The Smart Casual 10×9 Wardrobe Challenge: What I Wore in 9 Days + Ruched Sleeve Style Hack
I recently participated in the #smartcasual10x9 wardrobe challenge and shared my daily outfit photos on my Instagram @classyyettrendy account. A wardrobe challenge is where you choose a few items from your closet and mix and match them in different ways for a certain number of consecutive days. A wardrobe challenge is a way to test your wardrobe to see how many outfits you can create and if the pieces in your wardrobe works for you and your lifestyle.
A couple of weeks ago I created a Smart Casual mini capsule wardrobe using 10 pieces and mixed and matched them creating 9 outfits. I had an overwhelming response to this, with many of you saying you really liked this capsule and several of you want more of them in the future!
Mary with @this_littlecloset on Instagram, who also uses a capsule wardrobe in her closet and also follows the Classy Yet Trendy capsule collections, had the idea of doing a #smartcasual10x9 challenge. This challenge uses pieces from the Smart Casual mini capsule blog post. Everyone who participated wore the 9 outfits from the blog post each day of the challenge!
I shared a blog post about the Smart Casual 10×9 Challenge here if you want to find out more about it! I included details about the wardrobe challenge, plus the pieces I chose to wear.
HOW I STYLED MY BLAZER SLEEVES
My blazer sleeves are long sleeve, but I used hair bands to make them into ruched sleeves! Ruched sleeves are more comfortable to wear when the weather is warm, like in the Spring season. I shared a short video on Instagram that shows how to do this style hack!
MY 10 PIECES + ACCESSORIES
I “shopped my closet” and chose these 10 pieces to include in the wardrobe challenge:
TOPS:
white tee (exact)
blue striped shirt (similar) (my exact shirt is from Gap Factory last year)
black puff sleeve tee (exact)
LAYERS:
beige linen blazer (similar), similar style (my exact blazer is from Talbots)
black blazer (exact)
BOTTOMS:
blue jeans (exact)
black jeans (exact), similar style
white pants (exact)
SHOES:
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats (my exact shoes are from Vaneli last year)
black ballet flats (exact), similar style
Accessories I wore with my outfits…
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo necklace
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
Here are the 9 outfits from the blog post that I wore during the challenge. The object of the challenge was to wear outfit #1 from the blog post on Day 1, outfit #2 from the blog post on Day 2, etc.
DAY 1, OUTFIT #1
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
white tee (exact)
beige linen blazer (similar), similar style
blue jeans (exact)
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo necklace
gold halo earrings
DAY 2, OUTFIT #2
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
blue striped shirt (similar)
black blazer (exact)
white pants (exact)
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
DAY 3, OUTFIT #3
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
black puff sleeve tee (exact)
beige linen blazer (similar), similar style
black jeans (exact), similar style
black ballet flats (exact), similar style
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo necklace
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
DAY 4, OUTFIT #4
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
white tee (exact)
black blazer (exact)
black jeans (exact), similar style
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo necklace
gold halo earrings
DAY 5, OUTFIT #5
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
blue striped shirt (similar)
beige linen blazer (similar), similar style
blue jeans (exact)
black ballet flats (exact), similar style
Accessories:
gold halo necklace
gold halo earrings
DAY 6, OUTFIT #6
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
black puff sleeve tee (exact)
black blazer (exact)
white pants (exact)
black ballet flats (exact), similar style
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
DAY 7, OUTFIT #7
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
white tee (exact)
beige linen blazer (similar), similar style
white pants (exact)
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
DAY 8, OUTFIT #8
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
blue striped shirt (similar)
black blazer (exact)
black jeans (exact), similar style
black ballet flats (exact), similar style
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
DAY 9, OUTFIT #9
10X9 Challenge Pieces:
black puff sleeve tee (exact)
black blazer (exact)
blue jeans (exact)
beige cap toe pumps (similar), similar flats
Accessories:
DeMellier black handbag
Reversible Horsebit Belt (wore the black color side)
gold halo earrings
gold tennis bracelet
Summary About The Challenge
I enjoyed participating in the #smartcasual10x9 wardrobe challenge and a few of you messaged me and said you did too!
My favorite outfit I wore in the challenge was Outfit #5. I love the colors and styles in this outfit.
I found that I prefer wearing navy over black, since navy looks better with my complexion. I love wearing black in pants and shoes, but black can be too dark of a color to wear next to my face. I used black as the base color, but you could also use navy. To use navy as the base color, I would make these swaps: 1) dark wash jeans for the black jeans, 2) navy puff sleeve tee for the black tee, 3) navy blazer for the black blazer, 4) navy flats for the black flats, 5) solid beige pumps for the black cap toe pumps, 6) beige, taupe or brown color handbag for the black handbag and 7) reversed the belt to the brown side.
Since I work at home, I wound up removing the blazers and pumps and just worked in my tops, bottoms and flats throughout the day, since they were the most comfortable. If I was wearing these outfits in the workplace, I would have kept the blazers and pumps on.
I love these looks. If I was returning to the office, I would make this my capsule work wardrobe. Since I’m working from home now full time, I purchased the athleisure collection ebook and love it. I like being able to be comfortable but also ‘good to go’ if I need to run an errand after work. I also use and love the year round complete core ebook 🙂