I did it! I successfully completed a 10 day capsule wardrobe challenge! Yes, me - lover of all things fashion, who converted a small bedroom into my personal walk-in closet... but I did it and it was SO FUN!
WHAT IS THE 10X10 CHALLENGE?
The below was taken from the boss-lady creator herself - Lee (the Bee) Vosburgh, of the blog Style Bee:
"The 10 x 10 Challenge™ is an exercise I established in 2015 to help encourage myself to get more creative with my clothes during a 30 Day Shopping Fast. The concept is essentially a micro capsule closet of 10 items that you work with for 10 days, trying new looks and styling your clothes in ways you might not otherwise try.
THE BASIC GUIDELINES
- PICK ANY 10 ITEMS FROM YOUR CURRENT CLOSET
- STYLE THOSE ITEMS INTO 10 DIFFERENT LOOKS
- USE 10 DAYS TO DO IT
- HAVE FUN AND DON’T TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY!
I say ‘guidelines’ instead of ‘rules’ because this is meant to be a fun and helpful exercise, not a daunting or rigid task. You can limit yourself to only those 10 items for the full 10 days or just wear those items to work or after work. Take the weekend off and do 10 business days (that’s what I started with). You can try a smaller challenge first if you prefer with only 6 items over 6 days or up the ante and choose a few more items to style over a longer period (I’ve done 20 pieces over 20 days before and 30 items over 30 days).
Do whatever makes it feel manageable but still be sure to challenge yourself!"
So basically you choose 10 items - tops, bottoms, layering pieces and shoes. Don't include accessories, bags, hats, PJs, or gym clothes - those can flow in and out freely. Then you create a new outfit each day, for 10 days, using your 10 items.
Sounds easy, right?
HOW I PICKED MY ITEMS:
So, let's start about a week out from the challenge: I wanted to give myself plenty of time to sort through my wardrobe for my 10 most favorite, versatile pieces.
I took a night to go through things and try on styles - narrowing it down to probably 15 things I thought would pair well together. After narrowing it down, I created an excel document and pasted in photos (either the exact pieces from the websites, or similar styles) so that I could drag and drop them to make "outfits". I created one tab for all of the outfit pieces, and separate tabs for different groups of 10 items. Yes, I spent way too much time doing this, but it was SO helpful. I'm a planner - I need to know ahead of time exactly what I'm going to do, especially when it comes to what I'm wearing! Digitally planning out looks made the process that much easier.
The next day I went back and tried on the outfits that I dragged and dropped in my excel sheet, to see if they'd actually look good on my body. Some of them did, and some totally didn't. Some looks felt really forced, while others made me feel like "me" - which helped me narrow down my choices even more.
Mid-picking, I decided to not included shoes in my 10 items. For me (a shoe-a-holic) this freed up 2-3 spots to incorporate more main pieces. This felt better for me, and ultimately lead to being able to rotate in more outfits. Once I eliminated the shoes, I spent another night adding in and trying on a few more options - all still from the same 15 pieces I'd narrowed down initially.
Then finally, about a day before the challenge started, I had my 10 pieces! I tried everything on - the exact outfits I'd be wearing, and took photos of each one (and updated my spread sheet with dates!).
WHAT I PICKED:
DENIM JACKET // Old Navy
BLACK TANK // Old Navy
FLORAL DRESS // H&M
BROWN PANTS // Everlane
WHITE SHORTS // H&M
BLACK SKIRT // J.Crew Factory
STRIPED TEE // H&M (Old, Similar)
KNIT CARDIGAN // H&M
STRIPED TANK // Old Navy (Old, Similar)
WHITE CROPPED TANK // Aritzia
NOTE: I ended up swapping out the black pants in this photo for the floral dress linked above!
While I tried to limit myself to the three shoes shown above, I definitely rotated in a few additional pairs. I also decided to do my 10 days just during the work week - so I started that Friday and took both weekends in between off.
MY GOALS:
To get more comfortable with wearing the same items multiple times in the same week (or very close together) - not something I typically do. I rarely repeat the same outfits, let alone wear the same piece twice in a row, so my goal was to let go of the "everyone will notice" mindset and just enjoy wearing pieces that I truly love.
MY OUTFITS:
Shoes - Splendid (Similar)
WHAT I LEARNED:
This was my first 10x10 challenge and I learned SO much about myself and my style. I learned that people really DON'T notice when you wear a shirt on Monday, then again on Wednesday, and I learned that I feel super confident when I'm wearing something I really love. This challenge has motivated me to simplify my wardrobe, and to buy smarter. It may have taken a whole week to pick my 10 items, but I learned that the things I did choose really ARE some my closet favorites. While I loved my options, I also realized towards the end, that I missed some of my other outfit staples. I found myself wanting to swap out tops more so than bottoms, and I'm glad that I didn't limit myself to shoes! But most of all, I learned that I actually LIKE being limited to a select few wardrobe pieces! SHOCKER. Getting ready in the morning was 100x easier than my normal routine of changing 10 times before finding something that feels like "me". Definitely not something I expected to feel, and I really surprised myself.
TIPS:
- Try to plan out your outfits ahead of time so that you can just throw them on in the morning and not have to worry about wether or not it'll look good! Take photos so you can easily remember what to pair with what.
- Consider the weather! I definitely didn't pay close enough attention to it when picking my outfits and ended up making some swaps in my items to accommodate high temps. I kept my layering pieces in the mix though because I work in an office setting and you know, AC.
- Think about what activities you'll be doing during these 10 days, especially when you're picking shoes (if you include them). I took the weekends off because we were in Maine and I knew I'd be in my bikini and grungy "camp" clothes the whole time. It was brutally hot/humid during my 10 days, but since I work in an office, I had to keep it appropriate.
- Opt for basics. I don't do color (and if you do, that's totally okay too!), which makes it much easier to put looks together because everything is neutral and pairs well together (for the most part). Start with your favorite pair of jeans, black pants, etc. and pick out your tops/layers from there.
- Consider proportions. Don't include a crop top if you wouldn't pair it with your favorite pair of low-rise denim. Decide what silhouettes suit you best and pick your items based on that.
- Enjoy it!
So there you have it! Overall I had so much fun participating in this challenge. I loved following along with other women and got so much inspiration for future outfits and challenges. I will definitely be partaking in the Fall and I'm excited to incorporate more of my favorite pieces into that mix. What about you guys - did anyone else join in the challenge? What were your goals, and what did you learn from participating?
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