I thoroughly enjoyed completing my first 10x10challenge back in January more than I expected, so I’ve decided to do another…
So welcome to my February 10×10! (in March). February always gets me like that, ending so abruptly!
Anyhoo, for this wardrobe outfitting challenge I chose a feminine palette of apricot and blue – who knew they worked together? I threw in a couple of patterns and a couple of items with a back story (you know how I love a back story) and voilà, my second capsule wardrobe was born! Happy birthday!!! Ha.
Wardrobe Planner Ratio
Ratio is key!! My ratio of tops to bottoms was 5:3 respectively and because I had planned my outfits, I knew I could wear ALL 5 tops with ALL 3 bottoms creating 15 outfits no problem. This was largely because I had stuck to a colour palette, although the palette was a little more unexpected than your typical capsule wardrobe which kept it exciting and a little more experimental.
However, not everything has to work together so don’t let this hold you back, you only need to generate 10 outfits, or even 9 is still great!
Clothes Style for The Real World
But then the Sydney weather kicked in…
It rained. The sun came out.
It rained. The sun came out.
It dropped 5 degrees and got windy and continued in this manner for days which meant I didn’t wear my silk camisole so my capsule reduced from 10 to 9.
This forced me to layer up my remaining tops, suddenly I had to wear a shirt as a jacket!
Why Outfit My Wardrobe?
And this is the whole point of the 10×10 outfit challenge. It doesn’t really matter – well not to me – if you don’t quite create 10 outfits, the whole concept is to stop thinking ‘items’ and start thinking ‘outfits’ so you :
- Encourage you to mix and match items you’ve never paired together
- Experiment with mixing color, patterns or textures
- Increase your outfit choices
- Make your wardrobe work harder, reducing your cost-per-wear
- Expand how many ways you wear an item
- Breath new life in to a piece because of the way you’ve paired it
- Bring you more satisfaction and enjoyment
- Gives you a greater understanding of WHY you wear what you wear
And that’s exactly what fashion should be all about, satisfaction & enjoyment!!
Find Your Style
The other vital factor to this concept is how it makes you accountable for the AMOUNT OF TIMES YOU WEAR EACH ITEM OF CLOTHING.
This also helps you realise what you’re NOT wearing and why which is so helpful when making purchasing decisions – helping you find your fashion style.
Fashion Stylist Shock
I work as a fashion stylist and I was even surprised I created so many outfits from my remaining 9 pieces! I managed 18 different looks!! YES! 18!! It was like buying an album and discovering 8 bonus tracks!! ha.
BUT WHAT SHOCKED ME MOST..
What actually shocked me was that my 2 favorite outfits created were BRAND NEW TO ME!!
I’d never thought of putting these tops & bottoms together and that’s because they had been bought over a period of 20 years! I hadn’t joined the dots!
It was only due to the 10×10 challenge that made me try them as an outfit and they are 2 of my all time favorite outfits I can’t wait to wear!!
Staying True To My Personal Style
A key factor for converting so many ITEMS-TO-OUTFITS was due to staying try to my personal style. Because they have a similar look and feel to them, they’re easier to combine!
And just a side note – have you noticed that neither of my 10×10 capsule collections contain a black piece of clothing or accessory!?!
Teaching clients how to combine colours other than black is a vital part of my personal styling service
Wardrobe Makeover DIY Style
Now, as I’ve mentioned, colour is a key factor when curating a mini-wardrobe but this is something you can influence. My pale denim skirt didn’t start out life as a pale denim skirt, I gave it a bit of a 2-stage wardrobe makeover:
- Bleaching it
- Transforming jeans into a skirt
Have you ever thought about giving your denim a makeover? Here’s a few fashion tips on how:
TRANSFORMING CLOTHES IN TO AN ACCESSORY
I work as a personal stylist so it’s my job to think outside the box so I decided to see what happens when I gave my top a fashion makeover and turned it in to a scarf…and I loved the result!
It’s silk so it’s comfortable for wearing around the neck and when I decide I don’t want ‘Metallica’ scrolled across my boobs, I can cover the graphic with a more feminine floral scarf-slash-top. Brilliant.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you have to magically turn clothes in to accessories but the point I want to illustrate is:
HOW LITTLE YOU ACTUALLY NEED IN YOUR WARDROBE TO CREATE INTERESTING NEW OUTFITS
As long as you have chosen flattering, versatile items!
Hair Scarf Styled 3 Ways – & NONE Of Them Are In My Hair!
Talking of accessories, hair scarves are a key fashion trend but don’t restrict their use to just the hair. Ultimately it’s just a long piece of fabric so be playful with it’s uses.
Here’s my leopard print scarf worn 3 different ways…and none of them in my hair!
Just because you bought it as a hair scarf, doesn’t mean it can’t be a belt scarf, or a hat scarf?
If you have a similar scarf, then why not try and use it as a belt (I’m not too proud to admit I only managed to tie this round the smallest part of my waist on a ‘good’ day), tie to your bag to strengthen your outfit or update your hat with a new pattern?
Travel Capsule Conundrum?
This process is THE perfect way to create your own capsule next time you travel. You’ll feel more organised and less stressed as you’ll only be taking pieces you’re actually going to wear, knowing they mix & match.
It only takes a little bit of wardrobe planning!null
Fashion Tips On Planning Your Capsule Wardrobe
So for all of you out there wearing just 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time (I’m assuming you’ve read my home page?) I encourage you to take part in this 10×10 outfit challenge, or YOUR version of it which might mean 10×9 or 12×10 – some people have been working to a 15×15 clothing capsule and that’s cool too! (It looks great btw).
First time round, select your most versatile pieces within a similar color palette and if you create 10 outfits from them easily, then swap one out to something more unusual and see how this changes your outfit?
If you’re sick of getting stressed every morning before you’ve even left the house, planning a capsule wardrobe is something you should consider!
Give it a whirl!
Also read my article on my first 10×10 challenge which offers more practical fashion tips on how to curate your perfect capsule
EVEN IF YOU ONLY CREATE 2 NEW OUTFITS, WEAR THEM MONTHLY AND YOU’VE WORN THEM 24 TIMES MORE THAN YOU WOULD HAVE. THIS MEANS YOU DON’T NEED TO CONSUME 24 NEW OUTFITS TO FILL THE GAP!!
If you’d still like some help on putting together YOUR capsule wardrobe then contact me for a chat about how I can help make your purchases work harder for you.
It’s All On My Instastories, So Why Aren’t You?
See all my videos over on my instastories by clicking through to Instagram here. There’s loads of fashion tips including how to help clothes fit to YOUR body shape and fashion trend insight!
Drum Roll Please!!
So here’s the first viewing of all 18 outfits I created during my challenge and close-ups of the bonus 5 that aren’t on my insta grid (there’s 12 on my grid and the other extra 1 is using my top as a scarf shown above) ….
THE VERY BEST PART..
You know the very best part of this process is that i’m SO excited to re-discover the rest of my wardrobe that I haven’t looked at for the best part of a fortnight…… [this next part is to be said in the accent of Carrie Bradshaw from SITC when she opens her wardrobe and squeels ‘hello lover!’]