Spring 10x10 Challenge Recap
Phew! The Spring 10x10 challenge is over!
I find it interesting how life is a constant curve ball. One day you’re planning for a 10x10, thinking you know what the weather and your schedule will be like, and the next thing you know, you’re working thrice as much as you expected to, your hot water is basically non-existent, and it isn’t nearly as sunny as you planned for.
Even with the craziness and the variables, I’m glad I stuck with the challenge.
My 10 items were made up of 4 tops, 2 jeans, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 jacket and 1 dress. You can see them all here.
I decided to try out the 10x10 challenge because I’d been feeling stuck in a style rut. I kept reaching for the same items and wanted to stretch my styling abilities a little bit.
And I think, if anything, the challenge gave me a clearer picture of what my style is.
It’s interesting, because I’ve been at this capsule wardrobe thing for a year now. You’d think I’d know what my style is. I definitely think I had a good idea of my style before doing this challenge, but documenting my outfits and styling choices, even hair styles gave me a much better look at what I actually like to wear and how I like to style my outfits.
Besides getting a clearer picture of my personal style, I took away three lessons from the challenge.
Lesson 1: leave jackets out
If you guys kept up with my daily blogging, you heard me complain about how bored I was of my black jacket. To be honest, I mostly wear jackets when it rains or if I know I’ll be walking around in brisk weather. And to continue being honest, I rarely wear the same jacket multiple days in a row.
Getting bored with the jacket also helped me figure out ways to layer up so I wouldn’t need one, which is a cool lesson on its own. Anyway, I tried to make the faux leather jacket work as long as possible, but by Day 8 I was done. I pulled my denim jacket out of storage and wore it.
I’d been debating whether or not to replace my jean jacket with a better quality one. I’d starting convincing myself I needed a new one even though I just bought mine last year. But pulling it out of storage and wearing it reminded me how much I actually like the jacket I currently have. It’s not the greatest quality denim, but whatever. It’s in great shape right now and it’d be super silly for me to go out and buy a new one.
Next time the 10x10 challenge comes around, I’ll be leaving jackets out of the equation. It turns out I look at them more as accessories than part of the outfit, anyway.
Lesson 2: do laundry first
I’m not lucky enough to have a washer and dryer at my disposal. Living in an old building in the middle of the city means Brandon and I live the laundromat life. We were due for a laundry day right before the challenge started but didn’t make it happen because of life. It was one of the reasons I didn’t wear my thrifted copper t shirt as much as I thought I would. The thing just needed to be washed!
You probably get the idea that I’m not the greatest at laundry, and you’re kinda right. I by no means wear dirty or smelly clothes, but I’m also not the type to wash my clothing after one wear. My little routine of washing and refreshing my clothes between washes works for me, but I definitely plan on having laundry fresh clothes for the next challenge.
Lesson 3: accessories are fun
This doesn’t quite sound like a lesson, but it was for me. I think part of my style rut was because I hadn’t been accessorizing at all. I already have a simple, minimal style and I think I’d gotten a little bored of it.
Knowing I’d be super limited in my clothing options led me to think about how else I could add variety to my outfits. I found myself playing around more with my small necklace collection but I also reached for some of my bracelets. And while I wore the bracelets with pretty much every outfit, just having a little bit of interest on my wrists or neck helped me feel like my outfit wasn’t boring. I was able to keep my easy-going vibe AND accessorize and that felt really cool.
I’ve been meaning to invest in some accessories and I think this challenge gave me the motivation I needed to make it happen. I’ll probably share my collection once I fill in the gaps. Simple gold jewelry is my jam, so expect to see lots of dainty pieces!
Did you participate in the 10x10 Challenge? What were your takeaways? Link up to your blog in the comments so I can read all about them!
