Low Buy 10x10 Capsule Wardrobe Challenge
Let's have some fun with 10 "NEW" outfits!
If you, like me, have committed to a low (or no) buy period, whether it’s 3 months, 6 months or a year, you might be starting to feel a little overwhelmed at this point.
As of today, we’re 3.5 weeks in and one week from today, we’ll have made it through the first month!
Perhaps you’re hearing the siren call of the new year’s sales, promising you the best year ever if only you bought this new [insert applicable item]. Maybe your favorite influencer is “obsessed” with a new serum that she just started using.
I wonder why these 2 examples immediately popped into my head?? 😅
According to Amy Morin of Psychology Today, “Research shows that about 80% of people abandon their resolutions within the month.”
We’re in the danger zone, you and me!
So I thought that it would be fun to do a little challenge - a 10 item capsule wardrobe that we’ll style for the next 10 days, bridging the gap between the end of our first month and the beginning of our second one.
Even if you’re not doing a low (or no) buy period, but you’d like to stretch your styling legs and play with some items in your closet, while taking a momentary break from shopping, please join in!
I will be starting my challenge tomorrow, January 26th. Join me then, or in a few days if that works better for you!
I did my first 10x10 capsule wardrobe challenge in 2018. It was my first foray into capsule wardrobing and the beginning of a years-long love affair with having a more minimalist wardrobe.
After competing a number of them from 2018-2023, I have since backed off on capsule wardrobing as I was using it to minimize my wardrobe without really putting in the work to truly minimize my wardrobe - decluttering and consuming less, which is the journey that I am currently on with my low buy year.
But I think there is always room for a little wardrobe challenge, especially if it makes the things in our wardrobe feel new and exciting.
The premise behind a 10x10 style challenge is to choose 10 items from your wardrobe to style into 10 different outfits over the course of 10 days. It was originally created as a collaboration between Lee Vosburgh and Caroline Joy sometime around 2018, then solely by Lee, before she stopped doing them around 2020. After that, different people started hosting them.
In this newsletter:
Benefits of a capsule wardrobe
Tips for creating the perfect capsule wardrobe
My 10x10 capsule wardrobe formula
How I chose my 10x10 items
10 possible outfit combinations
My 10x10 color palette
For monthly/annual subscribers, a PDF to help you plan your capsule wardrobe!
Benefits of a capsule wardrobe:
If you struggle to get dressed in the morning and constantly feel like you have nothing to wear, having a smaller, curated, selection of clothing to choose from can reduce a lot of stress and mental fatigue.
It can help you to appreciate the things that you already own and the different styling possibilities for each item.
You can get a better idea of the items that you really like to wear and the ones that you don’t, allowing you to hone in on your personal style.
It’s a great exercise to do when you want to take a break from shopping.
It enables you to save money as you are utilizing the things that you already own and not buying new ones.
It can increase your styling confidence by encouraging you to think of outfits that you may never have thought about before.
It’s fun and allows you to be creative with your wardrobe!
Tips for creating the Perfect 10x10 capsule wardrobe:
Consider the weather and choose items accordingly - if you live somewhere cold, consider choosing items that layer easily for the colder days but that you could wear on their own for the warmer ones.
Consider your lifestyle - now is not the time to try wearing your fancy dress items for 10 days. Stick to the categories of clothing that you like to wear in your everyday life.
Leave a little room for fun - you could throw one fancy dress item in that could work with all of your other items, or maybe some item from one of your favorite categories that doesn’t get worn very often. Or you could experiment with an item that you’re thinking about decluttering - incorporating it into the challenge could be exactly what you need to decide whether to keep/discard!
Consider color - a neutral color palette is helpful for creating a lot of outfits, but it isn’t necessary. If you love to wear color, build a colorful 10x10 capsule! Think of a few color combinations that you love to wear and keep those at the front of your mind when choosing items.
If you’re including shoes and outerwear in your capsule, choose items that are practical for everyday wear and go with everything.
My 10x10 capsule wardrobe formula:
I have identified 10 main categories in my wardrobe, so my initial plan is to take one item from each category:
1 Coat/Jacket
1 Vest/Blazer/Light Jacket
1 Sweater
1 Cardigan
1 Top/Shirt/Blouse
1 Dress
1 Jeans
1 Pants
1 Skirt
1 Boots
You can do the same as me as a starting point and pull one item from each category. If you prefer to wear dresses instead of skirts, choose 2 dresses and exclude the skirt, or vice versa. If you don’t own any cardigans, choose 2 of some other item that works better for you.
Choose the items that you love to wear the most!
It’s up to you if you want to include outerwear and footwear as part of your 10 items. I’ve done it both ways in the past. The goal is to have fun and to make the challenge work for you, not the other way around, so if you want a few more styling options, exclude them.
I don’t include jewelry or any other accessories in my capsule wardrobes, but I do use them when I want to jazz an outfit up a bit!
How I chose my 10x10 items:
Weather - According to my weather app, we are in for some pretty nice temperatures over the next 9 days, ranging from 29F - 44F, which is downright balmy compared to how cold it was last week! I assume the 10th day will be somewhere in this range, even if I can’t see it at the time of writing this.
Lifestyle - I have a pretty casual lifestyle with most days spent at home. I do like to dress nicely as I feel like it makes me a little more productive. All of the items that I’m including are ones that are comfortable for daily wear.
Fun - I included my vintage silk equestrian print blouse and sweater with a “popcorn” texture for a little whimsy.
Color - Choosing all black and grey items would have made for a versatile wardrobe in terms of the outfits I could create but I wanted to challenge myself to add as few black items as possible!
Shoes and outerwear - I did decide to include them in my capsule and I went with my tried a true Moto boots. The jacket that I chose is one that I recently pulled back from the declutter pile so this will be a good indicator of whether that was a good idea or not.
I pulled two outerwear items to start - my khaki wool jacket and my long tan coat, with the intent to decide between the two once I had figured out all of my other items…I chose my shorter wool one since it was going to be warmer.
Next, I selected my green wool-blend sweater for a bit of color, followed by my long black wool skirt.
I debated including my navy wool trousers that I just got back from the seamstress when I thought that I might include my silver sneakers as my footwear choice.
However, because there will be days around freezing, I choose my black moto boots, which the navy trousers don’t go that well with, so I opted for my black/white checkered wool trousers instead.
I pretty quickly chose my white t-shirt and grey wool vest for some layering options.
I thought about choosing a blue/white striped shirt but went with my vintage silk equestrian blouse so that I could get a few more wears out of it.
I changed my mind about my charcoal wool cardigan in lieu of my vintage blue “popcorn” one.
I went for my black straight leg jeans as I never reach for them, usually choosing my other black jeans instead.
I realized that I had 2 items from one category (a top AND a blouse) and I wanted to keep both, so I decided to not include a dress.
10 possible outfit combinations:
I’m really excited about the 10 items that I came up. I didn’t include my jacket in the images, but I will include it in the outfits over the next two outfit diary posts.
I’m not sure which of these outfits I’ll end up wearing - I don’t plan on referring back to this image during the challenge. It all depends on how I feel each day when I’m getting dressed but I’m sure a few of these will be there, but I can see so many other possibilities as well!
I did film the above outfits for an upcoming video on YT, so stay tuned for that!
My 10x10 color palette:
My only objective when I went to choose the items for my 10x10 capsule wardrobe was to not have it be all black. While I love dark outfits, 10 days straight would be a bit much. Also, I’m starting to feel the winter blues seep in and I think a little infusion of color can only be a good thing.
At first glance, the colors that pop out to me are black, grey and white, so I labelled those as my primary colors. After my eye settled on the items that I had chosen, it focused in on the accents of blue and green in the outfits.
Plan YOUR 10x10 Capsule Wardrobe
As a thank you for your support, I am providing monthly/yearly subscribers with a PDF to help you plan your first Low Buy 10x10 Capsule Wardrobe of the year.
In it, you will find:
A place to list your 10 items.
A place to color in your capsule palette.
A place to write or sketch out (for the more artistic amongst us) 10 possible outfit combinations.
Additional spaces for even more outfit combinations! How many can you come up with?
A place to record your thoughts at the end of the challenge.
It’s my hope that you will add this PDF to your Low Buy Planner to use whenever you need a distraction or just want to have a little fun with your wardrobe ☺️