Portugal had always been a dream destination of mine. The colorful buildings with their beautiful prints and textures just screamed: “a place that I would love”. After all, what is there not to like about the uniqueness of this beautiful, colorful country, especially for one of the “colorful sisters”? Can you tell I enjoyed myself there? Well, let’s just say that the outfits I planned for my trip to Portugal were going to be just about as great as the trip itself.

Designing my Portugal-inspired outfits

Getting started on the designs for my Portugal trip was exciting to say the least. I had to start with a few things; colors, fabrics, and then designs.

The color

The first color that popped into my mind when I thought of Portugal was orange. Honestly, orange is not really my favorite or go-to color under normal circumstances, but I felt that it was the right fit for Portugal. Even though I had never visited the country, I had images in my mind of Sintra and all of the famous palaces, which are covered in many colors, but also and mostly orange. So my theme for the outfit planning? Orange.

The fabric

The most exciting part was that I already had the fabrics in my fabric stash at home. I dug through and found some gorgeous orange pieces. One was an orange knit fabric, a second was also a knit but a vintage reddish-orange diamond design, and the last was a bathing suit material that was red and brown.

The design

The design depends very much on the fabric. I knew immediately that I wanted them to be skirts or dresses, and since they were both knit, they would be stretchy-style. I skimmed through my closet to find some of my favorite designs for inspiration and landed on a few different style. It would be a dress, a skirt and top set, and a bathing suit with ties.

The locations

I had two locations in mind (I would be doing a trip across the whole country). The main places I wanted beautiful photos were at the sunset overlooking Lisbon and Pena Palace at Sintra.

Outfit #1: 70s style halter dress

When I looked at this fabric, the only thing that I could think of was the 70s. That combined with my love of halter tops (and the ease of making them), created this design.

I used one of my favorite crop tops as the outline for the neckline of the dress. The rest was a super simple, slightly form-fitting skirt that was not too tight. It was a very simple dress to make once I decided on the pattern, so it was quite satisfying to be able to whip it up in a few hours.

Outfit #2: Elegant two-piece set

I had this orange knit fabric in my fabric stash for such a long time and I never knew what to do with it. I truly can’t remember why I even bought it in the first place, as someone who is natural on the color orange. However, I was very excited to remake a set I had made in the past. The original one was in cream, but now it would be orange textured knit. I could wear it together for almost a dress-like look or alone in separate sections.

Since this was also a knit fabric, it was pretty simple to make. I didn’t need to add in zippers or anything too fancy, so it was easy to finish this up right before my actual trip.

Outfit #3: Retro-style bathing suit

I found this gorgeous floral print bathing suit material. And whenever I find a unique print on bathing suit material, I feel the need to buy it. I do live near a beach, so my addiction to bathing suits is sort of understandable.

During our trip to Portugal, we were going to spend about a week in the Algarve so I thought that making a new bathing suit for the occasion would be perfect. And that’s just what I did, using a few different patterns and designs that I had made in the past. It was sort of a hodge-podge creation as I was a bit short on fabric, but I ended up making it work.

The Photoshoots in Portugal

Portugal is one of the most picturesque places in the world. It’s hard not to get beautiful photos just about anywhere you go, but I will say that I was pretty thrilled about how the fashion photos turned out in the end.

Pena Palace at Sintra – 70s style halter dress

Pena Palace in gorgeous and a must-see in my opinion. All of Sintra is one of a kind. However, it is FULL of people even at the most quiet times. I truly don’t know how I was lucky enough to get this photo, where there is practically no one in the background. I didn’t edit out any people or really edit this photo at all, except the lighting as it was a bit bright.

Rooftop sunset Lisbon – Elegant two-piece set

Sunsets are beautiful. Rooftops are beautiful. Lisbon is beautiful. My elegant two-piece set is beautiful. That’s bound to make for beautiful photos, especially when the colors happen to align so perfectly. It was probably the orange rooftops of Lisbon that had me thinking that all of Portugal was covered in orange (and I wasn’t really wrong). But let’s just say I was thrilled with how this one turned out.

Unfortunately, the bathing suit didn’t end up getting its own photoshoot in Portugal. I was super happy with how it tuned out. However, it was a bit too cold to go swimming during most of my trip and the bathing suit was a bit ambitious. I did however end up wearing my handmade crochet bikini which you can see here: How to Make Your Own Crochet Bikini | Handmade Bathing Suit

Stay tuned for more posts from Portugal, itineraries, and tips!

Take a look at some of our other fashion projects for other locations here.

Lots of love,

Danielle, Colorful Sisters