Today I am sharing my 10 Item Wardrobe Week 2 Reflections. If you missed my earlier posts, you can read more about what the 10 Item Wardrobe is and how I put mine together in the intro post. You can also read my Week 1 Reflections to see what I learned about my style from my first week of outfits.
Whew. This week started a little rough in the outfit department. It hasn’t helped that I’ve felt a little off this week due to some schedule changes. It’s starting to feel like summer and I approached my week as if I had nothing to do because there was nothing officially on my calendar. Just because I had no commitments definitely did not mean that I had nothing to do. This attitude led to me getting dressed later in the day and tackling my to do list later than I planned. I really feel like getting dressed triggers something in my brain that says “Be Productive!”. Without that step I slide into laziness and procrastination so quickly. Lesson for next week: get dressed by 8AM. For some of you that may seem really late, but I’m a stay at home mom with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. There have to be some perks, right? Here is the preview I shared at the end of last week’s post of the outfits I had planned for the week:
The Outfits I didn’t Wear, and Why
There was only one outfit that I didn’t wear at all, can you guess which one? If you saw the Week 1 Reflections post you could probably guess that it was the dress/jacket combo.
When I tried this outfit on I immediately felt about 15 years older than I am. I am sure there are dress/jacket combos that would not make me feel this way, but I really didn’t like this outfit on. Again, I think I am more of a straight skirt type of girl, but I just keep trying to make this dress work.
Ok, so Monday’s outfit kind of fell apart. I started out with my new favorite button up shirt, then added the pair of coral ankle pants that I had planned on wearing with it.
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I love these pants, but I knew when I packed them away last fall that they might be getting a little short. Not because I’m growing. I just purchased cheap clothing and usually dried them, so they started shrinking. I really hate waiting for my clothing to air dry, partly because I don’t have a lot of clothing to choose from. And part of me thinks well, I didn’t pay that much for it, I’ll just replace it when I need to. But this really is faulty thinking. I could choose to invest in nicer items that I will want to take care of that probably wouldn’t shrink in the first place. Working on it. Ok, but back to the pants. They are definitely in capri land now and I just can’t do it. I tried putting my ankle boots on with it, and they’re ok in this photo, but after walking around the house for a while they were halfway up my calf. No bueno. So now they are in the donate pile and I am down to 27 items of clothing total for the spring season. I just threw on a pair of jeans and called it a day on my outfit.
While I was in the purging mood, I also put my chambray dress that I mentioned in the last post in the pile. Later that day I took it back out though. I was browsing Instagram and saw a photo of a woman wearing a shirt over her dress, making her dress a skirt. Um. I never would have thought of that. But I’m definitely going to try it and you can find out how it goes next week! I also decided to get rid of a Stitch Fix top that I just wasn’t comfortable in. I really love the colors, the pattern, the overall design of the shirt, but it’s just too form fitting and not long enough. I have a fairly long torso and a tummy that’s not recovered from 2 babies yet. It just isn’t working. The cool thing is that I was able to sell it on a Stitch Fix Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook group and recoup some of my money! So while I am down another item in my closet (that makes 26 items!), my clothing budget is no longer empty which is awesome.
I am determined not to buy any clothing until I’ve done all 4 weeks of this little experiment. Dress season is making it so hard though. The one dress that I own is flirting with the donate pile, if you recall. I may have to make an exception for shoes…
The Outfits I Liked
There weren’t any outfits that I wore but didn’t really love this week, so we will just jump right into what I liked.
I am a fan of this outfit. I just really love stripes, and I think the blue pairs well with the olive jogger pants. I tried several pairs of shoes with the jogger pants, not really sure what the rules are. My grey ankle boots were too similar in color so they were a no. My black ankle boots just weren’t giving me a spring vibe. I don’t think sneakers with them is my favorite. Sandals seem safe though. What do you wear with jogger pants?
I really like this white and coral outfit too. Normally I don’t really like to do the same color of pants and top, but the stripes in the shirt and the color of the cardigan gave it enough contrast that I really liked it. It was still cold enough out that I needed the cardigan for most of the day too.
I love this outfit so much. I feel so relaxed but still put together.
I have to mention too that this is my favorite cut of a maxi skirt that I have owned. I got rid of one that had some pleating because it made me feel matronly. Please tell me I’m not the only one to let little things like pleating be a big deal. This one is made to just fall straight to the ground and I love that. The other maxi skirt that I had had the top that you roll down. Why? I don’t understand it, but it was very helpful during pregnancy. Until I stretched it out and now it is a pregnancy skirt.
I really wish I had another chambray shirt as well. I have my eye on one for when I’m done with the challenge. This challenge has also helped me identify some holes in my closet. I have a list going of items that I keep wishing I had to really make a great outfit, as well as items that I frequently find I’m waiting to come out of the laundry. I used to be really bad about finding an item I liked and buying every single color of it. I would then tire of it really quickly because I had worn it so often, just in different color versions. That’s not what I’m talking about here. Staple items, like my favorite layering tanks and a chambray shirt, seem like awesome items to buy in multiples or have multiple versions of because they will last longer and you can use them in more than one outfit. As a mom of 2 little kids, it’s not often that a shirt can be worn more than once because my kids are so messy. I’m looking forward to purchasing some items off of my wish list soon!!
Um, so I’m noticing something. I’ve worn stripes 4 times this week.
I purchased this skirt last year after seeing Shana from The Mom Edit post about a similar outfit. I spent a lot of time trying to find her exact pieces and wasn’t successful, but I’ve been so happy with the skirt I found. I wore it quite a bit last summer, and I love it with sandals, sneakers and heels. I can already think of two other tops I want to try with this skirt, it just feels like I have endless options. It can get a little warm on really hot days, but I’m cold blooded by nature so it works for me. It’s a midi skirt, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever worn it that length. I typically just roll the top of the skirt down so it’s a normal pencil skirt length.
I don’t think I had any major revelations from this weeks outfits, although avoiding capris and outfits that make me feel 45 could be counted as major. I really liked most of my outfits, and I’m looking forward to pairing some of my favorite pieces with other items in my closet. Here is the sneak peak of what I’m planning on wearing this week.
I may have to make some adjustments to this plan, it’s finally getting warm here in Kansas City, and the layers may be too much. If you’d like to see some of the outfits I wear before the Reflections post next week, you can follow along on Instagram. Have a great week!
****UPDATE**** If you would like to read the conclusion to the challenge, you can read 10 Lessons I Learned from the 10 Item Wardrobe. You can also read Week 3.
