"Express Lane" Challenge – Day 10
So far, mostly good. Weather has been much cooler than normal for this time of year, so made one more swap at the beginning: a long-sleeve tee in charcoal grey for the taupe sleeveless tunic.
The good: so far all of the chosen pieces are coordinating nicely. I’m wearing jeans less and a skirt more. I’ve been focusing on varying my accessories more widely on a day to day basis, and utilized some pieces I hadn’t worn in a while.
The challenges: there are a few pieces in my closet which didn’t make the Gang of Twelve that I’d really like to wear right now. My Elie Moss tunic sweater doesn’t look like it’s going to hold up to a heavy rotation; it’s started to pill in spots so I’m going to have to go easy on that one, which is a shame as it’s really easy to wear with everything. I have an executive presentation coming up in a couple of weeks, and may need to step outside the boundaries just for that one day. Maybe not, but I’m allowing myself the option.
Observations: while this does make getting dressed a bit easier in the mornings, I’m finding that it still requires some planning and thought. I do much better taking this one day at a time rather than thinking about another three weeks of wearing the same pieces. If you’re going to limit the number of items in your wardrobe, they really do need to be of substantial quality to hold up to constant wear.
Are any of you playing along with the Express Lane Wardrobe Challenge? If so, how is it going?
~
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.
Stay in touch
Sign up to be notified of new posts and updates from une femme d’un certain âge.
I’ll be posting tomorrow but the summary is it’s both freeing and restricting at the same time. And i haven;t worn all the choices yet, due to a relative heat wave.
I have been watching all of this from the sidelines…
but I confess my jeans are getting a lot of play time…especially since I embarked on upping my walking regime and the arrival of the new kitten.
I do think there is a movement afoot to pare down wardrobes…and amp up accessories…I wonder if it is a sign of the economic times…or our advancing age or attitudes.
Good point that clothing items in constant rotation need to be substantial.
I have found myself wondering which pieces I would have chosen if I had been able to do this experiment with the rest of you.
I know for sure I would have included my sleeveless black/turtleneck dress which is knit. Many ways to accessorize it–belts, necklaces, scarves, etc.
My issue would have been between choosing a palette based on black, like the dress–or browns, which I wear more often. Perhaps I would have just thrown the dress into the mix and then had the other things go with the browns.
I DO know that I would have included a pair of blue jeans and at least two of my favorite long sleeved GAP t-shirts.
But, even my better, sturdier items would not last forever (meaning a long season of constant) wear without ending up looking more than shopworn.
THe capsule concept does feel very much like packing for a trip. It usually works well for the first few day, but doesn’t take into consideration dragging your sleeve in catsup, twenty degree swings in weather or the time and expense of maintenance of the 10-12 items. By the end of a trip I usually look pretty bedraggled. Maybe all these items should also be wash and wear?
Good luck with that….whatever the outcome it is always good to have a cleanse of the wardrobe.
I am on my own challenge….how many days I can wear the same jeans and tee shirt while travelling! xv
I did something similar this summer for a conference of under a week. I wanted to carry my own suitcase and have it as light and small as possible. My efforts worked but I was so uncomfortable with the Wash DC mugginess – though not different from where I am – and the meagre a.c. in the hotel conference rooms + the packed session schedules that I didn’t have mental energy left over to think much about my wardrobe. It was like a camping trip, which I also hate. 🙂
I made it through 10 days of this challenge. I item yet unworn. I stopped because an online friend observed that I was denying myself the small pleasures of my favorite clothing season plus I wasn’t learning a thing from it.
I still think shoe style directs the outfit. I always accessorize, anyway. I did want to see if I would miss my collection of jackets and I did. I didn’t desire to acquire less. Nor a more minimal wardrobe. I can’t remember the last time I dry cleaned anything – I baby my clothes and hand wash and hang dry, even coats. I purge clothing on a continual basis, anyway. My style influences are always evolving, too.
I’m playing, and so far so good. Getting dressed has been both easier and faster because this exercise has gotten me to plan ahead what I’m going to wear, and so has eliminated last-minute clothing changes in the mornings.
Challenges center around the weather, and the washing machine. There have been 20 Degree swings the past two weeks (not to mention that 20 degree swings within my own body), so I’ve been counting a long sleeved
white t-shirt and a short-sleeved one as one item. Ditto for washable black skirt and dry clean only black skirt. Does make you wonder about all the dry-cleaning, though.
If the idea of this challenge is to learn to live with less clothes, I´m all behind it.
Interesting challenge – I am watching with interest as capsule wardrobes fascinate me and I would love to have one! Good luck ….x
Looking forward to learning from your experience doing this challenge. Oh, and about pilling, I just bought a sweater shaver at Brookstone and I LOVE it. I highly recommend it.
I’m not playing along at the moment but anything that simplifies getting dressed and out of the house in the morning is worth a go. Think I need to conduct a big wardrobe edit before I’m ready to join in!
I am finding it a pleasure, oddly, and wonder what will happen when I return to my “normal” closet. I do plan ahead (see my post, http://pearlinparis-pearl.blogspot.com/2010/10/express-checkout-experiment-week-two.html)
and find that I can put my time somewhere else. Also, this week, I know I ahve to have a clean white shirt or blue shirt… was more careful when wearing it.
I am following along with interest, but not playing due to being bored to death with my tiny work-appropriate summer capsule. Couldn’t face willingly repeating that for fall!
[I did get as far as thinking what I’d use for the challenge, keeping in mind I wanted to use color and pattern vs only standard solid neutrals…I needed 16 pieces for work/weekend.]
And if you need to ramp up/go outside your capsule for the important meeting, DEFINITELY do it!
vicki – you’re in Mexico aren’t you? The good thing about jeans/tee shirt is that no one really notices you’ve worn the same thing days in a row.
Duchesse – those scarves are lifesavers, aren’t they? We’re back into heat wave territory too.
hostess – I don’t know how much this experiment will result in permanent pare-down, but I think it’s good to set challenging boundaries from time to time.
Susan – that dress sounds like a TOTAL winner! I do mix blacks and browns (am doing so today). As long as there’s no restriction on shoes and accessories, unlike travel capsules, no reason why you can’t include both the black dress and the predominantly brown everything else.
sisty – almost all of my items (except for one wool sweater) are washable, which makes this do-able. I’m deviating slightly today due to our +80F temps and counting my black cotton ankle pants as the same item as the ponte knit version.
Deb Chase – one of my favorite items for travel (and for this challenge) are the Eileen Fisher silk jersey tops (tees and tanks). You can wash them in the sink in the evening and they line dry overnight! I never pack anything anymore that requires pressing either. And for clothing that isn’t dirty but just needs some freshening (cigarette smells, etc) I carry a travel-sized Febreeze. I’ve even converted le monsieur who has always been a wear-it-once-and-wash-it type when it comes to his shirts.
metscan – I’m realizing that I can live with less, but only to a point. 🙂
Vildy – you make some interesting points. I’m still not at the two week point, but if this turns into a drag rather than an interesting challenge, I’ll give myself the OK to deviate. My style has always been to keep the clothing simple and play up the accessories, so that part anyway comes naturally.
LBR – I know I have a sweater shaver around here somewhere, will have to dig it out.
Semi-Expat – what I’m finding is that I need a warm weather capsule and a cold weather capsule.
That’s Not My Age – I’ve been buying in recent years with the intent of creating a solid capsule, so that makes it easier. I can see that I need to pay attention to quality to really make this work.
Pearl – thanks for the link. You seem to be doing very well with this concept!
Vix – I could probably do this on a permanent basis with a slightly larger capsule. It has simplified dressing, but I’m already chomping at the bit to incorporate some other favorite pieces.
What neither you nor Duchesse have commented about is whether or not you’ve felt self-conscious yet about repeating clothes — or whether anyone else has noticed. Of course, it’s really early days for that, and perhaps I’m more concerned about that because I’m at the front of a roomful of students three times a week. I am curious, though — is there a point at which it would bother you to have people notice that you’re wearing that top, again.