Month: May 2014

30 x 30 Challenge: Eh, Why Not?

So … the title pretty much sums it up. Everybody, including your grandma, your 2-year old niece, and your cat, has already done a 30 x 30 challenge or twelve, but it seems that I’m all about chasing bandwagons that left the station 3 years ago, so here we are. In all seriousness, though, I’m working through a bit of a funk (and not of the fun, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch variety), and I thought a simple little project like this would provide some much-needed distraction. It’s actually a great time to do it, too, because my closet is at its pared-down leanest, and my day-to-day clothing needs are much simpler than before, now that I’m at home all the time.

Speaking of which, some of you may wonder why I go to trouble of getting “dressed up” (I use that term loosely here) every most days when my daily to-do list typically involves mundane errands and running after small kids. The answer is … not this blog, actually. I don’t really dress up for the blog anymore. (I find that, whenever I tried to be “creative” and “so fashun” in the past, more often than not the resulting outfits were … questionable. At this point, I’ll take boring over ridiculous-looking. I’m closer to being an old fart than a 22-year old pixie.) I dress up because not doing it makes me feel worse. Worse about myself, about whatever small annoyances creep up in my day, about the weather, you name it. It’s kind of like … taking a shower. You can probably get away with not doing it every day, and some days it might seem like a small luxury, but you feel 100% better if you take that 5 minutes all for yourself. But I digress.

I’m excited about doing the 30 x 30 challenge now (unlike before) because I’ve been working a lot lately on exploring a more minimalist approach to dressing (not just in terms of quantity, but also style); now, I see the limitations of the challenge as providing an opportunity to test my mettle, rather than an exercise in frustration. (Picking 30 items is much easier when you have 60 to choose from, as opposed to 120.)

I expect to break absolutely no new style ground with this challenge. I can promise that you will not see anything you haven’t seen before, possibly even on this very blog. In fact, if you skip this post entirely, things will seem to be pretty much business-as-usual around here. But, in case you feel like playing spot-the-repeat at home (could be a fun drinking game!), here are my 30 pieces for the next 30 days:

Four pairs of pants …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
(L to R: NYDJ (via eBay); Levi’s (via consignment); RACHEL Rachel Roy; Adriano Goldschmied (via Kijiji)

Six tops …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
L to R: Old Navy; eBay; J. Crew; J. Crew Factory; Vero Moda (the 6th top (Old Navy) is not pictured because I forgot)

Three cardigans and a sweater …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
All from J. Crew Factory

Three dresses and a skirt …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
L to R: J. Crew Factory skirt; Joe Fresh; Old Navy; J. Crew (via eBay)

Five jackets/toppers …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
L to R: Gap; Old Navy; Tommy Hilfiger Factory; Old Navy; J. Crew (via consignment)

And six pairs of shoes …

30 x 30 challenge; capsule wardrobe
Top row (L to R): J. Crew (via consignment); Tory Burch (via Kijiji); J. Crew Factory; Old Navy
Bottom row (L to R): Gap Factory; Old Navy; Mel; Converse

Um, make that 8 pairs of shoes. Also, math is hard, you guys. Yep, I managed to include 31 items in my 30 x 30 capsule. Hahahahaha! Hah! Ha! Sob! I’m laughing mostly to keep from crying because, OMG, complete fail. Head, meet desk, etc. I would take out a couple of pairs of shoes, except it’s too late now.* I need a drink.

On that successful note, let’s start this damn thing, eh!

*Quick scheduling note: I’m running the 30 x 30 posts every day starting on June 1, because it seemed sensible to do it over the course of a 30 day month; however, I actually started the project this month, because the blog runs 2 weeks behind. It’s neither here not there (except for making it impossible to fix my mathematical incompetence), but those of you who follow me on Instagram will have already seen a bunch of my outfits. Of course, you will now get my scintillating commentary so there’s that.

 

Grecian Gray

What I Wore: Baby Shower

Dreamy Drape Dress Plenty by Tracy Reece; Zara sparkly flats
Dress, Plenty by Tracy Reese (via eBay); cardigan & necklace, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Zara

I love, love, love this dress, and I’m sad that I’m forced to ruin it with a cardigan every time I wear it. Let’s move on before this veers into a weather rant. Hey, looky, I’m wearing my Tinkerbell shoes again! And they’re still obnoxiously, wonderfully sparkly.

Also, teal. As a redhead, I feel like I should like (and wear) teal more than I do. (Conversely, I should love mustard yellow less than I do, but the heart wants what it wants.) Teal is like … broccoli. It’s probably good for me, but I will find every excuse to not have to eat wear it. Unless I feel guilty about a recent chocolate binge in which case … wait. What am I talking about again? Oh yes, teal. We have a like/mild indifference relationship.

I’m not indifferent about this necklace:

J. Crew Factory necklaceWhat colour is your broccoli?

[This post was brought to you by Adina’s stream-of-consciousness at some ungodly late hour. Insomnia is a terrible thing, friends.]

On Repeat

What I Wore: Week Day Adventures

J. CRew butterfly sweater; Adriano Goldschmied Stevie cords
Pants, Adriano Goldschmied (via Kijiji); sweater, J. Crew (via eBay); shoes, J. Crew (via consignment); bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

I liked last week’s outfit so much, I repeated it. Well, near enough. As with most things, practice makes perfect better. I’m loving this pale blue colour at the moment (and I added a bit more of it to my closet thanks to that Old Navy blouse), and it looks so good with tan. (Camel. Whatever.) And, of course, I can never get enough pops of red.

Speaking of things you’ve seen a million bunch of times, here is that Boden dress again:

Boden leaf print dress
Dress, Boden (via eBay); jacket, Tommy Hilfiger Factory; bag, MbMJ (via eBay); shoes, Old Navy

But, I promise, it is the last time. This year, anyway. I have officially moved it, along with all my winter clothes, into the basement closet, which … means that we’re about to get a dump of snow in May. Count on it. Sorry, E-town peeps!