Category: Capsule Wardrobe

Capsule Wardrobe for a Toddler

The conventional wisdom is that kids need lots of clothes, but I’ve found the opposite is true – we find keeping kids’ clothes to a minimum simplifies laundry, keeping track of clothes, etc. (The same is true for adults’ clothes, too – and dishes, and sheets, and and and…you’d think more is better but it just creates more inventory to manage, as The Minimal Mom says.)

Today I’m sharing our toddler’s “capsule” wardrobe from this past summer to give an idea of just how little your kid(s) might be able to get by with.

For reference, my kid gets dirty pretty regularly and we wash clothes almost daily, thanks to cloth diapers and laundry for four people. If you do laundry less frequently, you can adjust accordingly.

Without further ado, the Toddler Capsule Wardrobe for Summer 2020:

2 sets of jammies
4 short-sleeved t-shirts
3 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of lightweight pants
1 long-sleeved t-shirt
A bunch of socks (including my favorite pink ones with the pink John Deere t-shirt and the purple socks with the tie-dye shirt)

Not pictured:
1 sweater not pictured
1 pair of shoes, 1 pair of sandals
1 pink John Deere ball cap for sun protection

Plus 2 pairs of pants and 2 vintage John Deere t-shirts as backup at daycare, including this gem (with some soup on it, pre-laundry):

(Can you tell we are a John Deere family? My uncles farm with them/sell them.)

Everything goes together (more or less), and almost all of this was inherited from our daughter. I thrifted the sloth pajamas and was excited not to have to buy anything more for this stage.

My spouse, however, was a bit skeptical about whether this would stretch far enough – it does look a bit sparse in the drawer! But I persuaded him to give it a try, and we never ran out of clean clothes (as long as we remember to check the dryer/clean clothes hamper, ha).

If you’re nervous about making it work here’s how to try it out without committing:

  1. determine the number of clothes you think will get your kid through a few wash cycles;
  2. pick their/your favorites until you reach that number;
  3. put the rest in a box someplace out of sight and inconvenient to access so you won’t be tempted to break it open and will be forced to go check the dryer and the clean clothes hamper first :)

I have since thrifted a few pairs of toddler pants for the coming cold, but I shouldn’t have even bothered because our friends just dropped off a grocery bag full of clothes passed on from their youngest, all in great shape and many that fit my kid right now. Hurray! Now to get my older kid to go through her clothes before the in-person portion of elementary school starts… she has a lot more opinions about clothing than the baby does :)

If you have little people at home, do you have a minimal or capsule wardrobe for them? If you haven’t tried it out yet, would you ever consider it?

 

My Current Color Palette

Pretty much everybody who writes about building capsule or edited wardrobes recommends that you start by choosing a color palette.

Some of my favorite posts on this topic, also included in the recently updated “Resources” page: Anuschka Rees; Use Less; oodles of examples you just might want to steal on The Vivienne Files 

Choosing a limited number of colors to focus on goes a long way to narrowing down your clothes to a manageable amount that plays well together (aka a capsule wardrobe), and helps you hone your shopping when you want to fill a wardrobe hole or augment what you already have. Color theory goes a long way towards ensuring the colors you choose actually work together; the first two posts linked above will help you get your head around the basic principles.

Seasonal color analysis (aka finding “your” colors) also hinges on color theory, and if you choose to get analyzed (and the analyst is skilled enough to get it right!), you’ll automatically end up with a color palette that goes well with your natural coloring. Here’s mine from my personal color analysis:

See that “three dimensions of color” chart at the bottom? That’s color theory at work – all these colors share about the same level of hue (warm to cool – or in artist speak, yellow to blue), value (light to dark), and chroma (soft to bright – more or less muted). And that’s why they all look good together.

But that’s still a lot of colors to choose from. And while they technically go together, you might not personally love every combo these colors can make. Maybe you hate green or love neutrals or don’t want to look like an Easter egg.

I mean… (and yes, that pink is more bright winter than light summer…the perils of thrifting online where colors in photos can be deceiving)

So a lot of color palette advice suggests narrowing it down to a few core colors, a few neutrals, and maybe an accent or two. Like this:

Ta-da!

This is a general approximation of the colors I’m currently using in my wardrobe – I eyeballed them from the color-picker on my graphics maker. (And of course monitor colors vary – so if these don’t look precisely Light Summer to you, that’s why!)

Most of the clothes in my wardrobe are pink, blue, or green – with a good dose of neutral-friendly white, gray, and a purply-grey sometimes called faded wine (?? I didn’t make it up…). There are just a few items, like the shoes or pants above, that are purple or yellow, which end up giving a little visual interest to my basic color palette:

 

Personal color analysis did most of the work here for me, but narrowing down my color palette even further has kept me from trying to thrift pants or shirts in every color of my Light Summer palette. And committing to some neutrals, as a wise commenter suggested early in this process, has helped me avoid looking like an Easter egg – except when I want to :)

Do you have a color palette for your wardrobe? Does it help you thrift better/maintain a more coherent closet? Or do you go for whatever color strikes your fancy?

 

Maternity Capsule Wardrobe Update: What’s Left Standing

I’m rounding the bend here – just a few more weeks (give or take, babies have a mind of their own) before Mini Thrifter #2 arrives. At this point in my pregnancy there are only so many things that a) fit and b) are appropriate for winter weather, so I thought I’d share what has become a truly minimalist capsule wardrobe.

As always, it’s all thrifted or secondhand. Here’s where we started:

                        

 

Here’s what I’m actually still wearing (plus a pair of leggings):

        

Plus this, which I haven’t worn in a few weeks but now that I just reminded myself of it I might wear it tomorrow:

Quite a paring down, isn’t it? It’s almost as small as a 10×10 wardrobe challenge. I am getting a bit tired of this limited fare, but not so much because I want more items; I’d just enjoy some more color – the end of this capsule accidentally ended up very white and grey – and the ability to swap in some favorites that don’t currently fit this belly. It’d also be nice to wear pants that don’t require squeezing my stomach to stay up.

As to what’s next: I haven’t really planned for a nursing wardrobe. I found last time that specially-designed tops and bras were more of a hassle than they were worth and I often just ended up pulling up my top and bra and going for it. (Turns out babies cover a surprisingly large amount of your exposed skin, plus there are always nursing covers.) So for the moment my strategy is to keep wearing tops with some give in them and bottoms with some stretch and see what my body does. I’ll keep you updated!

If you’ve gone through pregnancy and/or nursing, what was your “fourth trimester” clothing approach?

Thrifted Fall/Winter Maternity Capsule Wardrobe UPDATE

So as soon as I published my thrifted fall/winter maternity capsule wardrobe, the universe delivered a boatload of secondhand maternity clothes from a very lovely and generous parishioner (thanks, N!!). I laughed at the irony of having just publicly declared I didn’t plan to add any more clothes to my closet and then gleefully dug through two bags’ worth of maternity clothes. It was awesome.

Here are the pieces I kept (and with N’s blessing donated the rest):

 
LED; Motherhood; Jessica Simpson; A Pea in the Pod; A Pea in the Pod

(The striped tee is relegated to weekend wear as it is quite pill-y. PS I guess I like blue and stripes?)

Plus these black pieces for Black Fridays:

In the meantime, I nixed these pieces from the original capsule as too tight, not interested, and too big, respectively…

 

…tucked this one that no longer fits away for non-pregnant wear next spring…

…and demoted these to weekend wear:

The jeans are a good casual fit but the band won’t stop folding double in a way that squishes my belly; plus I’m preferring the slimmer legs of my other 2 maternity pants. I LOVE the color and cut of the sweatshirt, but it has a couple stains on it (I think both are my fault, boo) and some pilling that take it out of office-appropriate rotation.

I also added a super snuggly secondhand winter maternity coat, which I’ll post about next week.

If you don’t count the Black Friday pieces, I clock in with the same number of work-appropriate capsule pieces, so I’m calling it a win. :)

PS Here is a great post from Adina J at Blue Collar Red Lipstick featuring $5,000 worth of clothes thrifted for $65 PLUS great tips on thrifting on the regular. Enjoy!

Thrifted Maternity Capsule for Fall/Winter

Hey all! I’m past the 6 month mark over here, so as the warm weather transitions into fall, it’s time for some legit maternity clothes. Let’s take a look at what’s in my cold weather closet (even as I’m still wearing some warm-weather stuff on Instagram); talk about how it got there; and discuss capsule strategy.

Maternity Wardrobe Capsule Strategy

This “capsule” wardrobe – which I define as an edited collection of clothes I don’t plan on adding to over the next 3 months – is bigger than I would like, numbers-wise. That’s due to a little bit of self-imposed minimalist judgment (“You can’t say it’s a capsule wardrobe with this many pieces in it!” says the little voice in my head) but mostly due to the uncertainty of a growing belly. With my previous pregnancy I wasn’t anywhere near this pregnant during anything near as cold as a New England winter, so in many ways I am guesstimating what I’ll need over the last trimester. Plus, as I feel more than satisfied with the options available to me in this wardrobe and would love not to have to go shopping again, I’m hanging on to a couple of impulse purchases (and a few too many gray dresses) in case I outgrow one or more of my planned items or find them too hard to layer.

I went for a limited color palette to help everything go together: mostly Light Summer solids with some stripes and leopard print thrown in. (There are a few pieces that fall outside my season which I’m hoping will work for my expanding mid-section, so they stay.) I’m aiming for two main outfit combos: a lot of dresses over leggings, and sweaters or long-sleeved tees over maternity pants. I’m relying on blazers, open cardigans, and vests for added warmth without worrying about whether they close. We’ll see how it all shakes out!

Where I Got My Clothes

As described at the end of this post, I went with a combination of thrifted clothes I already had that feature stretch fabrics or loose waistlines; thrifted finds from the non-maternity section; and maternity consignment pieces. Every piece here is secondhand – thrifted, consigned, plus a few Poshmark items.  I’ll note what were actually “maternity” pieces with an asterisk as I go.

The Clothes

Dresses
Dresses are theeee most comfortable thing in my wardrobe right now.

    

Lands End; Old Navy; Liz Lange Maternity*; Merona; J. Jill; Comfy; Gap Maternity*; Merona. The first, second, and last dresses are from my regular wardrobe; the third dress is from my last pregnancy.

Sweaters and Shirts

             

Carol & Chris; some sports brand; Express men’s merino sweater; Xhiliration; Old Navy*; Old Navy; H&M Maternity*; Gap; Old Navy; J. Jill; maternity tee*; GapPure; Loft; Old Navy. The purple sweater and the white sweater are from my regular wardrobe. The empire waist leopard tunic, the popover navy blue tunic, and the blue/purple GapPure sweater are from my last pregnancy.

Top Layers
No buttoning needed!

      

Gap; no label but from the Gap family of companies; Metaphor; Lands End; H&M; Madison & Mercer; Banana Republic; Loft. I thrifted the two vests specifically for this pregnancy; everything else I already had.

Pants and Leggings
I went with one pair of blue jeans; one pair of light jeans; and a pair of corduroys (because we all know I can’t make it through winter without corduroys). I also have white, blue, and grey leggings already in my wardrobe, which I wear under dresses for cooler weather; I find tights too restrictive in the middle even when I’m not pregnant!

  

Liz Lange*; Gap (surprisingly not maternity; it’s called their “legging pant”); Gap*

As I noted previously, this feels like a lot of clothes! Should be interesting to see what actually stays and what goes over the next 3 months. If you’re interested in seeing how someone did a very streamlined version, check out The Daily Connoisseur’s maternity wardrobe or postpartum wardrobe videos.

For those of you in the northern hemisphere, what’s happening with your transition to fall right now? Have you swapped over to fall clothes or not yet?

Check out a few swaps on my capsule wardrobe update post here.

Thrifted Maternity Capsule Wardrobe for Summer

Today I’m sharing what I’ve been wearing this summer as I work on my second trimester. With the exception of a pair of sandals I bought retail last summer, everything here is thrifted – and 98% of it is stuff I already owned that I’m making work for my changing body. (Turns out it pays to like looser silhouettes on top and shorts with a little stretch!) That won’t last forever, however, so I’m trying to enjoy living off of what I have before I get into full-blown maternity clothes.

Without further ado, my current wardrobe!

Dresses

 
Talbots (with J. Crew denim jacket); S Wear; Who What Wear; Old Navy; Old Navy

Tops + Shorts

These are the two pairs of shorts that fit – and apparently that’s all I need! The blue tie-dye-ish top is the only shirt I’ve thrifted specifically for my pregnancy (so far). It’s just an oversized tee that feels like pajamas but looks semi-presentable for dropping the kid off at school or lazing around the house on the weekend.

   
Yellow shorts = Forever21 (pants DIYed into shorts); white shorts = American Eagle. Shirts: Old Navy; Banana Republic; Loft; no tag; Old Navy; Ralph Lauren; H&M; Zara

Sandals

 
Clarks & Saltwaters (retail)

That’s it! Short and simple. It’s been lovely to have in rotation a handful of things that fit and make me feel good, all in my closet at a glance.

Are you capsule-ing it this summer?

PS To see how I’m styling these, head over to my Instagram account.

My Winter Wardrobe

First, a note about my posting schedule. Work is ramping up (hello Advent, you’re right around the corner!) which means lately I haven’t had as much time as I would like to write and publish posts.  For the foreseeable future, you can keep expecting at least one post a week, but my usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule will now become the ideal rather than the norm.  Thanks for your flexibility and for continuing to keep this blog a fun and creative place for community and conversation!

 

And now, this year’s late fall/winter wardrobe, for your viewing pleasure. Since I broke up with capsule wardrobes, this is not a comprehensive list of every single piece I will wear this winter, but rather the pieces I imagine will get the most wear; they form the core of my wardrobe.

Tops

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Coin 1804; Gap Body; Eileen Fisher; Ivanka Trump; Workshop by Andrea Jovine; J. Crew; Cyn; Liz Claiborne; Gap; Loft; L.L. Bean; J. Crew; Joan Vass; Gap Designed & Crafted

I’ve really upped the number of tops this year for two reasons: I have about twice as much winter to contend with, plus my M.O. for expanding a section of my wardrobe tends to be “buy several different varieties I think I’ll like and then see what actually gets worn.”  Instead of “less is more” (which is where I hope to end up), this is basically the “more becomes less” approach.

Re: colors – is anyone surprised that my sweater palette is basically blue and cream, with pops of caramel, grey, and red? That’s my whole summer wardrobe right there.

 

And the dresses keep the theme going….

Dresses

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Gap; J. Crew; Merona; Caslon; Merona

I’ll wear these with cream, blue, and grey tights of varying weights.

 

The pants, however, have a liiiittle more variation in hue happening…

Pants

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Loft; Talbots; Paige; Lauren by Ralph Lauren; Banana Republic; Jessica Simpson

I’m enjoying pairing more neutral tops with more colorful bottoms – if you can call purple so dark it photographs as black (those first pants) “color”!  And yes, apart from the jeans, I’m sticking with the all-corduroy streak again this year. They just feel…cozier.  I’m probably deceiving myself that corduroy imparts extra warmth; after all, the fuzziness is on the outside, not on the inside where it would do some good.  I don’t care; just let me hold onto my comforting delusion!

 

Back to the trusty ol’ red/cream/blue color palette for my layering pieces.

Layers:

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Kate Hill; Merona; Tahari by Arthur S. Levine; The Savile Row Co.; Mercer & Madison; Loft

 

Last but not least…

Outerwear:

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United Colours of Benetton; J. Crew; Larry Levine
That’s a lot for now; I’ll share scarves/hats and footwear in another post.

In the meantime, check out my winter wardrobe this time last year; a lot has changed!

Summer 10×10 Remix: Wrap Up + What I Learned

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As you may remember from my intro post, this was basically a travel wardrobe of tried-and-true favorites masquerading as a 10×10 challenge, which means my goal for it wasn’t necessarily to discover anything new about the items therein.  But I made room for the possibility that I’d learn something, and lo and behold, I did!

#1. I love this shirt.
You know those items you wear so easily that you don’t even know how much you love them because it’s so second-nature to just throw them on?  They don’t feel special, exactly, but then you do something like this and realize that they work with everything and you wear them all. the. time.

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Can you tell which one was taken after spending 10 days outside??  Ha.

Three things make this one a winner:

  • Stripes. These have equal amounts blue/white so the navy doesn’t overwhelm my skin tone. They’re a great width, too; stripes that are all too thin/narrow just look busy to me instead of bold.
  • 3/4 length sleeves.  Combined with the open neck and light material, the sleeves keep this right in the middle between hot & cool. Perfect for in-between seasons and temperature changes while traveling.
  • Silhouette/drape. This shirt has give and flow for a not-too-tight silhouette. The drape adds a certain chicness and insouciance (as well as making room for fried scallops and sweet corn).

Plus the drop shoulders give it some visual interest – those stripes going perpendicular to each other just jazz the whole thing up a little. (I guess that’s 4 things. Whoops.)

#2. Put it on repeat.
Especially on vacation, I am happy to rewear the same item or even outfit. No shame on these back-to-back outfits, where, just like above, I simply swapped shorts:

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If it works, it works, and I don’t need to reinvent the wheel for no reason. This is related to my next discovery…

#3. Life is a 10×10 remix (or a capsule wardrobe?).
Because the color palette was broader, when I did my first 10×10 remix this spring I wore each piece multiple times, yet felt like there were still SO many options left at the end of the 10 days.  It was exciting and invigorating.

At the end of this summer remix, however, I felt not energized but more… content. I hadn’t worn everything, and probably could have gotten by with even less, yet surprisingly I wasn’t bored with my clothes by the end of the trip. (You know that feeling where you just want to chuck the entire contents of your suitcase, dirty or not, into the laundry hamper because you’re sick of seeing the same clothes? Not this time.) It was like I relaxed into my wardrobe as the days went by.

And when I looked at my closet to get dressed for work the next day, I felt happy and “relaxed into” my clothing there, too. I knew what worked together and what I wanted to wear, and felt no need to go thrifting.

I think after 2 years of blogging (and 10 years of thrifting), I might finally be getting into the groove of this capsule wardrobe concept – not a rigid set of restrictions, but a mix of feeling invigorated by and “relaxed into” the clothes I have and happy with the way they fit together.

I still go thrifting for fun and for inspiration, and to change things up occasionally (example: the grey, blue striped, and olive casual summer dresses in this post were all new styles for me and all really hit the spot in different ways), but I’m not feeling the grabby impulse of yore to THRIFT ALL THE THINGS.

It’s a good place to be.

Last but not least…

#4. Never trust Vermont weather.
Whatever the forecast, even in JULY, just assume it will be colder/rainier than they say and pack accordingly. As I mentioned before, I did just fine with a windbreaker over a 3/4 sleeve shirt, but if I had it to do over I’d have swapped this:

IMG_5668 for this: IMG_3673

I kept thinking a sweatshirt would be bulky and take up way too much precious packing space in my tote; I had somehow forgotten about the fleecy, thin wonder that is my Mossimo sweatshirt. Oh well, there’s always next time!

Did you do the 10×10 remix?  What did you learn?  How are you feeling about the current state of your wardrobe? Scroll down to comment!

 

Summer Work Wardrobe

With weather regularly in the 80s here in the ATL, it’s time to post my summer wardrobe! (And as the title implies, this is for work – keep your eyes peeled for my casual summer stuff in a week or two.)

You’ll recognize pants, skirts, dresses, and a top layer from my spring closet; mostly it’s the tops that swap out.  You may have noticed from Instagram (on the side bar ->) that I’ve already been freely swapping short/sleeveless items from this “capsule” into my spring lineup; likewise, I’ll be using some of my long-sleeved spring blouses during summer as weather and context dictate.

Last but not least, my “disclaimer” from my spring post bears repeating: Since I broke up with (strict) capsule wardrobes last summer, this post does not contain every. single. piece. of clothing I will wear for the next few months; but it’s pretty close! My goal with a seasonal wardrobe like this is to have a curated closet full of things I love to wear that play well with one another; you’ll see that idea reflected in the color palette, style, and limited number of clothes shown below.

Without further ado, here’s what’s on the roster for summer 2017.

Tops
It’s time to break out the short sleeves and the no-sleeves! These all have a boxy or flow-y cut and lightweight fabric (mostly cotton or high quality polyester) to keep me cool during the Hotlanta summer.

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Beige floral – Talbots; sky blue sleeveless – Dalia Collection; white sleeveless with lace – Loft; navy polka dot – Jacqueline Ferrar; coral flowers – Old Navy; blue/green ikat – Old Navy; gold crepe – Zara

 

Jackets/Blazers
Fewer top layers this time around because it’s HOT.

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Navy blue blazer – Charlotte Russe; white denim jacket- J. Crew

Pants
I found the blue trousers I’ve been looking for!

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Alfani

Still in the mix from spring:

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Banana Republic; Bandolino; Vince Camuto

I also added these babies back in since summer is rather casual around here:

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Loft


Skirts
No changes here; these have worked really well for me. I do need to get the navy skirt repaired, though, because the tacking on the hem has come undone in one spot.

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Taupe – H&M; navy – J. Crew; white – Ann Taylor

 

Dresses
Out went the long-sleeved blue Land’s End dress – too hot. (Don’t worry, it will make a reappearance this fall.)

Staying on from my spring wardrobe:
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Orange creamsicle sheath – Ann Klein; white sheath – H&M; blue sheath – Ann Taylor; caramel shirtdress – New York & Co.; teal/pattern A-line – vintage

I haven’t worn the orange sheath much – I think its silky smooth lines make it a liiiittle too formal for my taste/environment.  Having a little structure (as in the white and blue sheaths) seems to break things up a bit and hit my sweet spot.  I’ll keep the orange one tucked into the back of my wardrobe in case of any formal summer occasions and then “make an assessment” (Old Gregg, anyone?) at the end of the season.

I haven’t worn the caramel shirt dress AT ALL yet – it’s a bit too short and the weather’s too hot for full-on leggings underneath. I’m looking for some above-the-knee white legging-shorts (sheggings?) to make it work, because otherwise I love it.

New this go around:
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Blue stripe – Old Navy; olive shift – Theme; Swiss dot shirt dress – Old Navy

I’m excited for these more casual dresses since our office really dials down the formal vibe over the summer. The olive shift dress is a new cut and color for me but I think it will work really well with my skin tone and I love the casual-yet-polished sleeve roll (plus who can resist the whole horsebit Gucci nod? Fun detail). The olive shift and the shirt dress also need sheggings, so keep your fingers crossed. (I think I’ve created an inverse wardrobe exponent…)

Confessional interlude: I bought this frick-frackin’ Swiss dot shirt dress by Old Navy AGAIN. (The first someone had cut it and left it with a raw hem so I had it hemmed to tunic length but the shoulders/bust were too small and I eventually, ahem, busted it. The second time I thrifted it as a shirt but didn’t love the hemline and didn’t like wearing it untucked which made it unacceptably un-versatile.) It’s a little less form-fitting and a little more, well, shirt-dress, and I’m hoping that once I find that elusive pair of off-white sheggings this outfit will stick. Third time’s the charm? I’m ether charmingly optimistic on this one or deliberately obtuse – only time will tell.

Shoes
No change here apart from the fact that I need to get my Trotters champagne flats repaired – the sole is flopping around on one of them and Gorilla Glue didn’t work.  Any DIY suggestions before I take it to the cobbler?
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Clarks sandals (retail); Bandolino wedges (more about these here); Champagne flats (more here); Floral sneaks (more here)

And there you have it!  I’ll keep my eyes out for sheggings, an off-white blazer, and some open-toed, muted red flats and that’s about it.
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Have you all switched over to summer wear yet? Scroll down to share!

Friday ReBlog & My 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge

I think I’ve mentioned the 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge before; it’s the brainchild of Lee from Style Bee but I found out about it through Caroline at Un-Fancy. Starting on Monday they’ll be teaming up for a spring 10×10 wardrobe remix and I’m playing along. You can, too!

What’s a 10×10? Both of the links above explain in more detail (and have helpful tips and examples!), but basically you pick 10 pieces from your wardrobe and wear nothing but those items for 10 days.

There aren’t super strict rules – you can count shoes in your 10 or not; you can do 10 straight days or two work weeks; if you have a special event during the 10 days you can leave your formal outfit out of the 10; etc. The point isn’t rules for their own sake, but limitations that spark creativity. Creating 10 different outfits out of only 10 pieces will likely produce new combinations you’ve never thought of, give you new insights into your style preferences and wardrobe versatility, and assuage some of your “I have nothing to wear” and “I need to go shopping” feelings.

Today I’ll share my goals for the challenge, the parameters I’m following, and the 10 pieces I’m including. Next week and the week after I’ll feature shots of how I put them together as outfits. And I’ll follow all that with a post on what I learned. Teaser: I may have had my biggest epiphany of the whole process before I’ve even started!

A tip before you get started: check the 10-day forecast and try to cover all eventualities with layering. My temps will (likely) run from the 50s to the 80s every day so I’m aiming for lightweight long sleeved blouses with a blazer/spring coat for early mornings and AC.

The Goals
I really like the general types of clothes in my closet (slim pants, pencil skirts, etc.) and feel like my wardrobe is already very mix-able, so I’m not looking to discover radically new combinations or silhouettes. What I would like to do is get over the hump with a few pieces I’ve been excited to try out but just haven’t worn yet. Do you ever have that problem in your closet or, say, with a new recipe or a new book? You know you want to incorporate it into your life but until you put it on/cook it/crack it open for the first time, it feels easier to go with tried and true favorites. I’m gonna just go for it with some new pieces that have been sitting on the bench for too long and see how they do.

I also want to challenge myself to post legitimate outfit posts every day for two work weeks. So far I haven’t found a camera set up/photo op time that consistently works for me, which means I haven’t used my Lenten thrifting hiatus to share more outfits/how-I-styled-it posts with you like I wanted to. This challenge is a good excuse to change that.

The “Rules”
Like Caroline’s, my remix will run next Monday through Friday and the Monday through Friday after that so I can focus on my work wardrobe. Although both Lee and Caroline count shoes in their 10, I won’t because I only ever wear the same two or three pairs of warm-weather work shoes that go with everything (you can see them in my spring wardrobe; click the link below) and I don’t think I’ll learn anything new from including them.
Also, accessories definitely don’t get counted in my 10. :)

The Players
All from my spring wardrobe.

Four blouses:
IMG_5564 IMG_5568 IMG_5565 IMG_5600
Banana Republic; Chico’s; Forever 21; Banana Republic Heritage. 

I’ve only worn the muted red BR shirt once; including it will give me a few more test drives to figure out how to style it. I want to find out if the Chico’s top feels too casual for work with its lovely light cotton and tie neck. And I broke the BR leopard print in during cooler weather so I want to deliberately pair it with skirts to get myself out of the mindset that its darker colors belong in fall/winter.

Two skirts:
IMG_5584 IMG_5585
Ann Taylor; J. Crew

I haven’t worn the white one yet at all since I tend to associate all-white clothes with hot weather, but I want to find out if it’s a keeper. It’s labeled two sizes larger than I normally wear but is actually tighter fitting than I’m used to; I’m guessing it shrunk in the dryer, which also explains why the lining is peeking out the bottom. I’m on the fence and need to give it a few good wears to decide.

One pant:
IMG_3784
Vince Camuto

One dress:
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H&M

Haven’t worn this puppy yet; it has interesting structural details I’m a little unsure about (aka weirdness in the chest), so I’m excited to see how I like wearing it.

Two finishing layers:
IMG_5575 IMG_5579 
Arthur S. Levine; Merona

I definitely won’t need these when it hits 80 outside, but my office runs cool and mornings will still be brisk.

Have you ever done a 10×10 (or similar) challenge?  Want to join in on the fun? Check Un-Fancy today for the hashtag to share your outfits on Instagram, or just document your challenge for yourself – you may be surprised by what you learn!