31 Days, 31 Ways

I decided to up my game by participating in the 31 Days, 31 Ways style challenge that I saw linked to approximately everywhere on the Internet.  If you don't read this kind of blogs, you may not be aware but this is a thing.  The idea is that it pushes you to mix items together that you already own to create new outfits without having to shop.  People at more advanced levels will even pick a certain number of clothing items (e.g., 20 or 30 items) and attempt to make a bunch of outfits out of that limited set.  (This is a related concept to that of the wardrobe capsule, in which you pick a set of items that can all be mixed and matched together.)

But I'm playing this game on the beginner level, so I'm using my entire wardrobe for the challenge.  After all, part of my challenge is to wear the new items I haven't worn yet.  (I also only over-buy for my closet space, not my budget, so that's less of a concern for me.)

This remix challenge is a bit different from many (most) because instead of just coming up with X new outfits from your items, you are given a prompt to guide each day's outfit.  These prompts put extra difficulty into the game because some of them might be a reach for you, encouraging you to put outfits together in ways you aren't used to.

Day 1: Pairing Print and Color -- Monday, 10/27/14

This is a mega-easy one for me because print + color is a very common approach for my outfits.  I took advantage of the warmer weather (high of 65) to wear a new short-sleeve cardigan that I could not resist buying at Goodwill even though it's not quite seasonally appropriate.

I read somewhere recently that it's a good idea to strive to wear your clothes enough to get down to a $1 cost per wear.  So I would only need to wear this cardigan four more times to get there.  I've already got this striped skirt down to $1.25 per wear after two days!

*Black t-shirt (Target) -- this t-shirt has been too long for a lot of situations, but it's perfect with this pencil skirt that is loose in the waist so I wear it down lower on the hips (bonus: the skirt's knee length this way, a common theme of mine).
Black/white striped knit pencil skirt (thrifted, Target)
*Aqua short-sleeved cardigan (thrifted, Loft)
Black LifeStrider flats
Aqua/red necklace (Target)

Verdict:  I was very pleased with how this outfit turned out.  I'm glad I decided to keep the aqua/red necklace because it really adds a nice pop to my many aqua and/or red outfits.  Best of all, I think the t-shirt and skirt create a base I could use over and over again with different cardigans (of which I have, well, a lot), necklaces/scarves, and shoes/boots/tights to make a ton of new outfits.  So even though this prompt didn't get me to do something I don't already do (mix print and color), it helped me find a specific shirt/skirt combination that seems pretty much endlessly wearable.  If I add this combination to the way I wore the skirt before (with a black cardigan and a colored t-shirt--and I have a lot of colored t-shirts), I'll get the cost per wear down to pennies.