Two weeks after Connor was born I had my first outing where I had to put on actual real clothes...I stood in front of my burgeoning closet and cried. All these clothes and nothing to wear. I felt so defeated and so unhappy with my body. I figured ok - time to buy new clothes that will work with this weird postpartum body.

I ended up feeling like I had 6 different wardrobes:

Pre-baby body clothes I didn't want to throw out (just in case)
First trimester (hide the bump) clothes
Second trimester (cute pregnant) clothes
Third trimester (omg you're huge) clothes
Postpartum 0-6 months (you still sort of look pregnant) clothes
Postpartum 6-12 (less squishy, still breastfeeding) clothes

With all these clothes organized into different "seasons", I was still unhappy with my wardrobe.

What is a stay-at-home-mom supposed to wear anyways? I need to be able to wrestle my toddler, nurse my baby, cook, clean, and run to the grocery store. It was super frustrating and I found myself feeling like I needed more clothes and as I bought more clothes I felt like I still had nothing to wear.

Then my SIL told me about Un-Fancy. Caroline is a capsule-wardrobe fashion blogger. I started reading her blog and it was like a lightbulb went off. I ended up donating a ton of clothes and putting together my own capsule wardrobe - less clothes, that all relate to one another. Her philosophy is wonderful and I'll let you read it directly from her rather than trying to rehash it here, but it has seriously been so freeing.

So when she blogged about her 10 x 10 fall remix challenge I decided to give it a go. This is the first time I have tried to so severely limit my wardrobe and I'm interested to see how it goes with two kids who manage to get food all over whatever I'm wearing within 5 minutes of waking up in the morning.

Here are my 10 items I'm going to be remixing for 10 days

Chambray shirt from Gap/Old Navy (similar)
White and black large check button up from American Eagle (similar)
Black tank top from J Crew (similar)
Black and white striped crew neck t shirt from American Eagle (here)
Medium wash, high rise, skinny jeans from American Eagle (here)
Black leggings from Madewell (here)
Dark blue floral pattern dress from American Eagle (here)
Booties from American Eagle (here)
Gold necklace trio from American Eagle (here)
Grey knit dress from Old Navy (here)

Let's do this thing. Welcome to my 10 day clothing journal...

DAY ONE - MONDAY

Had to go to the post office with the boys so I threw on my favorite button up (similar), blue jeans (here), gold necklace (here), and booties (here) all from American Eagle. The button up already has guacamole on it and the jeans got some stray applesauce so they're currently in the wash.

DAY TWO - TUESDAY

This is one of my all-time favorite bum-around-the-house outfits. Black leggings (here) from Madewell, oversized chambray button up (similar) from Gap, gold necklace (here), and booties (here) from American Eagle. Easy to crawl after my kids in and super comfy. These are also both in the wash right now. Coffee on the shirt and chicken nugget smears on the leggings. Womp womp.

DAY THREE - THURSDAY

COFFEE IS LIFE. Kids woke up at 6:30am. Woof. Do I look tired? Probably. I'm feeling the remix in this outfit. Black leggings (here), chambray shirt (similar), booties (here), and gold necklace (here) from yesterday plus my favorite striped shirt (here). There are two "risks" in this photo that I'm still getting comfortable with - the shirt tied around the waist (hello 90's childhood reborn!!) and the tucked t shirt. I know its in style and I love the look and comfort but I feel sort of like a poser. Am I cool enough to tie a shirt around my waist?? Also starting to wonder if I'm going to regret picking a dress for my #10 item instead of an alternative pair of shoes. LOVE the booties but missing my favorite pair of duck boots (here).

DAY FOUR - FRIDAY

It's Fri-YAY! Today we have plans to meet Dave at work for lunch so I wanted to wear my dress. I tried a few combos with my chambray shirt and was just not feeling it. Then I looked outside and saw the rain :/ I didn't include a coat in my line up. Womp Womp. I may need to make an adjustment here...also can you tell which child still lets me dress them? Connor is OBSESSED with his astronaut pajamas (here) from the Gap. But I mean, if they came in my size, I would be too ;) This outfit is my blue jeans (here), striped shirt (here), booties (here), and gold necklace (here) all from American Eagle. I can still shop there even though I'm 27 year old mom right? It's not weird...?

DAY FIVE - SATURDAY

Mom hair, don't care. Love the low bun look. Between my kids constantly messing with my hair and all the paint and stain I work with daily for the Etsy shop, my hair is almost always up. Okay so this was my "run all the errands" outfit. My favorite black tank (similar), blue jeans (here), chambray shirt tied (similar), booties (here), and gold necklace (here). Double denim is a bit outside my comfort zone but I know it's in style so I'm giving it a go!

DAY SIX - SUNDAY

It's Seahawks Sunday! And I realized I forgot to put my jersey in my 10 item lineup . Whoops! However I am IN LOVE with this dress so...worth it? Dress (here), booties (here), and gold necklace (here). GO HAWKS!!

DAY SEVEN - MONDAY

All I did today was go to the gym sooo I wore this outfit all morning just to end up in pajamas once we got back from the YMCA. Womp womp. However, it was blazing sunny today so I am glad I gambled on a tank instead of a sweater for this challenge! Black tank (similar), blue jeans (here), gold necklace (here), and booties (here). Also a did not get an outfit photo today...but based on the fact that I've worn all these things already I think you get the idea ;)

DAY EIGHT - TUESDAY

I used to wear my hair in braids ALL THE TIME. And then the topknot fad happened and I just sort of forgot about them. But they're back and I'm loving them. Also did you know wearing your hair up/too tight can cause balding?? Yikes. I already have enough issues with my postpartum hair loss so I aint about that life. Trying to do less top knot these days and more braid pigtails. Also this sweater dress is like wearing a big blanket all day. Love. Grey sweater dress (here), chambray shirt (similar), gold necklace (here), and booties (here). Also my camera on my phone is on it's last legs - so excited to get my new iPhone soon! :D

DAY NINE - WEDNESDAY

Hello Wednesday! Black tank (similar), button up (similar), jeans (here), booties (here), and gold necklace (here). So they say it takes something like 3 straight weeks to break a bad habit. The bad habit I've been trying to break is sleeping in until my kids wake me up through the monitors (like 7:30am). EVERYTHING I have been reading lately seems to be talking about how getting up early will change your life. Because of this challenge I've actually been getting up more consistently on time and it really has actually made a difference. I can get ready for the day in blissful silence and am prepared for when the boys come barreling through the door. I haven't been super consistent yet, but on the days that I do get up substantially before the boys - I am infinitely more prepared for the day. #worthit

DAY TEN - THURSDAY

Alright we made it. 10 days with 10 items. Phew. Today was button up (similar), leggings (here), booties (here), and gold necklace (here). Honestly I lost some stamina mid-way through. Also I felt a bit silly taking photos of my outfits everyday and actually posting them on social media...so I didn't. To each their own though. If you got it, flaunt it. Right? Also I wish I had done the set up above for all my photos - much easier than deconstructing our whole dining room every day. Womp womp.

I made some big changes because of this challenge. I SERIOUSLY cleaned out both Dave and my closets and dressers and made a list of what "essentials" we're missing to make our wardrobes more capsule-like so we can feel more comfortable with less. I bought a laundry drying rack so that I can finally be a grown up and start hang-drying most of our clothes. Our boys are really hard on our clothes we have to wash them more than we'd like and the dryer is just too hard on clothes for that to be sustainable while maintaining a small, long-lasting wardrobe. Finally, I actually have been getting up to my alarm everyday. I'm really hoping I can keep this up...

I love the capsule wardrobe. It's so much fun and super freeing for me. Social media has led me to this place where I feel like I have to wear something no one has seen me in before or they'll think negatively of me or something. Which when you read that sentence back...just seems so ridiculous right? Reading the Un-Fancy blog and watching some really shocking documentaries on Netflix about the fashion industry (The True Cost) has really changed my perspective on things. My MIL always says she's "SATISFIED!" when talking about getting anything new (it was a series they were going through at their Church in MI). We teased her lightly about it - but it really is such a good mindset to have. This challenge has reminded me to be satisfied; in life, in work, in me, and in Christ.

Does your closet leave you feeling satisfied or discouraged? If the later I highly recommend Un-Fancy/ capsule wardrobes ;)

xoxo

MOM STYLE