As I said in my last Closet Update, I was going to challenge myself to not shop for the month of May and I was also going to challenge myself to do the May 30×30 hosted by my sweet friend, Sara of Petra Alexandra. I went into this challenge hoping to find more contentment with the clothes that I owned since last month was such a shop-heavy month. I also wanted to see if I could get creative with my clothes–both new and old.
The rules were pretty similar to the 10×10 challenges I’ve done in the past: Wear 30 items for 30 days. Loungewear (PJs and gym wear) don’t count. For this challenge, I counted shoes as part of my 30 pieces. I ended up not counting any knitwear since the weather was so sporadic in May.
– MY 30 ITEMS –
I was surprised to find myself having a hard time filling spots this time around. At the start of the challenge on May 01, I only had 20 items picked out and I decided to start anyway with 10 wildcards. By mid May, I still had 8 wildcards left. And by the end of May, I had 5 wildcards left, so I only ended up needing and wearing 25 items for this month.
Here’s my breakdown of items:
SHOES (5)
–Nisolo Ama Mules (brown)
–Veja V10 Sneakers (white)
–Nisolo Isla Slide Sandals (black)
–Dolce Vita Espadrilles (black) [wildcard]
–Veja Fruit Embroidered Esplar Sneakers [wildcard]
BOTTOMS (3)
–Muji Wide Leg Pants (black)
–Mien Studio Pants (black)
–Mien Studio Pants (zinc grey)
TOPS (10)
–Tradlands Girlfriend Tee (sienna)
–Madewell Dreamer Graphic Tee (cream)
–Suunday Gauze Dolman Top (cream)
–Everlane Striped Crop Top (navy & white)
–Everlane Linen Picnic Top (black) [wildcard]
–Encircled Remix Boxy Top (black)
–Everlane Double V Striped Tee [wildcard]
–Madewell Linen Striped Tank (grey & white)
–Movint Palm Springs Graphic Tee (white) [wildcard]
–Sotela Lyla Crop (beige)
ONE-PIECES: DRESSES & JUMPSUITS (5)
–Hackwith Design House Balloon Jumper (black)
–Mien Fortuna Column Dress (black)
–Sotela Avery Slip Dress (black)
–And Other Stories Maxi Dress (navy) [wildcard]
–Mien Lakeside Jumpsuit (black)
JACKETS (2)
–Everlane Chore Jacket (black)
–Mien Painters Button Shirt Jacket (brown)
– HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY 30 OUTFITS –
DAYS 1 & 10 || mien fortuna column dress, nisolo ama mules (gifted), lou & grey cardigan, clare v petite alice straw bag (thrifted) ||This Mien Fortuna Column Dress has become one of my closet heroes. It makes me feel so great in it whenever I wear it that it was an easy choice to be a part of my 30 items. As you will come to see, these Hey Moon Designs Necklaces really elevated my outfits this month.
DAYS 5 & 20 || madewell dreamer graphic tee, mien studio pants, veja v10 sneakers (thrifted), clare v petite alice straw bag (thrifted) || Graphic tees are such a staple for me in the Spring/Summer. They make up the bulk of my tops during this time of year, so naturally, I had to include some as part of my 30 items. This was the perfect look to go to the flea market with Sally (@callmeflowerchild) at the beginning of the month.
DAYS 6 & 11 || everlane chore jacket (thrifted), encircled boxy remix top (gifted), mien studio pants, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted), dolce vita espadrille mules, belt (thrifted) || I’m still trying to find ways to wear this pair of pants. I love these pants SO much in black that I wore them over 10 times this month, but there’s something about this color that I still need to figure out. I loved how this outfit came together, but I definitely need to find other ways to wear these pants as time goes on!
DAYS 8, 12, & 21 ||suunday gauze dolman top, muji organic cotton wide leg pants, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted), nisolo ama mules (gifted) ||This Suunday Gauze Dolman Top was on my list to be cut from my wardrobe since I was unsure of much the style of it fit with the rest of my wardrobe. Turns out that all it really needed was the right accessories: this Hey Moon Designs necklace and these Nisolo Ama Mules. I’m so happy that I found a way to keep this top since I do love it for the warmer seasons as it is so breezy and comfortable!
DAYS 9 & 13 || everlane cropped striped tee, mien studio pants, veja v10 sneakers (thrifted), mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted) ||This is one of my usual uniforms: a pair of pants, a striped tee, and a pair of sneakers. It’s such an easy look to put together and I always feel good in it!
DAYS 15, 18, & 30 || lou & grey cardigan, mien lakeside jumpsuit, nisolo ama mules (gifted), mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted) || This Mien Lakeside Jumpsuit is for sure one of my closet hero pieces. Like with all my other pieces from Mien, this one makes me feel so beautiful–not to mention, it is one of the most comfortable pieces! I wore this to grab dinner with Sally (@callmeflowerchild) to catch up, and it was perfect for getting tacos and pizza that evening! I also wore this outfit for a belated dinner with Brandon’s parents where we got Japanese bbq.
DAYS 17 & 18 || mien painters button shirt jacket, everlane double v striped tank, mien studio pants, nisolo isla slide sandals, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted) || I treated myself to the Mien Painters Button Shirt Jacket for hitting 5k on Instagram! At first, I was pretty disappointed that they didn’t make one in black, but now I’m kinda glad that they didn’t. This beautiful brown color adds that perfect pop of color to my otherwise monochromatic outfits.
DAYS 19 & 23 || mien painters button shirt jacket, mien lakeside jumpsuit, veja fruit embroidered esplar sneakers, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag || This outfit is easily one of my favorites from this month! It is SO damn comfortable! This will definitely be repeated a ton until the end of time! I could honestly live in Mien pieces all year long! All 5 of the pieces I have from them made it to me a part of this challenge!
DAY 25 || movint palm springs tee, mien studio pants, nisolo isla slide sandals, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted) || This wildcard was a result of a bit of impulse shopping during Memorial Day weekend.
DAY 27 || mien painters button shirt jacket, sotela avery slip dress, nisolo ama mules (gifted), mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted) || For the final few days of the challenge, I wanted to challenge myself to not wear my beloved black pair of Mien Studio pants since I think I wore it for almost half of the month. This was the perfect excuse to pull out this slip dress from Sotela that I love so much. I was surprised that I hadn’t worn it until this point in the month, but I’m still glad it was a part of my 30 items.
DAY 29 || movint palm springs tee, muji organic cotton wide leg pants, veja fruit embroidered esplar sneakers, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag || I loved this casual and easy outfit. I know I will live in outfits like this: these wide leg pants, graphic tees, and a pair of sneakers.
DAY 31 || madewell linen tank (thrifted), muji organic cotton wide leg pants, mansur gavriel mini bucket bag (thrifted), nisolo isla slide sandals || I wanted to save this bonus for a beach day that we had planned for the end of the month. I didn’t think this outfit would work since it is wide on wide, but I actually love it and I think it works because my top is cropped.
– FINAL THOUGHTS –
It was pretty surprising for me that I couldn’t fill my 30 spots when I first started out with this challenge. For all the 10×10 challenges I have attempted in the past, it was hard to edit out items, and so often times, rules were bent a little during those challenges. This time around though, I seemed to have the opposite problem. With only 50ish items for my Spring/Summer capsule, I’m already pretty used to working with a smaller wardrobe, but to then learn over the course of this month that I only needed 25 pieces to dress for a month was pretty eye-opening. Less truly is more!
This challenge made me rethink what style creativity meant for me. I had some expectations of myself to come up with new and creative outfits for this challenge, but as I continued trucking along, I soon realized that I’m not just that type of person. I like what I like when it comes to silhouettes and mixes of pieces, and when I happen upon a combination I like, I will repeat it over and over until the end of time. I think where my style creativity is channeled is through finding uniforms that I love and can repeat over and over again. Many of these outfits that I featured here quickly became uniforms that I repeated during this month and will continue to wear from this point on.
While I didn’t photograph my outfit each day, it was also a good exercise for me to force myself to actually get dressed for the last 30 days. That may sound odd, but there was a time where I wore leggings as pants more often than I’d like to admit (this was a time where I was feeling awful about myself and my body). It’s incredible just how powerful clothing can be. It can totally empower you to feel confident and beautiful, or it can tear you down and make you feel ugly and worthless. This month, I let my clothes empower me and empower they did! I found that I carried myself with so much more confidence at work, and it just felt good to wear clothes that made me feel good about myself. I’ve been blogging for about 10 years now, and it has been a journey for my blogging outfits and my real life outfits to come together like they are now.
I am actually really proud of myself for sticking it out this challenge! I learned a bunch, had so much fun, and connected with some new people! Thank you Sara for hosting this challenge!
Here’s to the next challenge!
THE PLEB LIFE 