And I loved that this cardigan was only, uh, gently on theme. The bright blue was a fun twist.

jacket – s | cardigan – 4 | jeans – 28 | boots | bag

In terms of layering, for walking around and going out to dinner, I packed both a silk tank and this long-sleeve silk top from Sezane. In hindsight, I didn’t need the silk tank – there was never a time when a silk tank alone was warm enough. The long-sleeve top was a much better choice.

And in all of the restaurants, I was perfectly happy in my cardigan.

jacket – s | turtleneck sweater – s | jeans – 28 | boots | bag

This is basically the same outfit, but with a cozy black cashmere turtleneck sweater instead of the cardigan. I do love when I can just mostly repeat a formula over and over, especially on vacation (but also in real life). To make it even warmer, I just added a winter beanie and giant scarf.

jacket – s | turtleneck sweater – s | jeans – 28 | boots | bag | scarf | similar beanie

I especially love how this simple wool jacket added both warmth and polish. While it looks fairly structured, it’s actually really soft and easy to wear – almost like a thick cardigan, rather than any sort of blazer. It’s a piece that I’ll be wearing long into Spring. And it made my base outfits sophisticated enough for wandering around Zurich, too.

jacket – s | turtleneck sweater – s | jeans – 28 | boots | bag | scarf | glasses

jacket – m | pants – s | baselayers – m

For my 50th(!!) birthday, I treated myself to Burton’s special edition Year Of The Horse ski set. It might be my favorite purchase of the year, if not the last decade!! Gosh, even in St. Moritz I had people chasing me down asking where my ski set was from. I’m sure they were expecting me to say Moncler or something, so I was pretty delighted by the looks of confusion when I replied, “Burton!”.

Granted, this ski set is still wildly expensive, but instead of paying mostly for the name (I’m not usually impressed with how Perfect Moment or even Bogner actually perform)…this Burton set is made from an almost impossibly lightweight, fully waterproof GORE-TEX fabric. I highly recommend it.

Also, it looks seriously soooo cute walking around, too.

jacket – m | pants – s | baselayers – m | boots | sunglasses

This set actually comes with two layered jackets, so if you get too hot, you can remove the inner long-sleeve jacket and just wear the short sleeve one over your base layers. And yes – the snowpants almost do look like trousers. Gahhh love this set so much.

jacket – m | pants – s | baselayers – m | boots

Based on what worked well on this trip, as well as what I noticed many of the other stylish girlies were wearing (like…balaclavas everywhere), here’s what I plan on packing next time.

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A few notes: First of all, my footwear was fine. While I did see a few fur boots (and a number of Moon boots), most people were simply wearing regular leather boots for going out – the kind of slightly rugged city boots that are common in most cities in the winter. Now we weren’t at Badrutt’s or anything, but FWIW I saw zero high heels.

Secondly, most people were wearing giant puffer coats over their cute outfits. I mean, they were definitely wearing rich-kid puffer coats (Moncler, Herno, etc and usually oversized and cool) but I didn’t see nearly as many fur coats or even long, tailored wool coats as the influencer Pinterest photos would have led me to believe. There’s definitely money in St. Moritz – so you’ll see it in the brands worn – but the crowd was wearing mostly practical pieces. We visited during an unseasonably warm week, but if we go back, I’ll be sure to pack some sort of big ‘ol down puffer.

If anyone else is packing for a St. Moritz ski trip, I hope this helps! As always, let me know if you have any questions – I love trying to figure out what to pack.

xo,

S