Capsule wardrobes are not new, but they have become more and more mainstream. You have probably heard someone talk about this focused intention of dressing with less, of paring down our wardrobes to basic items we love, that we can mix and match into several outfits. In fact, I mentioned it in my last post!
I have been playing around with this concept for years now. I have culled my wardrobe significantly, I have attempted to do seasonal capsules, I have blogged about it and brought it as a topic of conversation to my Personal Evolution discussion group, but I feel like I never really take it far enough.
Then recently, one of the Capsule Wardrobe gurus, Courtney Carver posted about a 10x10 challenge. Choosing 10 items of clothing that become your entire wardrobe for the next 10 days (keep in mind, shoes count!). I can do anything for 10 days, right?
Admittedly, I work in fairly casual office, so jeans are acceptable, as long as they look nice. If I had to dress more business-like, I would do two separate wardrobes, one for work and one for home.
I sat down with a piece of paper and thought, if I were packing a backpack for a 2 week trip (knowing I will have access to a washer & dryer), what would I pack? As I started my list, I realize 10 items is a bit difficult because it’s supposed to be Spring, but it’s still really cold (and I’m sick of dressing for winter). I work in an office which is always cold no matter what the weather, so I usually wear layers. I quickly realized I would really struggle with only 10 items so an edit was needed to the 10x10 experiment. I considered making it a 15x10 challenge, but that seemed to be cheating. So, in the end, I added 5 additional items, but I also added 5 more days.
Welcome to my 15 x 15 challenge!
What makes up my 15 item wardrobe?
3 pairs of pants, all jeans – blue, grey, white
5 shirts – a pink sweater, and 4 long sleeve Ts in rust, white, purple and black.
3 warm layers – a blue cardigan, a grey cardigan and a black long sleeve layering shirt.
4 pairs of shoes (for a range of weather) – tall black boots, black booties, black/grey ballet flats, sneakers.
I have been playing around with this concept for years now. I have culled my wardrobe significantly, I have attempted to do seasonal capsules, I have blogged about it and brought it as a topic of conversation to my Personal Evolution discussion group, but I feel like I never really take it far enough.
Then recently, one of the Capsule Wardrobe gurus, Courtney Carver posted about a 10x10 challenge. Choosing 10 items of clothing that become your entire wardrobe for the next 10 days (keep in mind, shoes count!). I can do anything for 10 days, right?
Admittedly, I work in fairly casual office, so jeans are acceptable, as long as they look nice. If I had to dress more business-like, I would do two separate wardrobes, one for work and one for home.
I sat down with a piece of paper and thought, if I were packing a backpack for a 2 week trip (knowing I will have access to a washer & dryer), what would I pack? As I started my list, I realize 10 items is a bit difficult because it’s supposed to be Spring, but it’s still really cold (and I’m sick of dressing for winter). I work in an office which is always cold no matter what the weather, so I usually wear layers. I quickly realized I would really struggle with only 10 items so an edit was needed to the 10x10 experiment. I considered making it a 15x10 challenge, but that seemed to be cheating. So, in the end, I added 5 additional items, but I also added 5 more days.
Welcome to my 15 x 15 challenge!
What makes up my 15 item wardrobe?
3 pairs of pants, all jeans – blue, grey, white
5 shirts – a pink sweater, and 4 long sleeve Ts in rust, white, purple and black.
3 warm layers – a blue cardigan, a grey cardigan and a black long sleeve layering shirt.
4 pairs of shoes (for a range of weather) – tall black boots, black booties, black/grey ballet flats, sneakers.
The picture above is my 15 item wardrobe!
Below, is outfit #1: grey jeans, pink sweater, black layering shirt and tall black boots. This is a fairly common formula for me: pant - shirt - layer - boot, so I don't think anyone will even notice I'm doing anything special over the next 2 weeks...however I will be getting dressed with absolutely not fuss every morning! Now that's low stress!
Below, is outfit #1: grey jeans, pink sweater, black layering shirt and tall black boots. This is a fairly common formula for me: pant - shirt - layer - boot, so I don't think anyone will even notice I'm doing anything special over the next 2 weeks...however I will be getting dressed with absolutely not fuss every morning! Now that's low stress!
note the cat photo-bomb!
Epilogue: I asked my coworkers if they noticed anything odd about the way I had been dressing for the last 2 weeks...nobody noticed a thing.
Are you interested in trying your own experiment?
I encourage you to give it a try and let me know how it goes for you!
Epilogue: I asked my coworkers if they noticed anything odd about the way I had been dressing for the last 2 weeks...nobody noticed a thing.
Are you interested in trying your own experiment?
I encourage you to give it a try and let me know how it goes for you!
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