How I Travel Like an Old Hollywood Starlet on a Modern Girl Budget

Travel is about intention. And for me, it’s also about image, storytelling and not losing my damn sense of self on a red-eye flight to someone else’s press junket.

I’m a Native American and Chicana journalist who shows up to red carpets in 1940s glam and still flies economy. I don’t fake this aesthetic. I live it. But I’ve also worked retail, raised a son and been broke more than once—so I’ve learned how to serve screen siren energy without a studio budget.

Start With the Story, Not the Stuff

I don’t just throw clothes into a suitcase. I ask: What’s the vibe of this trip? Am I channeling a 1930s heiress who just divorced a mobster, or a 1960s movie extra sneaking off to Palm Springs in oversized glasses and secrets?

My entire packing list flows from that story. I build looks around one or two vintage staples—a trench coat, a bias-cut dress, a leopard print scarf—and layer in affordable basics that support the fantasy without stealing the show.

Don’t Be Glamorous. Be Strategic.

Let’s kill the myth: glam does not mean expensive. It means intentional.

• I check Airbnb listings for interiors I can shoot in
• I look up hotel lobbies for styling inspiration
• I pack one neutral heel and one bold flat
• I bring gloves, brooches, silk scarves and vintage bags that do 80% of the work

I also carry a travel-size steamer, safety pins and fashion tape. Because the line between “icon” and “wrinkled disaster” is one bad hotel iron away.

Where I Save and Where I Don’t

I save on flights. I save on makeup. I save on photography by setting up my own shots or having a friend get the angles.

I splurge on tailoring, outerwear and one lipstick that anchors every look. A good coat and a bold mouth can carry you through anything.

Vintage Travel Realities

Traveling in vintage is a commitment. You learn which fabrics hold up and which wrinkle if you breathe too hard.

• Learn what fabrics travel well (goodbye rayon, hello cotton sateen)
• Be ready for TSA to swab your hair flowers
• Wear your heaviest items on the plane like it’s a damn runway
• Accept that sometimes you’ll look overdressed and do it anyway

And I’ll tell you corsets and TSA are not friends, especially if they have metal boning inside of them. They also seem to know when I’m wearing Spanx and that’s kind of weird but, this is the magic of xray machines, I guess.

Why I Travel This Way

I don’t do this for aesthetics alone. I do it because in every space I enter—especially media spaces—I represent more than myself. I represent the stories I come from. I carry the legacy of the women who weren’t invited into those rooms and the generations who were told to shrink.

So when I show up to a press event, a conference or even a hotel lobby styled like a starlet, I’m not performing. I’m claiming space. I’m reminding people that power doesn’t always look the way they expect it to.

Style is survival. Travel is testimony. This is how I move through the world.

Final Thought

Traveling like an old Hollywood starlet isn’t about looking the part. It’s about commanding space with poise, intention and presence—whether you’re boarding a plane or walking into a press event in someone else’s city.

You don’t need a PR team. You need vision, a good coat and the guts to take up space like you were born for it.

And trust me—you were.