My first #May30x30
I decided to join in on the #May30x30, which is (as you might have guessed) 30 pieces for 30 days throughout May. I got started a little late, so my challenge bled a week into June.
Prepping
I’m going to be honest, I threw the 30 pieces together pretty quickly without giving as much thought to it as I probably should have. I was strapped for time and I honestly thought it would be pretty easy (heck!—I’ve done 10x10s before, so I’ll be swimming in possibility with 30x30!). Had I taken more time, I would have taken a harder look at the weather and at my calendar, trying to mentally put together outfits. That said, some things came up mid-challenge that I couldn’t have planned for (like an impromptu ski trip for example.) I also hadn’t considered the fact that I would be wearing a volunteer t-shirt everyday for the week of Design Week Sacramento—oops. 😬
30 Pieces
As I said, this 30x30 was thrown together pretty quickly. One self-imposed constraint I had was trying not to repeat too many items I’ve already used in the last 3 10x10s because #content. Upon further reflection, this premise is absolutely ridiculous considering the point of this challenge is to learn to stretch those styling muscles by creating unique looks with the same pieces and ultimately learning to live with less. The idea is to only have your favorite pieces and actually wear them—a lot.
I’m sure you can tell from my palette that this 30x30 was really all over the place. In retrospect, I can understand what I was trying to do: I wanted to be more playful and give myself some fun stuff to play with since I had sooo many pieces to work with (compared to previous 10x10s). Stripes! Florals! Stars! Animal Prints! On my!! What that ultimately led to, however, was a hodgepodge of clothes that were difficult to make interesting pairings with. I tended to stick to neutrals and only wore the more adventurous pieces once or twice over the entire month.
If you’re new here, I’m Missy of Simplified Wardrobe, an Ethical Personal Stylist & Capsule Wardrobe Curator. I help ambitious, eco-conscious womxn who want to look great, feel confident, and simplify their lives.
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30 Days
Week 1: Days 1-5
The first week I actually felt a little paralyzed by choice. I had so many options and so many days to consider that I couldn’t do what I usually do with 10x10s and plan out every day in my head before the start of the challenge to make sure I had enough of the right kind of outfits—that is, good outfit options for a night out, a networking event, or wine tasting for example.
I was nervous to wear my favorite outfit combinations because I didn’t want to “waste” outfits before I needed them. Suffice it to say, I played it pretty safe.
Week 2: Days 6-12 (aka Design Week)
Oh boy. This was incredibly challenging in that I had to create 2 outfits almost everyday! I needed to make sure I could easily change into my Design Week Sac t-shirt from whatever outfit I was wearing, while keeping a stylish look and maintaining variety for the ‘gram.
Week 3: Days 13-15
(As you may have gleaned, I skipped the weekend which I spent in pajamas on the couch recovering from the craziness of Design Week.)
By Monday of the third week I felt more comfortable knowing I would have enough options to get me through the challenge. I had an event this week that let me wear one of my favorite dresses (a blue starry number by Realisation Par).
Memorial Day Weekend: Days 16-19
Over Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Tahoe to go skiing and hang out in a cozy cabin. For the trip, I created a mini 6-piece capsule using select pieces from the larger 30-piece capsule.
I kept it pretty simple and neutral, making sure every piece was mix-and-matchable, warm(ish), and comfortable. I say warmish because I didn’t include very many warm pieces in the capsule since it had been (and continues to be) soo hot, so I grabbed the only long sleeved shirts and pants I included (2), and a light blazer/cardigan I could wear over the other pieces. I only included one pair of shoes because for the most part, I would be wearing ski boots or slippers. I did make sure that they were the most waterproof shoes in my 30x30. I also threw in an oversized t-shirt because it’s so comfortable and could be worn casually around the cabin.
I confess, I pre-shot these outfit photos (as well as a few other possible combos) and fully intended to wear them on the days I posted them. That said, I spent most of my time in ski clothes or loungewear, occasionally mixed with real clothes. I definitely wore the first and last outfits in their entirety as those were the days we left and re-entered civilization.
Week 4: Days 20-25
By the fourth week, I was feeling pretty confident that I could handily finish this challenge with the amount of items I’d barely (or hadn’t) worn and the number of outfit combos I had in my head that I hadn’t worn yet. The primary problem I faced this week was keeping cool! Just like I didn’t have a lot of cold weather clothing pieces, I realized I didn’t include enough hot weather pieces. Still, I made due, and I even got to wear the sundress I included to go to brunch and wedding dress shopping with a girlfriend! (In case you were wondering, she said Yes! to the dress!)
Week 5: Days 26-30!
The home stretch. It was still hot, but this week my primary struggle was trying to get in all my favorite outfit combos that hadn’t been worn yet! At this point, I stopped trying to wear pieces I hadn’t worn much yet out of obligation and focused more on wearing what I liked most and what I wanted to wear without feeling guilty that I’d already worn a piece too many times. I also got to wear my favorite jumpsuit (from Club Monaco) again to attend a networking event.
Wrap Up
Item Breakdown
I was actually pretty surprised by the item breakdown when I sat down and actually counted. There were a few items I felt like I’d worn way more often as well as some that I didn’t realize I’d worn so much. I could have sworn I wore those jean shorts a few more times, but apparently I only wore them once! I also thought I’d worn the white sleeveless blouse, the denim shirt, and the striped tee way more. On the flipside, I’m shocked I wore those gray slip-ons 13 times! That means I spend almost half the challenge in those.
I didn’t, however, find it surprising at all that I only wore 2 of the blazers only once each—for one, it was so hot most of the time I didn’t need an extra layer; for two, I just don’t love them as much as I wanted to. I might try to get the red one tailored because as is, it’s just overwhelming on my frame. The white one will probably get replace—I like the idea of a white blazer, but this one is not great quality and I feel sheepish wearing it (I got it for free at a clothing swap just to test the concept.)
Takeaways
Ratio of items
In general, looking at the breakdown I can tell my ratios were way off: I should have included a couple more bottoms and fewer blazers and shoes. I was going to say I should have included fewer dresses/jumpsuits, but honestly I wish I had worn the dresses more. It’s hard to style those particular dresses differently, but that’s not such a bad thing.Waiting
For the first couple of weeks, I was trying to spread out my wears of items evenly so that everything would get more equal wears. I was also worried I would wear my favorites early and then have nothing good to wear for the last half of the challenge. This turned out to be wild, and there were several great outfits I never wore and a few not-my-favorite outfits that I did wear just to use an item I wasn’t wearing much.Wishing
I realize that I was a little too wishful when putting together this capsule. I included too many items that I don’t wear a lot normally in the hopes that this would force me to wear them. In the end, I wore them maybe once or twice for variety, but didn’t really feel great in them so I didn’t reach for them as much, which really limited the items I was actually wearing!Vacation Capsule
The impromptu ski trip meant I had the opportunity to create a mini-capsule out of the items in my 30x30. This was really easy and really fun! I truly love the challenge of packing a cohesive and small travel wardrobe. In this case, I used 6 items for 4 days (but they could have created outfits for at least 6 days.) This might make me weird, but the challenge of packing for long trips in a carryon is truly one of my greatest joys.
Comfort
I didn’t include enough warm weather, casual pieces. I think I also need a business appropriate warm weather dress or skirt. In general, I’m just not prepared enough for regularly 95+° weather, which is understandable considering this is my first summer in this climate. I’ll be investing in a few more pieces this summer, and slowly I’ll build up a more appropriate summer collection.