So. Here goes. For the next two weeks, starting today, I’m sticking to these 10 items of clothing. I’m REALLY REALLY REALLY going to try not to cheat, but I’m already thinking that I probably will. If I do, I’ll tell you 😉
My items (from left to right on the rack):
1 James Perse long sleeve ribbed tee (black)
2 James Perse canvas stretch pants (dark gray) | at the outlet, the Parachute Utility pant is similar
3 James Perse crepe surplus pants (black)
4 James Perse slub cotton button front top (white) | sold out
5 James Perse casual tee (white)
6 Splendid ribbed maxi dress (black)
7 Everlane cashmere cardigan (taupe)
8 Everlane cashmere crew neck sweater (gray)
9 HELMUT Helmut Lang sweatshirt jacket (black)
10 Joe’s Jeans oversized dolman denim jacket
There aren’t any rules really, I just got the idea from a post on Into Mind and wanted to challenge myself to do it for a several reasons that I’ll get into more in the next two weeks, but mostly I just wanted to prove to myself that I CAN do it. And that I can take the emotion out of getting dressed when I need to and stick with the pieces I KNOW I love and that I KNOW look good on me.
I can say that it was quite difficult to choose my ten items. I was going to leave outerwear (jackets, etc.) out of it and let those be “extras,” but I decided to include them in my ten. I did this partly because it was becoming difficult to identify more items after my bottoms and tops to add to my 10 that would all continue to work together. For example, I was going to add in my James Perse leggings, but if I did that, I’d have to add in a longer top to go with them, and I don’t have anything else in my 10 that I’d need to wear the longer top with.
I choose items VERY carefully that would all go together, so I can get two weeks of completely distinct looks out of them; I don’t have to look “the same” every day. At least I hope that’s how it will come together! I am not including the shoes, bag or scarf, although I will try. I am pretty sure I can stick to those two pairs of shoes and my Alexander Wang bag for two weeks, but I want to reserve the right to change those if I want to.
This is going to be interesting!! I’m not putting myself on a shopping ban or anything to go along with this, but not being able to wear what I buy immediately will definitely inhibit it a bit. Although I do have two things en route that I ordered last week that I will not wear: the James Perse slub button front top I ordered from Gilt (black version of the white one I already have in my 10), and the Acne Bree dress in blue. Yes, you read that correctly. My only solace in having that arrive and not being able to wear it is that the weather isn’t entirely appropriate for it. Of course, I could layer it, and I probably will, but I really envision wearing it more with my Birkenstocks or simple black sandals alone, when the sun is warm and bright.
I’m taking this very seriously, and although I said in the beginning that I have a feeling I’ll cheat, I’m going to try not to. I want to use this exercise to help me pack less for longer trips and to free my mind to focus on other things besides what I’m going to wear. Which sounds trivial, and maybe it should be, but I put a lot of stock into what I wear, and how I FEEL whenever I choose what I wear, and I’d like to try and erase emotion from that equation more often.
Who’s doing it with me? If you are, let me know in the comments what your ten items are, and every day we can track each other’s progress 🙂
Good luck with your 10 piece project!
Monica.
Love this challenge, and think I might try it myself! Question for you: what about exercise wear? Obviously that’s not included in these 10 items (or is it?) so will those items be extras that you might wear for part of the day but not as your main ensemble?
Don’t mean to get all strict with the rules or anything, but I am hoping to apply some of this planning for purposes of vacation travel and several pants/tops for exercise (along with sports bras, sneakers, socks, etc,) can take up a fair amount of suitcase space.
thanks and good luck!
exercise wear is definitely not included in these 10 items…
although you bring up a very good point with regard to traveling and taking along exercise wear.
i will admit that i don’t normally exercise a lot when i travel, other than walking (we normally travel to cities and walk everywhere – sometimes 5-8 miles a day), so i’d just bring “normal” clothes and comfortable shoes for that. otherwise, when i do have to exercise other than everyday exercise, i’ll just bring one or two pairs of leggings with a long t-shirt or something and sportsbras – just washing them out in the sink frequently.
wonder if anyone else has input on ideas for exercise wear when traveling. laurel?? 😉
Grechen – feel free to delete this if it’s not appropriate, but I’ve been getting fabulous ideas for capsule dressing & packing from The Vivienne Files. And she does discuss exercise clothing in some of her posts (though generally she too just walks quite a bit and packs comfy shoes) She also has done Project 333 and posted photos/clothing combos http://theviviennefiles.blogspot.com/ Her style aesthetic is more similar to mine than yours, perhaps, but in terms of matching pieces of clothing to create a cohesive wardrobe, I’ve found few blogs as easy to follow (and that’s what I need!)
I think this looks like a wonderful idea, and I love your clothing choices! Would you mind terribly if I tried the same thing and blogged about it?
I do what you do, Grechen: just bring comfy “normal” clothes and a pair of comfortable shoes. I also often pack one pair of leggings so those work, too. I also have a pair of lululemon lightweight synthetic pants with a drawstring at the pant leg cuffs so you can hike them up into capris, for say, biking when on holiday. They’re black (and not see-through! 😉 ) so they can work in a moderately dressy way when not exercising.
Janice at The Vivienne Files is a master (mistress??) of capsule wardrobes. I do find she tends to focus on the number of items one packs for travel, whereas I focus on weight. If I have two lightweight tops that weigh the same as one heavier one, I tend to bring the two lighter ones to give me more variety… and hygiene! It’s just my personal preference and everyone’s mileage will vary. But for Grechen’s 10-day challenge, doing it at home means you don’t have to worry about how much something weighs.
I’ll do it with you! But I’m still finalizing my packing list for my trip this Friday, so I won’t start the challenge until Friday so that all my clothes are clean when I pack them. I’ll let you know which 10 items I’ve chosen. I’m going to a very cold place so I may end up wearing all 10 items at the same time! 🙂
Good luck with this challenge!! I could probably do this with you because I find myself reaching for the same few items all of the time. I’m not prepared to participate right now but I would totally want to do this in the future. I curious how creative I could get with my wardrobe.
I have full faith that you can do this without cheating. Just channel your inner French woman and put those accessories to good use to make things feel fresh and different.
Absolutely not Janice! That would be wonderful – I know we’ll all look forward to reading about your adventure. I must admit I’m a bit late to your blog (it seems many of my readers already know you) but I look forward to catching up!
I’m really looking forward to hearing what you MISS:).
You are my absolute inspiration, I have been wanting to try out a “uniform” style where I have minimal items that I can mix and match, and wear with one another. I buy so many things I love but then when I go to wear them I feel like I’m wearing somebody else clothes, end up changing into a outfit ( casual) that I wear some version of all the time. So I literally been saving up to buy a uniform allotment of seasonal basic items, starting this spring from JP and only wear that, cause that’s my go to casual style. Your idea is BRILLIANT and I love your selection of items to choose from, I will be following your looks and am excited to pick my items. Thanks for all your great ideas and inspiration.
😉
Robyn
At first, I enthusiastically thought I’d take the challenge with you. But then I started to rethink it, and one of the reasons is that I LOVE shopping, wearing new clothes, and putting on exactly what I feel like for the day. Packing for a trip is another thing, entirely, and I’ve proven to myself that I can get everything I need for 10 days into one carry-on bag, which was big for me. But I think I’m going to sit on the bench for this one. I LIKE being an emotional dresser!
me too! and that is the problem. or not the problem sometimes, but i need to get in the mindset that i don’t HAVE to be an emotional dresser all the time. and i know another of my problems is that i just have too much. i think by doing this exercise every so often, i can better weed out the things i really love (and choose to wear all the time) from the things that i think i love, but don’t really. or they don’t look as good on me as i’d like, or whatever reason i don’t WEAR them as often. and just get rid of them.
thank you robyn! i totally feel the same way when i wear things that aren’t “me” – i do like to try new things – and think that’s important, but ultimately, i’m pretty firm in what i know to be “my style” and my uniform, i just need to get better about sticking to it!
good luck on your challenge too!
i will make a list.
oh…where are you going??
can’t wait to hear about it!
haha. lululemon has gotten itself into a bit of a pickle, huh?
i actually love the lululemon items that i do have, and really appreciate that they make things that are multi-functional usually. i’ve wanted a pair of pants that could do “double-duty” as you say, and i think lulu is the best choice for that. i do think the higher-ups at the company have behaved somewhat idiotically of late though…which annoys me.
Quebec City. I’ll blog about it when I get back.
You make an excellent point: It’s worth doing if it only helps me to weed out the items I never wear because they’re not really me (Hmm…the downside of being an emotional shopper?!?). I hate the fact that I own too much! It goes against everything I believe in. Maybe I should join the challenge after all ????
This is such a great idea Grechen! I have quite a limited wardrobe over here in India, that consists of many more than 10 items but still, I find it quite a challenge to pull together a variety of looks that aren’t all the same. Narrowing your wardrobe down to just 10 pieces forces you to look at it with fresh eyes, something that I could probably do with as I feel like everything’s starting to get a little stale now. I’m very tempted to give this a go! I will keep you posted. Good luck!
i would love to read about your journey if you try this! i think you could do it – and not look the same. i mean, of course you’ll have the same “style” and general “uniform,” as i do, but each outfit can be unique depending on how you combine things. and accessories, of course. which is one thing i’d really like to work on….not bags or shoes, but jewelry…