30x30: La La LAAAAA!!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

30x30 ITEMS
Polo: Aeropostale, $10
Cardigan (layered under polo): gift
Pinstripe pants: Kohl's, $30
Wedges: Ross, $7

ACCESSORIES REPORT
Earrings: Icing by Claire's, $5
Scarf: free from clothing swap
Peacoat: Papaya brand, free from clothing swap
Right-hand ring: gift

Hear that? It's the sound of a fat pleasantly-plump lady singing, and that means that the SK{ru}SH 30x30 challenge is officially over. Here's a quick recap of the hits and misses, my outfits from the last thirty days. (Psst: sorry that some of the numbers are cut off. If I were any brand of perfectionist, I'd fix it.)


Here's what I learned from working with my narrow wardrobe for one month:

- I've still got a long way to go before wearing a skirt/dress on a weekday feels normal. Growing up, they were reserved for Sundays only, and I have a long-standing preference for pants because of it. If I've done my math correctly, I wore pants twice as often as skirts/dresses during the 30x30, although I had an even number of pieces in both categories. That said, I really love wearing skirts and have several that I adore, so I'm working to make myself feel more okay with wearing them during the week.

- My shoes and t-shirts were the things I missed wearing the most.

- Scarves are wonderful.

- The state of my hair has a huge impact on my confidence level; no matter how good I felt about my outfit, when my hair was in that botched-dye-job stage (days 5-10), I was self-conscious.

- It is really good to take a purposeful break from shopping. I'll definitely do it again.

- I've got serious love for my chartreuse cardigan, plaid shirt, and striped sweater. I had to stop myself from wearing them too often.

- While the 30x30 parameters did seem silly to me at some points ("Look at all the clothes I'm just ignoring for no reason!"), it wasn't hard to live up to them. I could have made ten or twenty more outfits with ease, even if some of them were awfully similar to earlier outfits, and if it weren't for the fact that I was photographing and blogging every single look, I would have felt fine with exact repeats. Consider this a lesson well-learned for any future time spent living abroad: you can do a lot with a little.

So would I do the challenge again? Maybe, but I think a smarter move might be to do a modified version. I'll just have to wait and see how I feel in a few months, assuming Kendi puts out the call again.

In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to a closet without restrictions. I'll be donning some polka dots tomorrow for Everybody, Everywear, and after that, the world is my oyster ... my rainy, rainy oyster. (It's absolutely pouring right now.) Huzzah!

10 comments:

  1. the second pic is adorable. your smile is heart warming!!!

    as always, i adore your hair color.
    keep shining*


    hope to hear from you*
    love amy ^.^
    www.amyflyingakite.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. congrats on finishing! that bright scarf is a fantastic accessory!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay! Congratulations on finishing!
    I'm the same way with hair and confidence levels. My hair is in a perpetual state of disarray and thus I feel less than wonderful lots of days.
    You had a lot of cute looks but I think my faves were 27 and 22.
    Well done and welcome back to your closet! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh you finished just in time for EBEW! And then you will be free ;)

    I totally agree that there are way more than 30 outfits in 30 clothes...it's just a matter of finding ones that look unique from one another, right?

    I think you did a fabulous job creating unique looks. I love the bright yellow cardigan in those outfits!

    The Auspicious Life

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello!! I just saw your comment on my 16 and Pregnant rant post. I really appreciate you commenting from your unique point of view. It makes me think about my own opinions and possible bias. I responded on the post but wanted to make sure you knew that you didn't jump in a pit of nails:) Comments are always welcome, even if it's to give a different opinion or perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats on finishing! I was also pretty ambivalent after I was done, and chose not to go for this round. But who knows what I'll do for the next... And I have to say how much I love that you wear bright oranges, pinks and reds- it makes me sad when redheads (or "redheads") stay away from those shades, which I think make an amazing color combo.

    ReplyDelete
  7. adorable, congrats for finishing and i love your outfit today and how the orange scarf matches your shoes :)

    <3 steffy
    steffysprosandcons.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. you, my dear, are a color MASTER. (i would've said mistress, since you're female and all, but that just sounds weird.) i can't even decide which ones i love the most, because they.are.allllllll.great. okay, fine, i covet your chartreuse cardigan. does that make me a bad person?
    loved reading what you learned. so true, the europe reference to doing a lot with a little. i felt the same way.
    -brittney
    http://adayinlifetoo.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. You did it girl yaaaaay you did an amazing job and i love the splach of color that you add to each outfit!!
    http://insidekatouscloset.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am completely in love with the orange shoes!

    ReplyDelete

 
site design by designer blogs with floral elements by createthecut