Kickstart Your Fashion New Year
With a 10x10 Wardrobe Challenge
In the past few years, I’ve been working hard to switch my wardrobe mindset from “I don’t have anything to wear” (and consequently always buying things I don’t need) to “HOW can I wear what I have?”
We live in a world where we’re constantly taught to transform ourselves and reach for newness, for the next thing.
Media in particular often holds women to impossibly high regards, especially when it comes to the ways we look and dress. The term ‘outfit repeater’ has long been held in disdain.
It’s brilliant to see a switch of mindset around this in more recent years, with more and more women proudly claiming the term to showcase how we can maximize the sustainability of our clothes, cultivate a sense of personal style, and enjoy the contents to the fullest extent.
The idea of 10x10 (or 5x5) outfit challenges started cropping up on my social media more last year, and it’s an excellent way to inject your New Year with a sense of renewal around your style.
What is a 10x10 Wardrobe Challenge?
The concept for the 10×10 wardrobe challenge was created by Lee Vosburgh of Style Bee back in 2015.
Hailing from Canada, Lee has been a champion of sustainable and ethical fashion for years, sharing how she styles and maximizes her wardrobe. Lee came up with the idea to help her love her current wardrobe and get more creative with her clothes while doing a shopping ban.
The challenge concept was so popular that Lee began to invite her followers to join her in regular challenges, addressing seasonal challenges and helping others think creatively about their wardrobes.
How does it work?
The idea is pretty simple: pick ten clothing items from your wardrobe and wear only those ten items for ten days. The idea is to come up with a new outfit combination for each day.
You can include shoes, accessories, and bags in your ten items or keep these separate and use your ten items purely for clothing. The trick is to think about the items that will work together, suit your lifestyle, and make you feel good about yourself and your wardrobe in the process!
3 Tips to Start
While it might sound straightforward, it can be challenging to reframe your wardrobe in this way and pick ten items for ten days - especially if you have any events, dates, work stuff, or other occasions coming up.
Be Practical: It’s super tempting to pick out items that you’ve maybe neglected or that you love but aren’t necessarily super practical for your everyday wear. This doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun (which you definitely should!), but the key to a successful challenge is to make sure the items you choose will be comfortable, suit your plans for the ten days and cohesively work together in different ways.
Trial Outfits First: I often get ideas for outfits but once I put them together find they just don’t work in the way I want, don’t flatter me, or just aren’t comfortable. Pick out a selection of pieces you want to style together and spend a little time trialing, matching, and comparing styles to narrow down your choices to your favorite 10.
Get Some Help: If you love the idea of the challenge but opening your wardrobe and picking just ten items feels daunting - get some help! A great stylist doesn’t just tell you to buy new things but actively looks at what you’ve already got and gives you advice on how to maximize this. And what would you know, this is exactly what Fashivly does! Find out more about getting some styling help right here.
Where to find Inspo
Lee offers a great ‘beginners formula’ for first-timers of the challenge, which includes:
2 Pairs of Shoes (1 heel + 1 flat)
4 Tops (Consider pieces that layer well like a fitted long-sleeve, a button-down, and a cardigan)
1 Dress
2 Bottoms
1 Top Layer (Such as a denim jacket or coat)
You can find Lee on Instagram under @leevosburgh, and a couple of my favorite accounts for inspiration, advice, and guidance include:
@uncomplicatedspaces - Gillian focuses on developing an overall capsule wardrobe, and I love her economical use of the pieces she has to put together outfits creatively.
@ashleyccastorena - Ashley focuses on 10x10 and capsule wardrobe inspiration for workwear, and I love how she puts pieces together!
@dearlybethany - Bethany offers some great advice on how to style items together overall, and can be a great source of inspo if you’re a bit stuck on what items might go with what.
And, of course, there’s lots of inspiration to be found over on @fashivly!
The whole point of this is to understand better how we wear what we have and keep developing our unique sense of style. If your style is feeling a little flat as we head into 2022, a 10x10 could be just the kickstarter you need to help you think a little differently about how you dress! Above all, have fun!
If you give the challenge a go - we want to see it! Share and use the hashtag #Fashivly10x10 to show us how you’re kicking off your 2022 style!
Elaine Mead
Elaine is a freelance writer, educator, and psychologist-in-training from London, currently residing in Tasmania. Her writing on personal and professional development has appeared with Darling Magazine, Healthline, Psych Central, and many more. You can usually find her having a good rummage at the local thrift market, fueling her caffeine addiction, or napping with her dachshund, Einstein. More of her words here: www.wordswithelaine.com
