10 Days, 10 Articles of Clothing: What I Learned from My First 10x10 Challenge
Alright, before I get into the main takeaways, bear with me for a second while I share a little background on this challenge and what made me decide to try it in the first place.
What is the 10x10 challenge? Good question. Let’s roll back the tape to a few months ago. I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and started seeing all these minimalist outfit posts with the hashtag #10x10challenge. Curious, I did a little digging and found out that the 10x10 was created by Lee Vosburgh of the blog Style Bee. The idea is to select 10 articles of clothing (shoes included) to mix and match over the course of 10 days. You can accessorize however you please, but the point is to get creative with your closet and edit down to the bare essentials. This is the ultimate capsule wardrobe challenge, albeit a very short-term one.
This year’s Summer 10x10 challenge fell on the week of July 27 (yes, it’s taken me a while to finally write this recap). I was on the fence about trying it out. First of all, I hate getting my picture taken and I’d never really tried posting any #OOTD photos, so this was way, way out of my comfort zone. Secondly, I was anticipating a busy week at work. We had our quarterly All-Hands Company Meeting coming up later that week, and it probably wasn’t the best idea to add anything else onto my plate while prepping for that.
But the first day of the challenge crept up and I made a last-minute decision to get over myself and my insecurities and just try it. The worst that could happen is that my friends, coworkers and family would think I was a weirdo, but that’s already the case, so…
I posted a flat lay of some of the pieces I’d selected for the challenge and…BOOM! People started asking me about it. Some were encouraging. Katie Tingley, a friend I met through Instagram and the blogger behind The Tingley Edit, told me how excited she was to hear that I would be joining. Stephanie Vanegas, my coworker and the gal who manages the travel Instagram account Bliss Finders, wished me luck and shared how happy she was to see that I was getting into ethical and sustainable fashion. Some were curious. Friends and family members half-jokingly asked if underwear counted as part of the 10 items (I mean, the rules are guidelines, so you do you, but I personally didn’t count underwear, socks, PJs or gym outfits as part of my 10). And a few told me they were also trying the 10x10 for the first time.
I was already discovering an incredible community, and this was just the first post!
Ok, so let’s take a brief break from my longwinded spiel to get into my outfit choices. Here’s what I selected for my 10x10:
Tops
1. Everlane white V-neck t-shirt
2. French Connection printed tank (thrifted from Cross Roads)
3. Banana Republic black tank with ribbon detail (from my fast fashion days)
Pants
4. Everlane “Easy Chino” pants in the color “Stone”
5. J Brand “Liza” white culottes (a Poshmark steal for $18)
6. Everlane “The Cheeky” straight ankle black jeans
Dress
7. Amour Vert “Blake” striped dress (brand new from Poshmark for $30)
Shoes
8. Cole Haan “Piper” suede mules (practically brand new from Poshmark for $25 – they’re still selling these on Nordstrom for $140!)
9. M.Gemi suede sandals (my first ever Poshmark find for $50)
Jacket
10. Everlane denim jacket in their lightest wash
Day 1
I forgot to snap a photo of my first outfit (already succeeding at this challenge), so you’re just going to have to look at my flat lay photo. But if you’re curious, I started simple with my white Everlane V-neck t-shirt and my Everlane black denim jeans (#headtotoeeverlane). I knew I was going to spend the day setting up the venue for our aforementioned Company Meeting and didn’t want to try anything too crazy from the get-go when I was just going to be getting dusty and sweaty. It was classic, simple, a little bit boring – but it did the job.
Day 2
This one is a contender for one of my favorite outfits of the challenge. I wore my new Everlane “Easy Chino” pants. I’ve gotten so many questions about these pants. And I get it. They’re comfy like PJs, but they still manage to pull off a sophisticated, effortless vibe. And the price is very reasonable at $55. Unfortunately, these guys sold like hot cakes and they’re out of stock right now. But I heard a rumor that Everlane is restocking in October. I paired the pants with the same white V-neck tee from yesterday and my M.Gemi suede sandals. An easy, comfortable outfit. I think I even ended up napping in it.
Day 3
Day 3 fell on a Sunday and my boyfriend and I needed to pick a few things up from the mall, so I wanted to wear something semi-stylish, but (surprise, surprise) also comfortable. Are you sensing a theme here? I threw on my Amour Vert striped t-shirt dress, which is unbelievably soft and – even cooler – made out of recycled materials. Amour Vert is known for using sustainable materials in their clothing like their super soft Tencel, organic cotton and recycled polyester, all of which are sourced responsibly. I paired the dress with my trusty Everlane denim jacket (which you’ll see much more of) and my M.Gemi sandals. I felt good in this one. It was the perfect outfit for a shopping day and easy to change out of while trying on clothes. I’d like to point out that I was good and didn’t buy anything that day. I was doing a no spend challenge for the month of July and surprisingly didn’t cave. More on that in a future blog post).
Day 4
I chose my French Connection tank on this day, which is about as close as I got to wearing any sort of pattern throughout the entire challenge. I paired this with my J Brand culottes and my M. Gemi sandals once again. I wasn’t too sure about this outfit. It felt a little boxy for me with the tank untucked and the wide leg pants. I feel like I lost the silhouette here. But this probably could have been remedied by just tucking in the shirt. I’d probably try it again that way.
Day 5
Today was Company Meeting day. The theme was “Endless Summer” so our team had to wear Hawaiian shirts (I figured this one didn’t have to count toward my 10x10?). I wore a neutral base underneath so as not to “outshine” my very flamboyant floral Hawaiian shirt (which I ended up wearing again for Outside Lands…it was all meant to be). I repeated Day 1’s outfit with the white V-neck tee and my black denim pants. No reason to overcomplicate things when I had bigger fish to fry. This outfit was definitely starting to feel a little stale and uninspired.
Day 6
I wore my same white culottes from day 4, but paired them with the Banana Republic black tank this time and my black Cole Haan suede mules. I liked this look a lot better. Black and white is such a great, classic look. And I decided to tuck in the tank this time, which made the proportions look so much better. I even got some compliments at work. I’ll definitely repeat this one.
Day 7
I only picked three tops for this challenge and was starting to get sick of them, so I decided to transform my Amour Vert striped dress into a t-shirt by tucking them into my Everlane “Easy Chino” pants. Nobody even noticed! Threw my denim jacket on over the top and slipped on my suede slides again. I met up with one of my best friends/former coworker that evening after work for dinner and drinks. This felt like an appropriate outfit for tacos, sangria and catching up. She also helped me take my photo that day, and killed it as my stand-in photographer.
Day 8
I was feeling an all-black outfit today and ended up really liking it. I wore the Banana Republic tank with my black denim jeans and black suede mules. Because the tank had some ribbon detail, I felt like it spiced up my monochromatic look in a subtle way. It’s a bit of a modern take on Sandy’s iconic “You’re the One That I Want” all-black satin outfit from Grease. Ok, not really, but we can pretend for a second, right? I don’t wear monochromatic looks very often, or ever, but I’m glad this challenge forced me to put together something that I never would have tried before.
Day 9
Day 9 was a Saturday and my boyfriend, Adam, and I had some fun plans to go to the World Dog Surfing Championships (yes, you heard that correctly) on Pacifica Beach. Fun fact: this is also where my boyfriend and I met. Although if you asked him, he would say we met at a Taco Bell – because technically there is one right in front of Pacifica Beach, but that’s a minor detail. Our mutual friend (the same one I had tacos and drinks with on day 7) got a group together for a beach trip. She had wanted to try setting me up with him before, but I stubbornly refused. Turns out, she knew what she was doing. The two of us played a game of Spike Ball. He graciously didn’t make fun of my horrible Frisbee skills. I gave him a hard time for wearing red corduroy pants to the beach. A couple margaritas later and the rest is history. Hey Michelle, if you ever get tired of marketing, there’s always matchmaking as a potential career path!
But back to the outfit, I wore my French Connection tank, the Everlane “Easy Chino” pants, my denim jacket and my suede sandals. Note to self: don’t wear suede shoes to the beach. This wasn’t my favorite outfit, but it also wasn’t my least favorite. The looser fit of the “Easy Chinos” made them very suitable for beach attire.
Also, if you wanted to know more about the dog surfing, it was highly entertaining and I recommend you check out a competition if you ever get the chance. I saw a dog with a purple mohawk and sunglasses surf in backwards, perfectly matching his owner’s purple mohawk and sunglasses. Unreal!
Day 10
We’re finally at the end of the challenge (and you’re nearing the end of this monstrously long post). Adam and I went to the Alameda Flea Market on this day to scope out some fun antiques. We were on the lookout for midcentury modern furniture, silk scarves (that was on my wish list, obviously) and typewriters (Adam collects them). This was another one of my favorite outfits of the challenge. I wore my white Everlane V-neck T, my white culottes, the denim jacket and my suede M.Gemi sandals. Another monochromatic look, but the denim jacket kept it from looking too stark. I love the silhouette of the culottes. They add some pizazz to my outfits and I feel like I’m wearing something trendy without trying too hard.
And folks, that’s a wrap. I had an awesome time experimenting with my first 10x10 challenge and I’ll definitely try it again. Would I do anything different next time around? I’d probably throw in at least one more top since I started getting really tired of wearing the same three over and over again. I’d also add another piece of outerwear. The denim jacket did pair really nicely with all the outfits, but I was craving some variety there. And I’d absolutely incorporate more accessories to help diversify my outfits, and maybe experiment with more patterns and colors.
While I learned some things about my personal style, the thing that’s most important here is the dialogue that opened up around ethical and sustainable fashion and the incredible community I’ve discovered since joining this challenge. I’ve met some amazing people and even formed some new friendships along the way. And last but not least, I discovered a newfound appreciation for my closet and realized that I really can live more with less.