10 days, 10 items of clothing

I’ve done it! I’ve successfully completed the Vinnies NewYearNewStyle Challenge that I first posted about here. In total, I wore the same 10 pieces of clothing for 14 days, but as I’ve already showed you the first four days, this post is about the remaining 10. For someone like me who has many, many clothes in their cupboard, the Challenge was an exercise in discipline which turned out to kind of make life easy – when I finished it, I was a bit overwhelmed with all the choices I had to make about what to wear. So if you have a few weeks when you know you’re going to be crazy busy, I’d recommend you replicate this Challenge, because fewer choices makes getting dressed in the morning a lot quicker! Of course this is also a good idea if you’re travelling and have limited space, or even if you just want to tidy up your wardrobe and get rid of things you don’t wear as much (by dropping them off at your nearest Vinnies, of course!). Here’s how the 10 days went…

Day 5: at work for a photography workshop, wearing items 2, 6 and 9. (The orange coat was a late entrant into the 10 items but with the unseasonably cool weather, I was very glad I’d included it!)

I added more colour with cheap sandals I bought in Bangkok, shell necklaces from opshops and a beaded Akha necklace that I bought in Laos. (My opshop leather bag doesn’t really match with the colourful theme but it holds everything!)

The workshop was all about taking shots of food, and was led by Alice Zaslavsky who has just joined our team at The Weekly Review writing about food – and how to take good shots of it for social media. I still need a bit of practice, as you can see…

Day 6: into the city for a work meeting in items 2, 7 and 9… and earrings from Wilderness Bazaar, an opshop belt and bag and tigereye necklace from a trip to India ages ago.

And, due to my always-cold feet, Tightology socks with my sandals… I hadn’t thought this look would work with these pants but was pleasantly surprised (not that everyone would agree with me!).

Day 7: at The Weekly Review office in items 2 and 7 plus opshop jewellery and a red necklace made by my sister, plus shoes by Bared – recommended if you have foot issues like plantar fasciitis, which I have recently developed 😦

Day 8: at TWR again in my favourite look of the Challenge, items 3 and 6 (and with the coat on standby as you never know what Melbourne weather is going to throw at you).

I love combining textures, colours and accessories so really went to town with this – four necklaces (fake amber reworked from opshop finds and painted gumnuts from a friend), opshop earrings and a silk scarf around my head from a fleamarket in Tokyo.

Day 9: visiting my neighbour’s garage sale and finding out she has an amazing bar room!! Wearing items 4 and 6 and the closest sandals I had to hand as I was in a rush to find the bargains she was selling… the sandals are from a vintage shop in Tokyo. I have to admit I changed my outfit for White Night as I needed to rug up and didn’t have anything warm enough among my 10 items.

Day 10: dressing up for (dreaded) househunting with jewellery from India and Nepal, opshop sandals and an African bag I found at a market along with items 4 and 7.

Day 11: more (unsuccessful) househunting… but I did nearly see a carjacking in the same street! (That’s not why I didn’t buy the apartment, but it wasn’t exactly encouraging.) Wearing items 1 and 6 with me-made earrings, opshop bag and the sandals from Day 9. Also wearing an unimpressed expression. I hate wasting time househunting!

Day 12: work in the city, but I took this shot myself (can’t you tell!) as I was walking home from the bus. It was stinking hot and super sticky today so a light cotton dress (aka item 10) came in handy. I recycled the belt and necklace from Day 6 and added opshop earrings, a leather bag from my ex in Tokyo ages ago and my now-tatty laptop bag (aka my cat’s favourite thing to sleep on).

Day 13: hanging out with a friend after a post-work icecream at Docklands, in items 1 and 8, with these earrings and opshop sandals.

Day 14: the show’s over! That’s all, folks (and workmates, who have been pressed into taking photos for me during this challenge!)! Wearing items 5 and 8* along with me-made earrings, opshop sandals, a batik scarf originally owned by my mum and red glass bangles from a friend along with red plastic ones from an opshop and a silver studded one from India.

And if you’ve made it to the end of this lengthy post, take a bow – you deserve applause too!

 

*As I was waiting for the bus, an Asian lady complimented me on my skirt – which is about the fourth time I’ve been complimented by Asian (usually Indonesian) strangers while I’ve been wearing batik. They always ask if the fabric is from Indonesia (yes) and whether I am also Indonesian (no). It’s lovely that Indonesians are so proud of their traditional textiles, and even lovelier that they enjoy seeing a non-Indonesian wearing it!