The 4th Annual Wardrobe Challenge! Introducing the Pieces

I'm participating in Jane's Fourth Annual Wardrobe Challenge (you can check out the previous challenge wardrobes that I did in the links on the sidebar). What I love about her challenges is the simplicity: it's only for a short duration (5 days), and there's only a small amount of clothing and accessories to play with, so it really stretches my creative muscle.

The rules: 10 items of clothing (including shoes) and 5 accessories. Underwear, hosiery and socks don't count. I also don't count my outerwear (coat, gloves, scarf) or my purse.

Here we go! The clothing and shoes: 1. Dress (Eric Alexandre). My burgundy sweater dress (last seen here). I like having at least one dress in the challenge, for either wearing plain or layering tops under or over. You can also layer skirts over a dress. That's at least four looks right there!

Tops: 2. Mustard button-down (Jacob, consignment). I picked this up recently for $22, and have never worn it. Great for layering (under or over) or wearing on its own.

I like having at least 2 stand-alone tops (otherwise you get bored pretty quickly of the same top, not to mention it could get stinky).

3. Leopard sheer blouse (Planet, consignment). Last seen here. A patterned shirt adds a bit of oomph - besides, leopard is neutral, right? I'm counting camisoles as underwear for the purposes of this challenge, so that I'm not showing off my underwear and boobage when I wear this.

Cover-ups/jackets:

4. Drapey cardigan (KensieGirl). Last seen here (scroll down past the travel pics). Because I'm not working, aside from my few WW meetings, I wanted something more casual to throw on over top of outfits, both to give them a finished look and for warmth.

I also picked a more structured jacket:

5. Jacket (Le Chateau, consignment). This is new-to-me. I stalked this when it was in Le Chateau a few years go, but it was $99 and that's just too much for a jacket, no matter how much I love the black velvet and amazing embroidery.

When I saw this in a consignment store a few weeks ago, I had to have it! I got it for $40 (I asked for a discount because I'm a regular customer - it was marked at $50).

Borderline item:

6. Cape/skirt (Smoking Lily, consignment). First seen here. I always try to pick an item that I can wear in an unusual way - I've worn this once as a skirt, and I plan to wear it as a cape during the challenge as well!

Bottoms:

7. Suede-finish mid-length skirt (Precis Petite, thrifted). First seen here. This skirt is a smidge big on me, which means it will layer well over the dress (if I decide to do that), but will also work well on its own with one or both of the tops.

I have only done pants once before in the Wardrobe Challenge, but due to my non-office situation, I am doing a pair this time:

8. Jeans (Esprit). I wear jeans pretty frequently around the house and for casual wear. I picked this pair because a) they are clean (ha!) and b) they're a slim fit, and can be worn tucked into boots. These will be worn on days when I'm not at a WW meeting.

Shoes:

9. Turquoise kitten heels (Le Chateau, consignment). These are from the same shopping expedition as the mustard shirt above - they were $18 (not leather, but feel awesome on). I am going with practical heels this time around, as I do a lot of walking in my shoes these days, as well as standing for meetings.

The weather is mercurial right now so I went practical for my last pair:

10. Boots (Aldo, consignment). My good ol' riding boots. These are wearable for long walks, if need be, and they're warm!

Accessories:

1. Bendy necklace (gift from Elaine). This can be worn tons of ways, both as a necklace and as a bracelet. I like my accessories to do multiple duty.
2. Chain necklace (gift from Tina). A good statement piece to add some zing to plain(er) outfits.
3. Stud earrings (Aldo Accessories). Simple studs that will go with everything.
4. Brown elastic belt (Plum). This is new - it was $4.
5. Black satin scarf (from an old skirt I no longer have). I used this in the 2nd Wardrobe Challenge as well - it can be worn in the hair, as a belt and as a scarf.

Today's outfit - coming up later on!