A Woman’s Best Way to Shop for Travel Gear? Do It by the Book

I’m thinking of buying a black jacket for traveling but can’t quite make up my mind. Should it be a Women’s Classic Travel Blazer from Travel-Smith made of a wrinkle-resistant wool/polyester blend, with four inside pockets for valuables ($149); a pretty Merino Box Cardigan in soft wool jersey knit from The Territory Ahead ($125); or a chic Italian-designed, Hong Kong-tailored Boucle Knit Blazer from J. Peterman (on sale this summer for $49)?

All three are from catalogs, so I don’t have to look at myself in any of those unflattering fitting room mirrors or get off the sofa to go shopping. It’s ironic that I’m such a couch potato when it comes to seeking out just the right outfits, money belts, insect repellent, hats and sleeping bags for my travels. But I prefer to shop for my trips at home. It’s convenient and economical because you often don’t have to pay state sales tax when you make mail-order purchases.

For me, it’s also gloriously fun--lying in bed or the bathtub leafing through catalogs, imagining myself climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or alighting from a cab at the Paris Opera looking like Lauren Hutton. Such are the impossible fantasies inspired by today’s slick and sophisticated travel catalogs, which have come a long way from the straightforward presentation of standbys such as L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer and Orvis.

The most clever and romantic catalog surely is J. Peterman. His catalogs, which are called “owners’ manuals,� evoke exotic places as part of the sales pitch, placing you at the bar of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, circa 1925, wearing a tight Chinese silk dress with long slits up the side, or weekending at an English country house perfectly turned out in a Linen Squire’s Blazer.

John Peterman started the Kentucky-based mail-order house in 1987 by selling horsemen’s coats he found in Wyoming and got a big boost when (with no advance warning) he was used as the basis for a character on “Seinfeld.� He travels all over the world on buying sprees, filling the Peterman catalog with items that seem to represent his style and taste--even though the concept and copy is strictly Madison Avenue.

Almost as literate and worldly-wise is the catalog from the Territory Ahead, which has a retail store in Santa Barbara and takes its name from one of the last lines in Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.� Though the company started as a mail-order clothier for men, shooting on location in places such as Costa Rica and Kauai, it expanded into women’s apparel in 1995, and this year dedicated the catalog to the intrepid Victorian travel writer Isabella Bird.

Then there are the more practical travel gear catalogs, which seem to land on my doorstep almost every week. Magellan’s, started a decade ago by a former travel agent, hooked me recently, when someone in the Santa Barbara headquarters noted an article I had written about 10 simple items I take wherever I travel. He pointed out that seven of the 10 are in their catalog. Now I look to Magellan’s for items such as space-saving collapsible water bottles, key rings with hidden compartments for cash, and foldable, rollable Panama hats.

To augment my travel wardrobe, I turn to TravelSmith, based in northern California. Decorated with postcard-quality snapshots of far-flung locales, the TravelSmith catalog offers a wide range of clothes designed to be packable, easily maintained and wrinkle-free. The company suggests a mix-and-matchable, go-anywhere, six-item wardrobe composed of a skirt, jacket, trousers, two tops and TravelSmith’s signature Indispensable Black Travel Dress (also available in midnight blue). A colleague of mine who swears by the dress wore it into the office one day, making us both wish we were on the island of Santorini instead of at the water cooler.

I like the Tilley Endurables catalog, too, sent down from Don Mills, Canada, where the company is located. The Tilley clothing line isn’t strikingly chic, but it’s sensible, attractive and exceedingly well made, with fast-drying travel underwear and famed Tilley hats (accompanied by a lifetime guarantee) the company’s most popular items.

Walkabout Travel Gear in Utah produces a catalog chiefly for the backpacking set, with sleep sacks for use in hostels, adapter plugs and backpacks interspersed with useful travel tips, such as how to find the bridge over the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Most of these travel gear companies have Web sites for shopping and purchasing, while others, such as the wonderful women’s travel outfitter Christine Columbus, and TravelSupplies, have cast their lot with the Internet, dispensing with paper catalogs almost altogether. It’s a pity, I think, although Internet listings have their advantages--namely that catalogs get out of date quickly and are quite expensive for merchants to produce. According to Magellan’s, which launched its Web site early this year, men favor online ordering, while most women still pick up the phone.

For outdoor gear I favor Campmor’s bargain-basement approach (with reduced special-purchase items on display in a lovable little newsprint booklet) or the big catalog from REI, a cooperative (with members sharing profits) founded in 1938 by a Seattle mountaineer in search of a better ice ax. And I was awfully interested to learn recently that there soon will be a catalog of furnishings and knickknacks from hotels in the Ian Schrager chain, such as the Mondrian in L.A. and the Delano in Miami’s South Beach.

But my favorite catalogs are from travel bookstores such as Distant Lands in Pasadena (soon to come out with its own travel gear catalog), with its useful system for rating guidebook series such as Fodor’s and Frommer’s. The catalogs (or inventory lists) for the California Map & Travel Center in Santa Monica and Traveler’s Bookcase near the Beverly Center are on the Internet. And the Literate Traveller isn’t really a bookstore at all, since it sells its intelligent and tasteful collection of travel books, maps and videos by catalog only; a recent compilation, “Around the World in 80 Mysteries,� cataloged whodunits set all over the world. Best of all, once your mail order arrives, you can get back on the couch and curl up with a travel book.

Here’s how to get the catalogs mentioned above. J. Peterman, telephone (800) 231-7341, fax (800) 346-3081, https://www.jpeterman.com; Territory Ahead, tel. (800) 882-4323, fax (800) 232-9882, https://www.territoryahead.com; Magellan’s, tel. (800) 962-4943, fax (800) 962-4940, https://www.magellans.com; TravelSmith, tel. (800) 950-1600, fax (800) 950-1656, https://www.travelsmith.com;Tilley Endurables, tel. (800) 363-8737, fax (800) 845-5394, https://www.tilley.com; Walkabout Travel Gear, tel. (800) 852-7085, fax (888) 722-0567, https://www.walkabouttravelgear.com; Christine Columbus, tel. (800) 280-4775, fax (800) 803-5383, https://www.christinecolumbus.com; TravelSupplies.com on the Web at that address; Campmor, tel. (800) 226-7667, fax (800) 230-2153; REI, tel. (800) 426-4840, fax (253) 891-2523, https://www.rei.com; Distant Lands, (626) 449-3220 or (800) 310-3220 in California, fax (626) 398-7079, https://www.distantlands.com; Traveler’s Bookcase, tel. (213) 655-0575, fax (213) 655-1197, https://www.travelbooks.com; California Map & Travel Center, tel. (310) 396-6277, fax (310) 392-8785, https://www.mapper.com; Literate Traveller, (800) 850-2665, fax (310) 398-5151, https://www.literatetraveller.com.