Summer Capsule Wardrobe: 10×10 Challenge

While I still have too many pieces for a true capsule wardrobe of 33 or 39 pieces, I enjoy completing the 10×10 challenge.  For those of you who don’t know about this challenge created by Lee Vosburgh (aka Stylebee https://www.stylebee.ca/10-x-10-challenge/ ), it involves taking 10 pieces from your wardrobe and wearing them for 10 days.  What I like about doing this exercise is that it shows you how versatile (or not!) your wardrobe can be. For my summer 10×10 challenge, I selected the following items of clothing:

1. White linen blouse
2. Black silk blouse
3. Red t-shirt
4. White jeans
5. Blue jeans
6. Black and white linen pants (with matching belt)
7. Black and white linen top
8. Black blazer
9. Jean jacket
10. Print dress

Some people include shoes but I did not in this scenario.  For me, accessories are an important way of being creative and changing the look of an outfit.  One confession: several of the items in this 10×10 challenge are new. Yes, I have been “shopping”.  Jumpsuits are all the range right now and I admit that I have been craving one. One of my favorite vloggers, Alyssa Beltempo ( https://msbeltempo.com/) showed 20 ways to style a jumpsuit and since watching that video, I decided that it would be a useful item in my wardrobe.  I am very fortunate to have a friend’s mother who is a seamstress. Since jumpsuits are a bit difficult to wear (think going to ladies room!), I asked her to make me a “faux” jumpsuit. I ended up with a two piece suit consisting of a linen v necked top and wide leg pants with a belt. When worn together, they look like a jumpsuit, however, I can wear them separately. And since I am a dress girl, I couldn’t have a capsule without a dress. I found a beautiful Darling of London print fit and flare dress at my new favorite vintage boutique, RUSE (https://www.ruseboutique.com/fc/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwwIPrBRCJARIsAFlVT8-5QxiheZ6uY13JHp2ag_ExsyDbPRKvSCG5G11zl0zsYHqRyNRzrmkaAqAxEALw_wcBa separate post to come about that visit!). A dress is definitely less practical than separates but I love them and always want at least one in my wardrobe.

Day 1 started with my new jumpsuit. Since I am a fan of color, I wore it with red accessories. The linen was new and I am not going to lie, a bit scratchy, but I felt beautiful in it.

Day 2, I went for a full on summer look of white on white. I purchased a white linen top when I was in Provence and I wore it with my trusty white jeans.

This outfit felt fresh and summery and was very easy to wear. I added leopard shoes and a leopard belt to satisfy my diva side. Roarrr! I think it worked.

Day 3, I wore my new vintage dress. I love the bird pattern and I felt like I should be at a garden party instead of work.

The shape of this dress is perfect for my rectangular figure as it gives me curves where I have none.

Day 4, I split up the faux jump suit and wore the pants with a red t-shirt and black blazer. While I felt elegant in this outfit, it felt like a lot of black.

Wait a minute, there is a lot of black in this capsule and that is always a bit of an issue for me. Black makes me feel a bit down.

Since it was Friday, on Day 5, I wore jeans and a black silk blouse, also made by friend’s mother.

Like linen, silk is such a great fabric for summer. It is breathable and sustainable. I am fortunate that my friend’s mother is Italian and has an entire armoire full of fabrics she bought in Italy. I feel better about “buying” things from her than from a store. Other than vintage shopping, this option is definitely a more environmental option. Plus, I definitely know who made my clothes! No sweatshop here.

Day 6 = Saturday. Looking at my options, I was starting to feel a bit limited. I pulled out my white jeans and looked at my linen top. Would this go together? I added the belt as a bow, black sandals and my red purse. Voila! An elegant, chic yet easy outfit .

Maybe it is a bit fancy for a Saturday but I felt fantastic in this outfit. Honestly, I would have never thought to put this together but I love this combination. This is my favorite part of 10×10 challenges. It forces you to rethink your pieces and be creative with them. I would definitely wear this outfit to work.

On Day 7, I picked jeans and my white linen top. It was a hot day and linen is a great option when it is hot. The linen top is easy, breezy and so comfortable.

Back to work on Day 8. I decided to mix things up and wear the dress as a “skirt” with a red t-shirt on top. To take me out of my comfort zone, I thought about wearing this outfit with silver sneakers, but I decided to go with my red pumps.

What was really funny was that several people commented on how pretty my “new skirt” was! They were surprised when I showed that it was not a skirt but a dress. This challenge really shows how you can really rethink your clothes.

On day 9, it was back to my trusty white jeans and black silk blouse with the denim jacket on top. I love the black and white look. I think it is forever chic and super easy to wear.

I added the yellow belt for a touch of color to make me happy.

Last day of the challenge! I went with a red t shirt and jeans.

I added a scarf and ballet flats for more of a French chic look. I was very comfortable in this outfit, which was great since I had a production run that day and I was very busy.

Some of my thoughts from this summer 10×10 challenge:

Capsule wardrobes really force you to be creative with what you have: think dress with red t-shirt and white jeans with the linen top. I was surprised with the number of outfits that I was able to create with 10 items. I even still had two other outfit ideas in mind (white jeans and red t, linen pants and black silk top).

Since I am always cold in air conditioned offices and restaurants, I would have appreciated having another sweater or two in my capsule. I ended wearing either my jean jacket or black blazer every day but I got a little tired wearing these two items every day.

Having the basic items I included in my wardrobe (white top, black top, jeans, white jeans, black jacket, jean jacket) were critical in allowing me to have a number of wardrobe options. This proves to me that it is true what other blogs say. You need basics as building blocks to be able to create a number of outfits.

Doing this challenge proves to me again how few items you need in your wardrobe. Instead of going shopping, we need to look in our closets and think about we can reuse and design new outfits from what we already have.

Challenge for the Week: Are you up for a 10×10 challenge? It’s an interesting way to be creative with your clothes and make you realize that you have enough clothes in your wardrobe. No need to shop, even vintage!