30 Days- 30 Things

*Choose 30 items of clothing from my closet to wear for 30 days.
*Your 30 items will consist of tops, pants, and shoes. I did not include accessories or jewelry.
*During those 30 days you’re not allowed to shop or spend any money on clothing or accessories.
*Once you’ve chosen your 30,  section off the rest of your closet so you are not tempted to sway from your 30.

I have had several people ask questions about the challenge, how to go about it, how it worked for me, and what things I chose to wear for the month. So I’m divulging the good and the bad on how my 30 days went.

I went into this with a little bit of a love hate relationship for the challenge. I typically feel as though these kind of challenges are just not my thing. I like to be creative with what I wear and the thought of being tied down to 30 things felt like that would take that away from me. But if anything having fewer pieces to work with pushed me to get more creative. There were several things I loved about the challenge and just a few things that I disliked and would tweak if doing it again, so here is how my 30 days went!

Let me start out by sharing what I loved about the challenge! The best part about it was it simplified my life! I am all for anything that’s going to cut out stress and add simplicity. Prior to the challenge I wasted a lot of time standing in front of my closet trying to figure out how to clothe myself for the next day. My 30 things consisted of lots of things that could be mixed and matched so each morning all I had to do was grab a couple things and I was ready to go. Simple and easy!

Strangely enough one of the things I loved about the challenge was that it cut down on my laundry. I’m absolutely terrible at doing laundry and somehow this made it so much easier. Anybody else just can’t seem to ever get the laundry done?? The majority of my clothing pieces were dark colors so at the end of the week I could do one big load and I’d be ready for the next week.

I loved the discipline it gave me to not shop. I don’t think I realized how many random things I’d pick up and buy throughout the month until I made myself stop shopping for 30 days. It was actually refreshing for me. It made me so much more aware and made me really think about what I wanted to spend my money on going forward. I buy so many things I don’t really love just because it was convenient or on sale at the time or I needed a last minute item for an event. Going forward I want to invest in pieces I truly love and to remember less can truly be more!

I would definitely do this challenge again but I would tweak a few things going forward. The key to sticking with this challenge is choosing 30 things you love! I’ll be honest, there were days I really struggled and wanted to throw out all 30 things and hope to never see them again. I did not love all my 30 pieces. I did however choose to best items from my closet that I had to work with at the time. Starting out I didn’t want to go buy new things, so I chose the best items I could mix and match. I based my selected items mostly around my work wear. I have to dress business professional for work and that’s always a struggle for me because I feel like that style is just not really me. So the majority of what I wear Monday through Friday I end up hating. This was partly why I was excited to do the challenge, because I would struggle every day to come up with a work outfit that I felt great in. So going forward I want to purchase good quality work pieces that I love and fit my style as well. After time I hope to build up that part of my wardrobe to where I do really love it.  So, if you choose to do this challenge I encourage you make sure you really like the items your choosing to wear for the month or you will tire of them quickly. That might mean you buy a couple staple pieces before you get started, like a great pair of jeans, a quality black top or a neutral jacket to wear with lots of things.

Here is a breakdown of the items I chose for my 30.

2- pairs of jeans
2- pairs of black dress pants
3- blouses
7- sleeveless tops
3- long cardigan sweaters
1- sweater
4- black blazers/jackets
3- dresses
3- pairs of shoes
2- items to spare (I allowed 2 extra items I could throw in during the month.)

I stuck with the same color palette and chose a lot of dark colors that would work well together. I typically wear a lot of black anyways so this was easy for me to do. As I mentioned above, I did not include accessories or jewelry in my 30. I felt like this was my one way to spice up my outfits. I did however choose only a select number of jewelry items and scarfs that I allowed myself to work with.

In the original post the final step to the challenge was to evaluate how you did. I asked several questions to help you decide if this challenge was helpful and if you see yourself doing it again. 

 Did you find you didn’t really miss half your wardrobe? Most days, yes!

Did it provide you with stress free mornings getting ready? Yes, for sure!

Did it save you money? Yes, absolutely!

Did it encourage you to want to purge half your closet because you found you didn’t really miss it after all? Yes, I have so much I want to go back and purge now!

I plan to do this again once I have tweaked my staple pieces. I hope you find this helpful! If you are looking for simplicity in your life this challenge is definitely for you! If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below. If you choose to do this challenge let me know, I would love to hear about your experience!

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.” – Proverbs 31:25