By design, Love Is Blind believes that when it comes to dating, looks aren’t what’s most important. Technically, you could meet your future spouse in the pods wearing a chicken wing–stained footie pajama onesie, and they’d be none the wiser. (We’d love to see it).

But, for better or worse, the singles looking for love have chosen a more fashion-forward path throughout the years — be it Barnett’s reunion blazer, Alexa’s one-and-done outfits, Deepti’s stunning wedding lehenga or Bartise’s extensive collection of dangly earrings.

With the arrival of Season 4, 30 new men and women are joining the social experiment in search of a soulmate. And, while they might not be able to see each other, everyone else watching at home certainly can. The packing pressure is on, especially when it comes to making a first face-to-face impression on your future husband or wife. For some, preparing their looks was a last-minute consideration, while others spent weeks deciding what would go into their suitcase (or three, if you’re Micah) — amounting to a 12-episode fashion show. 

Read below to hear from the women of Season 4, including Tiffany, Chelsea, Jackie Irina and Micah, about how they approached packing. Because while love might be blind, dressing certainly doesn’t have to be.

Micah brought three suitcases.

“There was so much stress around packing. I know I’m already someone who has the most insane closet of clothes and shoes, but I just decided to go ahead and double it. I got a ton of new stuff, and I was just really nervous about being able to show my style, but also not looking crazy. In my head I was like, ‘Gosh, I don’t know how that dress is going to come across.’ I was like, ‘Let me just get some new stuff.’ But it was honestly really fun. I felt like the sky was the limit. I was like, ‘Money is no object.’ So honestly, it was pretty fun. All I know is I had three suitcases, and then no one else did.”

Tiffany wanted her reveal dress to “stand out.”

“My approach to packing was I needed something to define my personality, so that’s bold and vibrant. I needed a lot of colors. I knew during my reveal dress I wanted something that was bright. I wanted something that was going to stand out. For the pods, I wasn’t so much worried about it because I was like, ‘Oh, he’s not going to see me anyways,’ so I was fine with that. But that reveal dress, it had to be the one.”

Chelsea brought “upwards of 28 pairs of shoes.”

“I prepared my outfits for the show for a long time. My representation of my true self on the show was very important to me. I really believe in championing your own self-expression. For me, I knew that my reveal dress, I wanted it to be Chelsea. I wanted those doors to open and he was like, ‘That’s my wife. That’s my girl. That’s Chelsea. That’s who I met in the pod, and she’s who she is.’ I also pride myself on being a very consistent individual. Who you get me on here is who you going to get me in other contexts. That was important to me. I definitely planned out outfits. I mean, you’ve got to think about your color palettes, right? Jewel tones, you got to think about those! I took pictures of everything. I kind of thought about what I was going to wear each day, but as soon as I got to the hotel, I organized all my outfits with all my shoes. I brought upwards of 28 pairs of shoes.”

Irina… has some regrets.

“I’d say I hated my reveal dress. That was so much. I just hated how I looked and I hated how I felt. My whole closet is neutrals, black, white, and that’s a lot of things I couldn’t wear. So I feel like that was my first time wearing color and it was new to me, but I honestly don’t feel like I was able to express myself as much with what I was wearing.”

Jackie packed the night before.

“I’m a late packer. I packed the night before. I’m not the type where I am going to stress out. My producer, she had to get on me. She was like, ‘Have you packed?! I’m like, ‘No, I haven’t packed yet.’ She FaceTimed me at 6:00 p.m. the night before [the show began] and she’s like, ‘OK, we’re packing.’ So I’m just showing her little things in my closet saying, ‘Is this good enough?’ ‘Yeah, throw it in.’ I'm the type where I’m just going to make anything work, so I wasn’t stressed out. My reveal dress, though, I was like, ‘I need to be up to par. I need to be top-tier. I need to be on my A game.’ So I was like, ‘I’m a fresh blonde. Let me just go ahead and get a doo-doo brown dress.’ So I went and ordered me a brown dress and I got brown heels. I just threw it on and that was it.”

Love Is Blind Season 4 TrailerFirst comes love, then comes reality.