Tweaking the 30x30: a week in

So now that I've been at this challenge for a full week (and a day), the lightbulbs are lighting up, and it's time to tweak.

I'm afraid I can't remember who said what in order to credit the appropriate people with my lightbulbs, I've been reading all the 30x30 threads and there has been some great wisdom shared, and questions asked.

1. It doesn't make sense to me to include accessories in this challenge. If you are going to dress in a limited wardrobe, it's the accessories that make it bearable, and interesting.
2. The weather here is really variable, and I have shoes that are quite specific to temps and activities. For example, I tend to wear heavier, cage sandals in June and Sept, and more open ones when it's hotter. Plus my work tends to get more casual after Canada Day. This challenge spans half of June and half of July, so it's not the best 30 days for me to do this in. By restricting shoes for a month, I'm going to end up with some going unworn this summer. That will just annoy me, not help me.
SO. I'm removing shoes, scarves and bags from my 30.

3. Many of us seemed to wear the same outfits over and over again on the weekends, me included. I realized that by eliminating my accessories, I could probably add in my casual clothes to the capsule, thereby making it a bit more of a full challenge.
4. Whenever I put together capsules like this, I try to make everything go with everything else. I guess for me, that's the fun part. But it makes actually wearing the clothes... boring! This struck me when I saw Anchie's travel capsule, far more colour and interest than I have. 30 items is a lot, there is no reason not to have a piece or two that only go with another piece or two. I have included far too many plain pieces, and I'M MISSING PATTERNS!
5. I am going to need to be able to add in clothes for warmer weather. My initial capsule was very much based on June... July could jump by several degrees.
6. I need to be able to wear my summer dresses! I didn't include any, not quite sure what I was thinking. I included one with 3/4 sleeves, great for June, not so good for July. Again, given our short hot summer season, and vacations, if I don't wear them when I can, they'll go unworn. I'm happy to use this challenge to determine my favs, but not to orphan anything unnecessarily.

So my capsule now looks like this. No clothes were removed that were worn, so all still legit. I've removed shoes, scarves and bags. I've added in a casual capsule, based on black. I will be adding in more items with patterns, as I go... but will think them out so they'll still work within my 30.

This is 25 items, some not yet worn. I expect to see patterns, dresses, sleeveless tops and some more variety in colour creep in in the next week.

If you read all this, I applaud you. No comments required, I just wanted to document my thoughts so far.

But of course if you want to comments, I'd love to hear what you have to say! Anybody else discovering things about themselves after just one week?

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8 years ago

Anonymous

"Waving hand" me, me. I could have written most of what you said, especially 1,2 and 4. I am also seriously considering removing accessories...shoes, bag, belt and scarf and replacing with more casual things and a dress. I also miss color and pattern. I have learned that I'm ready to replace all my low rise jeans/ pants and have removed my white crops and replaced them with another white crop. This is even though I have worn the pair that is now out. I learned something so am glad that I had that lightbulb moment. I doubt it would have happened if I was not looking at having to wear those pants often for the entire 30 days.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

This makes perfect sense to me, Elizabeth. I see stripes and an abstract pattern added -- hugely important for that sense of variety. Also, different scarves will add colour and pattern (and even pattern mixing).

Interesting to hear what you and Joy are learning.

Carole

What a great exercise...if I were to do this challenge, I would approach it the same way..unlimited use of accessories and shoes...why suffer:)

JAileen

I think of this exercise as "how would I pack if I were going on a 30 day trip"? I would definitely want a little variety.

Elizabeth P

Joy, that sounds like a good bit of info to have gleaned from the challenge. I wonder how long before you remove the accesories from your 30?

Suz, I do have patterns in scarves, and I thought that would be enough, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be. And of course it won't be long before scarves get put away as they are just too much for the heat. I certainly won't be wearing them on the weekends, when I'm not in my nice AC'd office.

Carole... exactly! It's about learning, not suffering.

JAileen... my original thought when I chose this capsule was more in lines with "what would I pack". But I'm NOT going on a trip, all my accessories and shoes are right here, taunting me. I'm glad I did the exercise, but to keep me happy, this is more real.

It wouldn't be enough for me, either, Elizabeth, especially as the weather gets warmer. I would want the variety as well.

I debated doing one of these challenges but wasn't sure what I might have to learn from it in the end. I think it would teach me more right now to track wears again -- I haven't done it for a while and despite regular edits, my closet is feeling a bit bloated, yet also missing certain elements (that of course I can't identify!)

Brilliant!!!!!!!! Good work, Elizabeth.

Sal

I agree that while the weather is suitable you need to wear your summer clothes!!

I am finding my challenge easier than when I did it two years ago- it is winter so I only need warm clothes. My lesson to date- I desperately want(I can't say need but it feels like that) a new bag. That will be my reward at the end of the 30 days.

LaPed

I haven't made any tweaks yet, but all of these ammendments make sense to me. Especially adding in patterns. I included a lot of pattern in my tops and a fairly neutral set of bottoms, because I know I'd have a hard time going a whole month without some pattern -- especially stripes in the summer. I even threw a floral in, which isn't a pattern I find easy to wear. But then, I've been following a lot of 30x30 and 10x10 capsules on blogs, and while the bloggers always look elegant in their all-neutral ensembles (Style Bee!), I know I would become painfully bored if I wore solid neutrals every day. Just not me. I would need a lot more dramatic tailoring, asymmetry, etc, which isn't very practical for my lifestyle, so graphics and patterns it is.

The shoe thing is interesting -- I don't have a large shoe wardrobe, so I'm wearing almost all of my summer shoes anyway! I guess I live a varied climate, but it really feels like I spend about 7 months of it in boots, so I've always felt a little ridiculous even contemplating having a warm-weather shoe "collection" but now I do. Oops!

The weekend thing is tough, too. I actually came up with a very functional capsule of 30 that included some gear and chore clothes, and was quite reflective of how I actually dress. But I scrapped that and chose 30 "good" items instead. My goal is to force myself to wear "real clothes" everyday whenever possible, but I still have access to my gear and chore clothes as needed. So far, the challenge has encouraged me to bring a "car ride and brewpub dinner" outfit on a camping trip, not something I would ever have done in the past! So I see that as a success. But I think this is an individual thing, where you have to examine your goals a bit to know which categories you need to add.

I'm also tracking my wears within the 30 -- so that may provide some insights. I'm a terrible wear-tracker, because I change often and and up with lots of half-wears that I don't know how to tabulate. With only 30 items, tracking seems a little more manageable.

LaP wrote: So far, the challenge has encouraged me to bring a "car ride and brewpub dinner" outfit on a camping trip, not something I would ever have done in the past! So I see that as a success. But I think this is an individual thing, where you have to examine your goals a bit to know which categories you need to add.

This makes me so incredibly happy. It is not even my success, but it still makes me happy.

WRT tracking: If I put it on my body at any time during the day or night, I track it as a wear. If I go the gym and only wear my gym clothes for 45 minutes, it is still a wear. I had to own those items. I had to get dressed in them and, most importantly, I had to enjoy wearing them. Similarly, if I wear field clothes for only half a day, I track those as a wear too using the same exact logic. I doubt any of my clothing get worn for an entire day (unless it is a weekend).

Sal -- I am finding this challenge easier too. Do you think it is because we already did it once before and knew what to expect and how to plan?

I am a BIG fan of rewards to goals accomplished. A new purse sounds fabulous.

Lisa

One reason why I do a check-in on my capsule wardrobes on my blog a few weeks into the season for that capsule is so that I can get the kinks out. And I think it's perfectly fine to have a small capsule that doesn't have every single item remix like crazy. Sometimes you just like an outfit one or 2 ways and that is it.

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