To start, what exactly does “10 x 10 Challenge” mean? A person doing the 10 x 10 will pick out ten items of clothing from their closet, and then wear only different combinations of these clothes for ten days. My friend Eowyn asked me about it one day, and wanted to know my thoughts. The long text exchange that followed can be pretty much summed up as such: these challenges were invited by minimalists to prove how great their minimalist wardrobe is.
It presented Eowyn and I with a problem. Neither of us has a minimalist wardrobe or style (in fact I would call mine a version of maximalism) and we wondered – could a 10 x 10 be done when you wear a lot of pattern and color? Thus began our two week long experiment.
Each person who does the challenge follows their own set of rules, so here were the rules Eowyn and I settled on:
- Socks, underwear, and leggings do not count
- Tank tops count as underwear (no one sees them)
- Shoes do count
- Coats, hoodies, sweaters, jackets, etc. all count
- Accessories do not count
- Work days only (weekends were free game)
With these rules in mind, I boldly forged ahead.
— PRE-CHALLENGE THOUGHTS —
I went into this with the expectation of failure, but fully desiring to prove the failure wrong. I wanted to show that yes, this could be done by people who don’t have an entire wardrobe of neutrals. I also anticipated I would hate everything chosen by the end of the challenge. I essentially follow a similar concept when I travel – and usually by about day eight of travelling, I hate all of the clothes I brought.
As I crafted my list, I already felt dismal. How many different outfits can I really make with these items? Will I be repeating the same outfit a lot? What if the weather is _______? I find that my anxiety increases with a more restricted wardrobe. This, in turn, only makes me want to do this challenge more. Take that, anxiety.
I ended up choosing the following list:
- black jeans – high rise
- blue jeans – high rise
- black tulle skirt
- grey sweater with “Hello” on the front and “Goodbye” on the back
- black blazer
- cropped button down short sleeve shirt with a french bulldog print
- floral sleeveless button down shirt
- blue long sleeve shirt with black design
- purple t-shirt with a whale design
- dusty pink leather sneakers
As I lay in bed, looking at the clothes I would be wearing for the next ten workdays, I felt strangely comforted that I wouldn’t have to work as hard to choose my outfit in the morning. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all…
— DAY ONE —
Immediately out of the gate I realized an error – I live in Seattle, and fall is the beginning of the rainy season. It poured rain the entire day and I regretted not including a rain layer. After chatting with Eowyn, we each decided that our items needed an edit – Eowyn exchanged a sweater, and I settled on raincoat being an accessory (like an umbrella). You won’t see my raincoat in any of these pictures but I ended up needing one almost every single day.
The outfit itself was great! Comfortable, warm, and easy to move around in. I felt ready to take on the work day. The outfit was funky, fresh, and professional.
— DAY TWO —
The morning of day two, I was once again concerned. The shoes I’d chosen are starting to fall apart (very sad) and the weather said rain all week. I worried that daily wear would both ruin the shoes and make my feet cold/wet. However, after re-assessing my bookshelf of shoes, I determined that this pair really did match the best with all the items I had picked, and decided to continue on.
At work, I was in a comfortable, functional outfit yet again. I had a strange thought trickle into my brain: could this be a uniform that I could get behind? I’ve often debated the concept of wearing a uniform, which many successful people claim is a key to being successful. It’s easier to start your day if you know you’re wearing clothes you love, and you don’t have to think about it.
In this case the fun sweater over a sleeveless, printed button down with high rise, well fitting jeans, was an outfit I could imagine repeating over and over again. It was comfortable. It could be professional. It could be casual. It had layers. I didn’t have to adjust or mess with anything throughout the day. It was… perfect?
— DAY THREE —
A day of firsts – first go round of the blazer, first outfit with the tulle skirt, and first day that it was genuinely cold on my way to work. Hence the scarf (accessory…)
Once again, the joy and whimsy of my clothing was fresh. I was comfortable for a full day of work, and even after work activities! Day three was full blown confidence at its height. I was not only doing this challenge, but I was owning this challenge.
— DAY FOUR —
This was the first day where I really wanted to add, change, or swap items. I kept thinking, “Oh this outfit would look so cute with these brown shoes.” But I pushed through the desire and decided to jazz it up with some adorable sheep socks. The socks helped.
The struggle with a 10 x 10 challenge is the rigidness – there is, quite intentionally, no flexibility built in. What if it’s actually much colder than anticipated (which happened) or what if you have a work event where you have to be dressier than your ten items allow?
On day four I pondered more about the 10 x 10 and it’s long-term friend, the capsule wardrobe. Is this something I could really do long-term? I think perhaps I could but I would need more than ten items. I think I would land somewhere in the 15-20 range to be really comfortable, and even then, I wonder if the lack of variation would get to me?
— DAY FIVE —
I cheated this day, and wore a new par of shoes for two reasons:
- I was really going for a #lewk with this outfit that could not be achieved with sneakers.
- This challenge is supposed to be fun and I just. couldn’t. put. the. sneakers. on. another. day.
This was the first day where it felt really silly to force myself to wear something I dread whilst staring at an entire bookshelf of shoes that I own and could wear at any time…
The outfit itself was super fun! I felt magical and witchy, like I had just stepped out of a Ghibli film and would be whisked away to a fantastical adventure at any moment. Also the cute dessert socks matched perfect with the shirt so #win.
— END OF WEEK ONE THOUGHTS —
Something that no one talks about when they do one of these challenges is the surprise laundry. Maybe I’m just not accustomed to doing laundry very often (I am not) or maybe I’m just messier/sweatier than most fashionistas (I probably am) but twice this week I had to wash the floral shirt and sweater because I was too smelly or dropped some food on them. I would look with dismay, then go scrambling through my house to find viable other things to wash with them (one day it was towels) because I just can’t bear to run a load of laundry for only two items. And what if I had to pay for laundry?
It’s interesting, both the freedoms and limitations offered by this 10 x 10 challenge. On one hand, you’re forced to be more creative with outfit pairings and how/when/how often you’ll wear specific articles of clothing. In a way, this is freeing. Yet the limitations always came like a slap in the face. I can definitely say I was looking forward to wearing whatever I wanted that weekend.
This is a two part post. Next week I will go into week two – the last half of the challenge. Be sure to check back in for my final conclusions!
Like what you read? Have more thoughts? Feel free to comment below!
Curly.Curvy.Candid 