The January 30 x 30 Challenge is ending today.

I sincerely want to thank every single person that participated. I also want to thank the individuals that took the time to read the multitude of posts and offer their thoughts/comments. Whenever I participate in a YLF Forum Challenge, I meet new people and develop new friendships. This Challenge was no exception.

I learn so much during these 30-day challenges. Suggestions/comments
on my personal posts are both instructive and enlightening.

The strange thing is I learn much more by reading the suggestions/comments on other people’s posts. Those posts broaden my horizon and force me to think about fashion/style beyond my very tiny world. I see possibilities that I hadn’t previously considered. I get ideas and begin learning how to implement those ideas. I broaden my overall appreciation of fashion and style in general, thus making me all the more appreciative of other people's taste and style. WIN-WIN for me.

I’m not sure I would derive the same benefits if they weren’t part of ongoing conversations, across multiple posts, over the course of an entire 30 days. There was a tremendous amount of information exchanged and I had to work hard to keep up and absorb all the information coming at me. I took notes. I expect to be reaping the benefits of this Challenge long into 2018 and beyond. Thank you for generous contributions.

It is too onerous to try to list everything I learned, especially since I am still absorbing and framing that information. Here is a tiny list of some things that stood out to me.

Style is individual. It goes far beyond just covering your body against the elements. It is a commanding statement about who you are and what you stand for in life. You communicate so much to the world in an instant. What am I communicating?

Because style and style goals are so individual, I was pleasantly surprised at how each participant molded the Challenge to suit her goals and achieve the most benefit. How can I change my Challenge up in the future to stimulate still more creativity and innovation?

Accessories are deeply personal, but incredibly powerful in outfit creation. If I want to elevate my style quotient, I must always consider the power of accessories. Can I build more accessory complements. What colors/themes would benefit me the most?

Fit. Fit. Fit. Fit is so important. I’ll be focusing on understanding fit in relation to my comfort zone and my body. I’ll be posting a new thread to explore this issue later this week.

That's it for now.

Days 29 and 30 were exact repeats of outfits worn earlier in the month. I'll be posting my final capsule later today.

8 years ago

Toban

Veteran

A wonderful summary and I concur and echo everything you wrote.

In addition, I want to thank you for initiating and leading us through this challenge. You provided insightful comments in all our posts this month.

I have no doubt that the lessons learned will help us have more successful wardrobes this year.

texstyle

(website)

I didn't get to follow all the posts but I still enjoyed many of them and feel it was a great learning experience!

Style Fan

Great summary Sterling.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Thank YOU, Sterling, for doing a stellar job managing the challenge.

Katerina

Thank you Sterling for this excellent analysis - I agree with every word you have written. I am very grateful to you for initiating the challenge and for inspiring me to participate, as well as taking your time and doing all the work leading it forward. Your posts have been very interesting, inspiring, honest and fun and I appreciate your thoughtful answers and encouragement throughout the challenge. Pleasure to have met you here!

Elizabeth P

I'm kinda sorry to see this come to an end... I haven't always been able to keep up, but I really enjoy reading when I can, and always learn something. My own challenge will go on for another month, so I hope I get a few more nuggets to help me fine tune my "deep winter" capsule.

Thanks again Sterling. You do a wonderful job of leading these challenges.

kkards

Sterling...even thought i didn't actively participate in the 30x30, I feel like i learned so much and got a lot out of it. thank you for starting this challenge, and for running point thru out.

tanstaafl

Active Member

Thanks so much for starting this challenge Sterling. I also have learned so much and been very inspired by reading everyone’s posts during this challenge. I am only 2/3s through mine since I am doing work wear only, so I still have time to try to apply all of this over the next week and a half. Participating in this challenge has helped me so much. Knowing that I will be posting my pictures here each week makes me really think about what I am going to wear and encourages me to try new things, even if the results aren’t always successful. You all are my accountability partners and my inspiration.

Anonymous

I also agree with everything you wrote and want to thank you so much for initiating, leading and supporting this challenge for 30 days! Especially when you had your own challenges at home. I always felt that you were there cheering us on. I am still processing what I learned but plan to add at least some of my gleanings to my last couple of days post.

LaPed

Thank you for your reflection, Sterling, and thank you so much for organizing and leading the January challenge. I am only on Day 20 myself (weekends, and now Wednesdays, are gear, so they don't count), and totally behind on photos, and sad that I'm missing out on so many great posts lately. So much to process and learn. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on evaluating fit.

Mainelady

Thank you for starting the challenge, Sterling. There was a LOT of great information shared, questions asked, outfit pics, room for reflection and quite a few hopes and wishes. I tried to keep up with the challenges of others and also manage my own small challenge. There is a lot to process. I suspect I will be revisiting some of the more lengthy posts, to really give myself a chance to sift through the wealth of information. This was a powerful way to kick off 2018!

Sal

Well done Sterling!!

While I didn't participate I read several posts and met some new forum members. Fun to see you all having fun, and it has spurred me on to be a little more organised (January is summer vacation month here - lots of beach attire, shorts and often not much style at all - for me anyway)

Brooklyn

Great job Sterling! Thank you again for initiating the challenge and for all your contributions and insight. I have very much enjoyed getting to know you and other forum members and reading about their experiences.

I am only just over half way because it's a 30 outfit challenge for me and not a 30 day challenge. I have never done this sort of careful evaluation of my style and my wardrobe before and it has been surprisingly helpful. I will post my observations at the end. But I think I am going to become a more disciplined shopper as a result. Yay for that!

Jaime

I have really enjoyed reading along with this challenge and your summary is inspiring. Thank you!

karen13

What they all said! I didn't participate in the challenge but really enjoyed reading the posts and meeting some new YLFers. Reading everyone's threads may push me towards joining in a future one, as I could see insights and epiphanies all over the place.

And I really need to up my accessories game.

Lynn

You rock, Sterling. I so appreciate you starting this challenge and how you kept up with everyone especially given the challenges you have had this month. I have learned so much. I had many aha moments when reading other's threads that were so helpful to me.
Thanks again. I look forward to our future conversations!

Dianna

I did not participate in this challenge and I don't think I could be disciplined enough to do it, but I have been following and posts, I have enjoyed Reading them even if I had not had the time to comment on most of them (this time of the year and have learned a lot from all the participants. Thank you Sterling for initiating the challenge. I always learn so much from your posts, they are so analytical and make me think about things I had not even considered before.

Bonnie

This was my first 30x30 Challenge and it was so much more valuable than I expected. I'm someone who does not have the artistic sensibilities and perfect wardrobe that many Forum members have. After almost three years, I am still learning. In this case, learning by doing. Posting my outfits made the challenge more real and consequential. Thanks for your wonderful support and comments. I appreciate all of the time that you put in running this challenge. A big shout out to the other participants and commenters who cheered us throughout these busy days.

SarahD8

I am coming late to this but wanted to say THANK YOU Sterling for starting this challenge and welcoming and encouraging participants so warmly. I have enjoyed getting to know you and other forum members through this experience.

I am nodding along to so much of what you wrote in your post. Especially the part about how valuable it was that people tweaked the challenge to suit their individual goals, and wanting to switch up the challenge in the future to further your own creativity. Ultimately, I would like to bring something of the challenge mentality to just the everyday process of getting dressed — in the sense that I’d like my wardrobe to be set up in a way that fosters creativity, and I’d like to always be learning more about my style and how my wardrobe works.

Again, kudos to you for initiating a very successful challenge for so many forum members.

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