The 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge: what I learnt from taking part

Okay, I actually wrote this post about taking part in the 10×10 wardrobe challenge last month and thought I’d scheduled it to post automatically, but clearly I didn’t! Then I forgot all about it what with the excitement of Lauren being born, so here it is feeling a bit out of date, but hey, I’m posting it anyway. At the very least, it gives you a few more looks at some of my maternity makes and how I styled them in the final trimester.
10x10 Wardrobe Challenge days 1-5

10x10 Wardrobe Challenge days 6-10

I’ve been thinking about taking part in a 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge ever since I first heard about them. Basically, you take ten items of clothing (not including bags, accessories and outerwear) and try to find new outfits to make out them for a whole ten days. Documenting on Instagram with the hashtag #spring10x10 was I suppose optional, but I imagine most participants did so. This particular challenge ran in early April.

The Challenge was thought up by a couple of fashion bloggers and wasn’t originally aimed at sewists, but a few have started to take part using the extra hashtag #sewist10x10. The original idea was something to do with taking a minimalist approach to creating a capsule wardrobe and focusing on finding new ways to wear your favourite clothes, but I think you can make this challenge your own and use it however you want. You can find an excellent guide post over on the Unfancy blog here, by one of the two creators of the challenge: http://www.un-fancy.com/10×10-wardrobe-challenge/spring-remix-10-items-10-days-10-outfits/

I wanted to use the challenge to get out of a wardrobe rut, as I’d spent most of the winter wearing the same four maternity dresses in rotation. They were all long sleeved with high necklines, and I was getting really sick of them. Also, as the weather was hopefully warming up I wanted to experiment with some of the maternity separates I’d been sewing and find new ways to wear them.

My maternity wardrobe has been kept small by design as I really didn’t want to spend too much time and money on clothing that would only get a few month’s use (this child is definitely my last!). As a consequence I have a fairly boring selection of basics (mostly RTW from the last pregnancy), and I was hoping to find ways to jazz them up and make them feel fresh again.

My 10×10 items

My items were the following, with the number of times I wore each item afterwards:

Me mades:

RTW:

  • Brown Chelsea boots by Earth Spirit – 10
  • Lace cami (maternity) from Red Herring by Debenhams – 2
  • Denim skirt (maternity) from Next – 2
  • Black tie-front bolero cardigan from Wool Overs – 4
  • Black long sleeved top (maternity) from Mamas and Papas – 3

Initially I had chosen two pairs of shoes, but I swapped out the zebra Converse shoes for the lace cami after a few days when I realised it was going to be cold and rainy for the duration. I know it’s not great to wear the same pair of boots day after day as they need an airing, but since I’m in the house in my slippers most of the time I figured it wouldn’t matter too much. Plus they’re the easiest pair of footwear for me to put on at the moment, what with this huge belly getting in the way!

What I learnt from this 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge

  • I need more footwear to suit autumn and spring weather–namely ankle boots or shoes that are okay to wear with socks/tights. I’m thinking a pair of black ankle boots and perhaps a pair of two tone brogues in black and white.
  • This challenge is tricky to do with our typically unpredictable British weather! I normally layer up as much as I can so I can add or remove layers when the temperature changes, but with only ten items to play with it was tricky getting warm enough. I got around this by not including leggings and thermal tops/camis worn underneath others, but I wished I’d included a thick jumper as one of the ten!
  • The tops and skirts I chose were too similar in silhouette to get dramatically different looks with them. That’s partly because I’m not really into the boxy look so most of my tops are close-fitting, and partly because my maternity wardrobe is limited to classics I know I’ll wear lots.
  • I did end up nearly running out of ideas and then tried wearing the Erin skirt over my tops (and even over the dress on the last day). I’m not convinced it’s the best look on me, but it was certainly different.
  • I really appreciated the pops of colour from my purple cardie, the floral top and the scarves I accessorised with. I think you need this when dressing in “boring” basics (ie, mostly black and denim)

Thoughts for next time

  • Three tops with different sleeve lengths and necklines would really help to achieve a variety of looks.
  • A button-up shirt would be a really useful thing to have as one of the ten items, as there are so many ways you can wear them. Buttoned up as a top, open as a shacket, tied at the waist, sleeves rolled up… I’m sure there are more, too! Good thing I plan to get into shirtmaking this year.
  • A sleeveless knit vest would also be really useful for layering. I’m thinking I might need to knit or crochet one.
  • I think those of us with kids probably need to take at least one “laundry day” break, as I find I often can’t wear clothes more than one day in a row as they get child gak all over them. Washing these clothes so I could wear them again was a bit of an extra challenge for me!
  • I could do with getting hold of some more colourful and/or patterned lightweight scarves and warm cardigans–not just for this challenge but for everyday outfit creation. I’ll have to consider whether I’d be better off buying or making these.

***

I’m definitely interested in taking part in a 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge again, and they seem to run twice a year (spring and autumn). However, it’s the kind of thing you could do just for your own interest at any point. It’s like a mini Me Made May, with a really sharp focus on creating a capsule wardrobe.

I’ll leave you with a pic of my fave outfit from the ten days, and I think it’s no coincidence it’s one of the most colourful!:

Would you take part in this challenge with your me-mades?

2 thoughts on “The 10×10 Wardrobe Challenge: what I learnt from taking part”

    1. Thank you! It definitely gets you thinking about how your clothes work together. I’ve been planning lots of relatively boring, plain coloured separates since taking part!

What do you reckon? I'd love to hear from you!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.