A few weeks ago I decided to join Ruth from My Little Nest on her 5x5 challenge. Basically you pick out 5 staple pieces from your closet and you use them to recreate 5 days worth of outfits. You can add flare to the outfits by using accessories, shoes, bags, and jackets (at least I did). A couple of things I loved about this challenge were:
a) creating multiple outfits out of so few pieces was so much fun and it really makes you think about which pieces are versatile in your closet.
b) I absolutely loved not having a closet full of choices. I like choice but often become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices and have a difficult time making a choice. SIDENOTE: I was recently listening to a podcast and the speaker was talking about how we actually increase anxiety in our children, and frustration for ourselves when we give children an infinite amount of choices. They weren't saying don't give them a choice but narrow it to 2 or 3 options rather then a store full. I find it difficult to make a choice and not second guess myself when I have a closet full of options. With only 5 base pieces to work with I was able to quickly choose my outfits for each day and get going without fuss.
I choose business casual pieces because I needed them to work for the office environment, though most people did a casual selection of pieces. I went with a floral dress, basic black pants, a fuzzy white sweater, chambray and floral top. My black pants can take me a long way, as it's totally acceptable to wear basic black bottoms over and over again. A good fitted pair of black pants are a MUST for anyone who works outside of the home. Let's take a look at my creations.
Day #1 Dress & Sweater
I made it more into a skirt and sweater on this first day. I've done this trick before with this dress and a different sweater here.
Day #2 Chambray, Black Pants, Blazer & Some Pearls
My chambray top is soft and somewhat casual looking for my office space. I spruced it up by throwing on a navy blazer and you can never go wrong with adding pearls to the mix. My sweet co-worker loved it so much she recreated it!
Day #3 Dress & Denim Jacket
For a brief moment it felt like spring and so I thought I could do bare legs and flats!!!! It was super brief as we got more snow shortly after :( and now everything is melting, brown and disgusting. Sigh. But for this one day it was glorious and my hopes were high that spring was here.
Day #4 Cold-Shoulder Floral & Black Pants
This top makes a statement all on its on. I always feel polished and springy in it! It's definitely in heavy rotation the last few weeks as I am trying to incorporate more 'spring' feel clothes into my wardrobe but am finding resistance from the weather in Saskatchewan.
Day #5 Fuzzy Sweater on Repeat
Added a touch of color to this B & W ensemble with burgundy heels. My trick for wearing cute shoes in winter is, I wear my boots/rubber boots/sneakers to work and then put on my cute shoes once I actually get there. :)
That's a wrap. Loved this challenge and can see myself participating in it again or even just randomly choosing a week to do 5 X 5 by myself.
What 5 pieces would you choose?
