Pic#1—Friday, casual dinner out. I didn’t love this outfit, but I wanted to use the new poplin top in a different way. I also wanted to use the summer bag while it is still summer. I wore my Levi's Bold Curvy Skinny jeans which were part of the capsule, but I wanted to wear my new GAP Best Girlfriend jeans that I bought after the challenge had begun.

Pic#2—Saturday, casual get-together with neighbors. I wore the GAP Best Girlfriend Jeans. I rationalized the substitution because I’ve been feeling that the Levi’s Bold Curve Skinnies are dated and I plan to replace them, long term, with the GAP jeans. The GAP jeans are about 2" taller in the rise than the Bold Curve Skinnies, so they pair better with cropped tops.

Pic#3—Represents two days spent on the boat. I wore my black knit tee-shirt dress over my swim clothes on both days. But, I also chose this picture to show you that I branched out from my usual ballet-pink nail polish and chose pale lavender. I like it! It feels fresh and fun to me.

Pic#4—Monday. Another casual outfit for the boat. GAP jeans and poplin top over my swim suit. (I did not plan to swim or to get wet on this day.)

Pic#5—Tuesday. A day at home with my son. Wide-legged Levi’s with a grey tee. Pretty schleppy. I've been experiencing a laundry bottleneck (specifically an ironing bottleneck) now that my son is around all the time.
Pic#6--Bonus photo of my dog Frankie who came with us on the boat.

Observations:

1--Over the 30 days, the capsule expanded to 33 items. However, only 26 items were clothing—the others were bags and belts. Two of the additional items were a bag and a belt, the third was the "replacement" jeans.

2—My favorite part of this project was choosing the items for the initial capsule.

3—I learned something about wardrobe crafting from making the capsule: I chose mix-and-match tops that I like and I chose mix-and-match pants that I like and I counted on the items to be fully interchangeable. In fact, they were not. After I added the cropped tops, I realized that my only pair of higher-waisted pants is also wide-legged. This yielded only one possible silhouette—volume on volume. Another time, I’d spend more time actually building outfits or asking myself, “how many pants complement this exact top?” The cropped tops are new to my wardrobe and necessitate purchase of higher waisted pants. Cropped tops and wide pants are special-needs items and I cannot swap them with impunity as I am used to doing with my tees and “regular” jeans.
4--I'm not sold on the crop-top silhouette, which is difficult for me to wear. It's new to me and I'm giving it a try. I expect that softer fabric tops with more drape will be easier to wear, but the jury is still out on this shape. (I swapped-in both cropped tops after the start of the challenge.)

5—During the course of the challenge, I realized that I want white shoes (beyond sneakers). I do not currently own any. I enjoyed wearing the white sneakers, which are the shoes I choose anytime I need to walk far. But I realized that they are hot and I found myself wanting sandals instead. I think I also want a pair of white loafers or loafer mules. Parsing this out and shopping for the best shoes for the task—or multiple pairs for multiple tasks—is a developing skill. In a partial fix, I noticed that the white graphic Crocs were once-again available and I bought a pair. Sandal needs addressed for the most casual occasions! I still need to sort out whether I need BOTH white sandals and loafers/mules.
6--Although I very much enjoyed the camaraderie within the challenge (thank you again, Sterling, for initiating the challenge!), I'm not sure I'd do another limitation-oriented challenge. The is because my wardrobe is small and I feel like it makes sense to use and enjoy all of it. I am looking forward to getting into the rest of my closet!