Travel Clothes Brands/Stores

Look at Eddie Bauer's Travex brand for adults. Not sure for children.

For kids, just bring a bunch of t-shirts and jeans shorts. Don't get up tight about kids not changing shirts every day.
We just returned from a 3 week trip. I wore golf shirts and rotated them daily. After the third rotation, I bought a couple of new shirts. I get my jeans and khaki pants heavily starched, and got by with just 3 pairs totally. I am now limiting myself to carrying only the shoes I am wearing.
My wife has bought a number of loose fitting lightweight dresses, and she often wore them with leggings. She also only carried colors that went together.
We only travel with 21 inch ultralight carry on suitcases. Our family rules are everyone can bring anything they want, but everybody handles their own luggage. And we never check luggage.
We are not brand conscious travelers. We wear the same clothes abroad as we wear everyday.

Eddie Bauer often has sales. Their Memorial Day sale is going on now. Everything is 40% off. I would think they have an outlet store in Seattle. If you belong to Costco, they sometimes have clothes that are easily sink washed. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

Edit - Eddie Bauer's sale is now 50% off.

I'm not sure if this is what you're thinking of, but I was at TJ Max today and they have a fair amount of dri-fit stuff (Nike, Under Armour) for adults and kids. Dri-fit is my husband's preference for summer wear in Europe. Costco sometimes has good travel clothes. We always check out clothing options at Sierra Trading Co. online and he'll use those convertible pants as well as golf pants to look a little tidier.

You will have access to sinks, and you can wash clothes there. In which case, you would not want jeans of any variety because they are hard to wring out and dry slowly. We traveled for 5 weeks - 3 tween/teen kids, 2 adults - and did sink wash about 1x/week. Brought a clothesline that we could put up in our hotel room and bought laundry soup there.
As to brands, I don't have any specific to recommend. We mostly wear cotton, or some cotton/poly blend, and roll clothes to prevent wrinkling. REI would be less expensive than a lot of brands. You could try 6pm or the REI online outlet. Our more outdoor/travel friendly clothes are Patagonia or Kuhl or REI. Lands End might have some on sale. Ex Officio is another travel friendly brand.

gonzo2357, I have never been anywhere in Europe where there were no laundromats or hotels without laundry service, if necessary. I second the idea of checking out Costco or Sams Club for low cost options on travel clothes.

I've has good luck ordering from Duluth Trading Company - both online and in the store. I love their Armachillo shirt collection - fast drying, cooling, easy to care for. I also like their Dry on the Fly pants and shorts for the same reasons. They are having a sale now on both lines of clothing I mentioned.

Lands End also has nice shirts and polos in soft Pima cotton. Washes well and doesn't wrinkle if removed from the dryer right away.

I'm packing a combo of these clothes for our trip in mid June!

I prefer combining regular clothes with travel clothes. I like Royal Robbins and Columbia for pants. I prefer rayon based clothes to polyester ones.
Thin cotton tops dry quickly, as well as linen ones.
I like Coolibar for my sun tops. They are expensive but rugged.
I’ve found that many of these clothes are expensive but they wash and wear like iron.

Both my husband and I love the easy care, fit, lightweight material of Columbia. He has shorts & long pants. My favorite pants are "just right." I have the long length and Capri length. They have a nice fitted skort as well. I hand wash them, and hang to dry overnight. No wrinkles! Great shirts and blouses as well. All on sale either at Columbia or REI websites. LandsEnd has 50% off its "swimwear" now. We wear the rash guards for sun protection. Very happy with fit and durability.

Columbia discounts quite heavily at its outlet stores. I also buy a good number of stretch khaki pants from The North Face outlet store- their hip-waist ratio wrks better for me than many other brands. If you're okay with ordering online, the 'Outlet' part of R.E.I's web site can sometimes have some good deals on quality adventure clothes.

Most of the clothes I wear came from the Seattle Premium Outlet stores - Columbia, Eddie Bauer, and sale items from Macy’s and Christopher & Banks. For kids, possibly Target or Marshall’s.

Except for outerwear, my clothes are things I picked up at bargain prices in the US or at street markets in Europe. For a summer trip you will generally mot have too much trouble getting things to dry, but I don't wash the last night in a hotel, just in case.

The weight of the fabric and the type of fabric are key. Pure polyester hasn't worked well for me, especially in the weight used for slacks, because it often is very hot. All the more so if the slacks are elasticized at the waist. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well a pair of 100% rayon cropped pants traveled: cool to wear, light to pack, quick to dry, and they came out of the suitcase unwrinkled! That was a fortuitous purchase years ago from Coldwater Creek's online outlet.

My lucky find for this trip is a pair of solid-colored (with white drawstring) pull-on knitted pants from Blair (super-cheap mail-order company). They are 60% cotton, 40% poly, and the fabric is quite lightweight, which is OK since mine are black. I need to find time mid-trip to order more, because I don't think they'll last too long. I don't know the catalog number, but there are three numbers on the label: RN81700, 613452, BL7730325. There's also "001" in there, but that might be a color code.

I'm not sure about men, but women will probably find it pretty easy to snag tops at outdoor markets while traveling. It's just that on a shortish trip, you don't want to be forced into doing that. Buying replacement pants/slacks is a lot harder because of length and fit. Cheap cotton imports in ethnic prints are widely available, but I think the purchaser needs to be relatatively short. Those things are comfortable but are massively wrinkled when taken from a suitcase. I dampen mine before hanging them up.

Edited to add: Don't forget your sleepwear! You may find your lodgings under-air-conditioned by US standards, so you'll probably need something lightweight. Even so, I find I sometimes perspire during the night. Between that and being out in the heat all day (I shower in the morning), I find that I need to wash my gown quite frequently (as often as every 3 days) I'm currently using a lightweight poly/rayon gown from Kohl's that's styled like a T-shirt dress. It's not as cool as cotton/poly would be, but it dries extremely fast, as it must since it gets washed in the morning and must be worn the same night. In the past I've bought travel gowns from the cheapest possible sources (like Walmart or Target), because the fabric tends to be thinner and quicker-drying. I do give some thought to modesty, in case I ever have to respond to a middle-of-the-night fire alarm, so no solid-colored white or pastel fabrics.

You don't say whether you currently live in Seattle, but there is a Sierra Trading Post in Silverdale, WA - they carry similar brands to REI at lower prices. But I suggest that you look at your local Goodwill - I've found plenty of Columbia, Lole, Ex Officio, and Kirkland (the Costco brand) items. If you do live in the Seattle area your thrift stores may have plenty of clothing in the line you're seeking. As mentioned, Costco carries travel clothes. I bought their pants through Amazon for $10, lower than the Costco price. Also, you don't need "brand name" clothes - read the labels. Many of my travel clothes are from Target.

REI is having their anniversary sale right now. They have a great selection of hats/clothing/shoes/socks for men, women and children.

We always a find laundromat while traveling. Rick lists places in his book or you can ask your hotel. We usually buy a gelato and talk to locals (who are always happy to help you with the machines) while doing our laundry. It turns out to be a good cultural experience and you end up with clean clothing.

I bought a lot of Tek Gear tshirts from Kohl's last summer before my trips to Israel and to Spain. They are super lightweight (generally about 3 - 4 ounces each) and I was able to wash them out in the shower at night and they would be dry the next morning. Bonus - they are very inexpensive and I've even been able to pay less than $5 each when I have a good Kohl's coupon. I still wear them to stay cool(ish) during the hot Arizona summer temps.

Seattle area stores with big sales going on right now include REI, Columbia, and Eddie Bauer (in Bellevue after closing their Seattle flagship store). Of those, REI may be the best place to look for kids' clothes, unless they are old enough to wear adult sizes.

I bought a lilac colored 32 degrees shirt from Costco. It was really cute and I thought I could put it to use here in the TX heat. I, also, have a pair of Costco pants, which are ok. I own several pairs of Duluth NOGAs. They are so comfy. I took two pair on a recent trip, and they made the grade. They do not sag at the knee, so therefore, can wear for several days. I don't think I would wear them in really hot weather, but they have capris, a skort, and shorts. I just bought a pair of NOGA capris and love them, too. I feel the skort or capris would make great travel options.
My husband wears Eddie Bauer Travex shirts. He likes them so well, he wears them here and while traveling.

My favorites for travel clothing, easy to wash/dry looks nice are: Athleta, REI,
Chicos, Travelsmith and my local hiking store. Athleta’s are more stylish than many of the others.

Bluffworks travel pants for men. But, they are expensive, so they might not be what you are looking for due to cost. They are very functional.

If you are looking for hiking shirts that won't break the bank, try Reel Legends brand. They are popular here in Florida. Moisture wicking, SPF protection, dry fast, easy to wash, light weight. You may be able to buy them online at Bell's (a Florida chain). Come in a variety of colors and styles.

(beallsflorida.com). Reel Legends - Freeline. You can outfit the whole family with this brand. Men, Women, Children, Teens.

My husband and I think that ex-officio underwear is the best travel item ever made. We take 3 pair each, which we pack in a ziplock baggie, and wash them each night/morning in the shower, and they are dry the next day. Significantly cut down on the amount of underwear we pack, and therefore, the amount of dirty laundry we have to take home. Available at REI, Orvis, and online.

Just take a look thru your regular stores as well. I picked up some travel weight capris from Penney’s on the sale rack for $9. They are currently traveling with me but it hasn’t been warm enough to wear them so no “report from the field” haha!!

Also take a look at companies like Lands End and LLBean. Go for poly cotton mix.

I also agree with looking for tech-type quick dri athletic apparel - Target, Kmart, etc.

However one caveat - try it at home first!!! I took a nice LandsEnd athletic tee on a trip last year and it was smelly after one wearing even if I was not! I could not get the smell out with hand washing even with soap directly on the pits. It took machine washing at home for it to finally smell frest. Needless to say that shirt will never make the travel team again!!

prAna has an awesome 'Zion' fabric they use in many of their pants- lightweight, wicks and breathes, cannot wrinkle if you try. Again not cheap, but you can sometimes find good discounts online and occasionally at the outlet store of their corporate overlord Columbia (Columbia also owns Mountain Hardwear and the apparel part of Sorrel)

Im in portland oregon. I also was in Rome in July.
Since your from Seattle ...you guys wont even notice the humidity. I didnt. It also was swelteringly hot compared to what we are used to.
I would do old navy light weight cotton for the kids and for you...
I would take at least one (but more would be better) % 100 loose weave cotton dress that covers your knees and shoulders or a few cotton skirts (they wash and dry easy). If I hadnt of had at least one cotton dress I found online I wouldnt have made it. Lightweight cotton is the coolest.
Also just dress normal. Don't worry about specialty clothes to much and dont spend a ton. Take things you dont mind getting lost or ruined.
Although I do love pranas halle pant. Try ebay. You can wear it a week easy without washing it, no smell and its cool temp wise and cooler if you roll up the pants. They are cute and dry crazy fast and hold their shape. Although again I had a pair of nike cotton capris and nothing was cooler then breathable cotton. and nothing beat that cotton dress with loose weave that weighed nothing and dried fast.
Synthetics hold odor bad and so does linen. You guys can try and get a few icebreaker or other type wool tanks or tees to wear under an open button down cotton shirt. That will help with washing. Wool doesnt smell and if you get the lightweight tanks or tees even better, they are cool dry fast. Again ebay used for price.
In summer I just wear hiking sandals that cover the toes like keen rose. So no socks...to hot.
Consider a cute wide brim packable hat for you. The cheap ones on ebay are great ! or try target.
So lightweight weave cotton is best and if you could get one lightweight summer icebreaker teeshirt... wherever you can find it. You wouldnt have to hardly wash it.
And prana pants capris or long shorts for you and hubby off ebay.
buy things that cover your knees. No short shorts for the kids. Shoulders can be covered with a scarf if needed but honestly it helps to keep the sun off your skin. Consider lightweight cotton button down shirts for that.

Have fun! Visit the Saints in Italy :)

We went to Italy last August and it was HOT! We lean towards natural fabrics - cotton, linen. I packed a pair of poly hiking capris from Eddie Bauer and they were awful in the humidity - they just didn't breathe well. We learned from living for years in Memphis in the heat and humidity that loose fitting clothing is key. My husband learned through some travels in the Middle East how to layer lightweight natural fabrics for better cooling and air circulation. We tend to pick up travel clothes from Eddie Bauer, LL Bean (I think most of my husband's travel clothes come from here) and Sierra Trading Post.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Prana Halle pant. My husband wears the Prana stretch Zion pant for everything, but I did not know they made a woman's model in the same fabric. And they come in small sizes! Some sizes and colors are 20% off right now at backcountry.com. It is a good website to look for Icebreaker merino on sale as well.

Start by looking through your current wardrobe for comfortable, light-weight fabrics and hand washing them to see how quick and wrinkle-free they dry. The most affordable clothes are the ones you already own. Then, check your local thrift shops. I have scored some fantastic new or nearly-new clothing by North Face, Columbia, Eddie Bauer and Tilley for less than $10 a piece.