I first became interested in minimalist fashion and capsule wardrobes about four years ago when I found a blog called Unfancy run by a woman named Caroline Joy. She created capsule wardrobes for herself each season with 37 items and wrote blog posts about minimalist fashion and personal experiences. About two years ago, Caroline teamed up with Lee Vosburgh of Style Bee to do the 10×10 challenge (which Lee created). The idea is to choose 10 items of clothing and shoes (excluding pajamas, workout clothes, underwear, etc) and remix them to make 10 outfits over the next 10 days. Caroline and Lee both have a ton of information about this on their blogs, so check them out if you want to learn more!
Personally, I don’t love capsule wardrobes as a permanent lifestyle. I tried out two capsules of my own and ended up feeling limited and bored. However, the 10×10 intrigued me because it’s easy, short-term, and a good way to get more creative with your clothes. Even though I didn’t want to commit to wearing a certain set of clothes for a whole season, I thought I could manage 10 items for 10 days. So without further ado, here are the 10 items I picked:
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Light Wash Mom Jeans
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Black and White Shorts
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Short Black Boots
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Collared Blouse
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Black Cardigan
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Cropped Bicycle-Patterned Shirt
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Black Keyhole Tank
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Lace Tank
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Leather Vest
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Black Sweaterdress
I chose to stick to a color palette of black, white, and denim in order to keep it simple for my first attempt. Also, I wore black tights under the shorts and the sweaterdress but didn’t include them in my ten items because I consider them an accessory. The next step is to create the ten outfits. You can see all of mine pictured below:
I really loved this 10×10 challenge because I’d been feeling bored of my clothes lately. I wanted to find a way to create something new without actually buying new clothes and this worked perfectly! It doesn’t require much time to plan (just make sure you check the weather!), it’s a very temporary commitment, and you don’t have to spend any money. I got lots of compliments on my clothes (and only a few people realized I was wearing the same thing every day). Also, don’t worry if you don’t end up wearing all 10 outfits in 10 days–some activities call for specific clothing that isn’t included in the challenge and that’s totally ok. I think the real benefit comes from choosing the items and putting together the outfits. It is good to practice whether or not you can wear them over a 10-day period even if you don’t like the idea of capsule wardrobes or minimalistic fashion. At the very least, you’ll feel inspired and fashionable, and that’s something we can all support!