10×10 Wardrobe Challenge: Work Outfits

I’m so excited/nervous to share that I’m finally taking the plunge and accepting the 10×10 wardrobe challenge! For 10 days, I’m going to mix and match only 10 items from my wardrobe. I’ll explain how the challenge works, my motivation behind finally trying it, and what I hope to learn.

What is the 10×10 Challenge?

Created by Lee Vosburgh of Style Bee, this challenge is an exercise in creating a mini capsule wardrobe, mixing and matching 10 clothing items (& shoes) over a period of 10 days. It’s a fun challenge to help you take a fresh look at the clothes you own and to reimagine different ways to style them. Here are the basic guidelines:

1. Pick any 10 items from your closet
2. Think of fun new ways to pair your gorgeous clothes
3. Wear only those clothing items during the 10 days of the challenge
4. Accessories (hats, bags, scarves, jewelry) don’t count toward your total
5. Loungewear (PJs and sweats) and activewear don’t count toward your total
6. Shoes do count toward your total (but this is flexible- if it doesn’t work for you, don’t do it!)

This latest Spring 10×10 challenge begins Friday, March 30, 2018. Most peeps are doing it for 10 days straight, but of course you can customize this to fit your life (I’m doing 10 business days, so not counting weekends).

Umm What? How is This Gonna Work in Reality?

I first saw this challenge a while ago, and it’s been in the back of my mind since then. I loved following along on Instagram and checking out the #10x10friends posts to see how everyone styled their pieces.

I knew I wanted to try it, but life and excuses got in the way. To be honest, I think I just wasn’t ready to put the effort into taking a good, hard look at my wardrobe. Since I’m newer to the intentional closet movement, I have a long way to go to change a lifetime of habits and purchases. My closet(s!!) are hardly a minimal haven.

One hesitation for me is that my wardrobe is the polar opposite of neutral and minimalist. I love bright, bold colors and memorable patterns. Almost all the tops, dresses, and rompers I own are statement pieces. The only neutral things I own are pants and shoes. Because of this, I don’t typically accessorize much. So accessories are not really the best way for me to freshen up the same wardrobe staples (bc I don’t own many bags, scarves, or statement jewelry). Another related area of resistance for me is that I see the same people every day. If I wear a sweater with electric pink polka dots or a jewel toned paisley romper twice in 10 days, I think people in the office will notice. It feels like most of the folks I see participating have very casual, plain wardrobe pieces. Sure, it’s easy to style a white tee and high-waisted Levi’s a zillion ways, but try doing it with brightly colored work clothes.

Another big hesitation is that my work wardrobe is completely different than the clothes I wear in my personal life. Personally, I prefer elephant pants, flannels, and birkenstocks, but professionally I work in law firm. I try to mesh those worlds the best I can, (my kimonos and ponchos have definitely made their debut in the law office) but I would never wear a fitted blazer or black ankle pants in my daily life if it wasn’t for work.

Luckily, the challenge can be personalized to work with your life and wardrobe. In her first round, Lee of Style Bee did 10 business days, and focused the items on work clothes. So that’s what I’m gonna do. 10 business days of work outfits with 10 pieces. And given all my resistance and reasons for hesitation, I’m gonna try my best to just have fun with it and not take it too seriously.

Ok, So Why Take the 10×10 Challenge?

This challenge encourages conscious interaction with your closet.

Everyone has slightly different motivations for trying this challenge, but it all comes down to a desire to interact with your closet in a new way. To take a fresh look. To try new ways of styling old pieces. Here are some of the benefits that encouraged me to finally give it a try:

1. Approachable way to test out a capsule wardrobe or minimal closet
2. Encourages you to take a fresh look at your closet and consider how the pieces fit together (or don’t)
3. Helps you think of new ways to style old clothes
4. Encourages the “fewer, better things” mindset
5. Interact with the fun 10×10 friends community and meet likeminded peeps
6. Have fun mixing it up and challenging yourself to something new
7. Give your clothes the love and wear they deserve
8. Getting ready is a breeze when you’ve already selected your outfits

Ok so now that you have a full rundown of how the challenge works and why I’m doing it, who’s with me?! I know Brandi of Thoughts by B is in! Check out my Instagram to see my wardrobe picks and how I style them. I’ll try my hardest to get pics of my outfits so I can do a recap post afterward. I can’t wait to try this out and share all my thoughts along the way. Comment below if you have any questions or wanna give it a try!