As part of my, and my friends, desires to simplify we decided to embark on a challenge together as a group. The 10 x 10 Wardrobe challenge. My friend’s Amy and Megan read about it on another blog and suggested we all jump in and try it out. So we did! And I am here to share our journey.
The basics of the challenge are 10 pieces of clothing forming 10 outfits for 10 days. (A similar concept to the wardrobe capsule, only a slightly different take.) Shoes and jackets count, other accessories (think scarves, hats, etc.) don’t. The main idea behind the challenge is stretching a limited wardrobe into different creative outfits and to also get out of your normal comfort zone a bit when it comes to your clothes/style. It gives you a chance to step back, take a look at your closet and learn to remix your current clothes into a great personal style. And part of the outcome is learning to live with less (stuff) without really sacrificing much.
A fun twist to our group challenge is that each of us are a little different in our daily needs.
We have a work from home Mom (me!), a pregnant working Mom, a more casual office environment Mom, and a little more corporate environment Mom. All of these things must be considered and we each consulted our calendars to check for outings, meetings, etc. for the 10 days to help us plan accordingly.
With the rules covered, we each took to our closets to pull out our 10 pieces. Most of us stuck with
- 2 pairs of pants
- 2 pairs of shoes
- 1 jacket/cardigan
- 4 shirts/tops
- 1 dress
One tip is to pick out a few pieces that are versatile and can be used in creative ways. Megan rocked a basic black dress 3 ways as a dress, a shirt and a skirt!
Most of us picked out a dressier shoe and a casual shoe, a dressier pant and a more casual jeans, and a mix of shirts. The initial picking out of clothes was pretty fun and we all felt very confident.
“I tried to choose pieces for my real life needs/style (work, park, casual hang-outs), not some fantasy wardrobe of happy hours, date nights, and chic errand-running.”
We all started out pretty strong and were enjoying putting our outfits on, the quickness of which it took to get dressed in the morning. and the feeling of living a little simpler.
A few days in. I hit a problem when I got struck with the sickness. Since I was at home in bed most of 3 days, I stayed in pajamas, but I plan to makeup those days by adding them back into my overall total.
The rest of the girls hit a wall about halfway through…all tired of wearing the same pants, re-working a shirt the same way and just general running out of steam for the challenge. But we all stuck with it!
“I am SO over these 10 pieces!”
“Thursday can’t come soon enough.”
“So very tired of wearing these same 2 pairs of pants.”
“Wish I had thought more about versatility, I feel like I am in the exact same outfit everyday.”
“I hate this cardigan, I hate these pants, I’ll never wear these clothes again.”
So what did we learn from this experience? That we aren’t as creative as we thought?That we really need way more than 10 pieces? That this was a dumb idea? Yes, for sure some of that. But we also all felt a little more confident that even though 10 pieces was way too limiting we can start to make purchases with a better viewpoint in mind, thinking about if that particular item will really add to our wardrobe.
“I realized that way too much of my wardrobe isn’t as functional as I want it to be. Going forward, I need to focus on a piece’s versatility when buying.”
Are you ready to give it a try? Here are a few tips from all of us that might help you be more successful than we were.
Tips for Thriving in the 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge:
- Take it a step further than pulling out 10 pieces and put together all 10 outfits ahead of time.
- Look at the 10 day forecast! Texas weather is crazy and you don’t want to freeze yourself or be sweating nonstop.
- Think really carefully about your shoe choices. Take into account activities you have that week, do you need something super dressy or do you need to make sure you have a comfy pair.
- Make sure to have 1 or 2 items you can really dress up if something requires it.
- Choose a couple good layering pieces that will pair well with different tops and bottoms.
- Be mindful of how you plan to wear something. ie If you are going to tuck in a top make sure the pants you pick will allow for that.
- Accessorize! There is no limit to your accessories so really lean on those to spice up your outfits and make them look and feel different.
I challenge each of you to give this a try! It’s only 10 days. And it really will stretch your approach to your wardrobe in different ways. And it can also pull you out of a style funk if you feel like your outfits are stale. Use this as a chance to pull something out of the back of your closet that you never wear and work it back in to your attire. 10 items. 10 outfits. 10 days. Jump in!
Have you done this challenge before or something similar? What did you learn? Did you enjoy it or hate it? Tell us about it in the comments!
