10 X 10 Wardrobe Challenge and What I Learned

So, what exactly is a 10 x 10 Wardrobe Challenge?

Very simply put, it is an exercise in reinventing your style, utilizing what you already have in closet. By whittling your clothing options down to 10 pieces to be combined into 10 outfits over the course of 10 days, it forces the participant to look at their clothes in a new light. The challenge is the brain child of Lee Vosburgh from Style Bee and swept through the blogosphere like wildfire. Three years later and it's still a very popular method for refining your style, putting some perk back into your wardrobe or just to alleviate style fatigue.

I had been struggling as of late on how to define my style, going back and forth between different looks and styles and not really knowing where I wanted to land. I was buying up a good deal of clothing only to be discarded or stored away in a few months. In this confusion, I decided that I needed more structure and direction when it came to my clothing. I decided to set a few goals for my wardrobe:

• Pare down the volume of clothing
• Create one basic capsule, and smaller seasonal capsules
• Shop smarter, less impulse
• Define my style

In making some goals, I decided to try out the 10 X 10 wardrobe challenge, giving a minimalist approach a shot. This seemed like a really good way to test out if I could function with a small pool of clothing and be happy. Plus, it would continue on my shopping hiatus that I have been on. It would also help me figure out different ideas and looks with my already existing clothes.


I pulled my 10 pieces from my closet and arranged them into 10 outfits, taking care to remember if I had any special events or commitments that would require certain clothing items. I choose a black tank dress, a button down chambray shirt, a black tee, a striped tee, black jeans, blue jeans, a gray long cardigan and a mustard yellow kimono sweater. My last two pieces are shoes, a pair of sneakers and a pair of taupe perforated loafers.


How did I do? I started on a Sunday, with the black dress and the chambray shirt. I liked the outfit, but I thought it would look better with a pair of flip flops that I love. So there was that. The next day I realized the chambray shirt was developing three holes - one at the elbow and two at the shirt tails. Only after two wears, I might add. So, I pulled out another shirt to replace the chambray shirt. Four days into it I stopped. I was bored and generally not feeling it. Plus I was pretty certain my co-workers were noticing that I was wearing the same clothes.

Maybe I didn't approach the challenge right, or maybe I am just not that creative in styling. For the past month, I have Pinned, read, collected, and posted through various outlets in a desperate search for style. Maybe I just have wardrobe fatigue, since this was my main focus for quite some time. I realized I was unhappy with the looks I was developing. I felt like I wanted to go minimalist, with clean lines and simple colors. It seemed adult and classy, but also laid back. I wanted to be like my favorite minimalist bloggers and emulate their style. I was unhappy when I realized how difficult that is and I wasn't hitting the mark. And when I did hit the mark, and managed to get a look together that closely emulated what they were wearing...I wasn't as happy as I thought I was going to be.

In my longing to pin down a style, I forgot myself. When I would go looking for clothes and see something that would make my heart leap, I would dismiss it thinking that it didn't fit the "look". So I got disappointed. I find myself starting to miss patterns, and colors and the vintage style dresses I used to wear before I lost weight. I so loved to express myself and personality through clothing and I stuffed that love into the back of the closet. I think with getting older, I feel I can't carry it off anymore, and I am afraid what people will think about me. In thinking that because my body changed, I now had to change everything else about me too.

I was putting pressure on myself and trying to push myself into a little box of what I felt was the proper way to dress. I wasn't following my own song, my own path. I have a bright, quirky personality, why can't I show that through bright quirky clothes? Because I am "too old"? Fuck. That. I am not a style blogger, nor will I be or ever be. And I don't want to. Wearing a sweater with cacti on it makes me happy. Having a dress covered in books makes me happy. I think it's time I dress to make me happy, not to fit into a mold of what I see or what I think I should do. Style inspiration is all well and good, but sometimes you have to sit back and really think about what it is you like.

I still want to pare down the size of my wardrobe, and I have realized there is a place for neutrals. But that place is right next to a blouse with cats all over it. Some days, if I feel like wearing a plain blouse ad jeans, I can do that. And some days I might feel like looking like a three ring circus. That's awesome. I have to create a style and wardrobe that will allow me to do that. I have to be conscious of how much I am shopping and if the item is something I really like. Learning to shop smarter is definitely something I learned. The biggest take away  here is that I can still be me, no matter how thin or old I get. Self expression through fashion has no age limit.

-GG