I’ve been doing the 75 Hard Style Challenge for 40 days now, which felt like a good time to check in with myself. But first…
What is the 75 Hard Style Challenge?
The link above will give you some of the “history” behind the challenge, but in short, it’s a challenge to get dressed every single day for 75 days and really take a look at your style and what you like to wear. For more information, the general guidelines and hoped-for outcomes, check out this Instagram post.
I’ve been somewhat half-heartedly participating–not really worrying so much about “styling” as I have been focused on thinking about my wardrobe in general in a dedicated way. But I find that so far it’s been helpful.
What I’ve learned so far
I have been very consistent with getting dressed in the morning and documenting my outfits each day (less consistent on the time of day that I remember to do so). I have a highlight saved on my Instagram if you want to see everything so far.
- First thing I learned is that I do and I don’t enjoy getting dressed every day. Some days I wake up and I just want to stay in my pajamas, and working from home makes that entirely too easy. But I have noticed that I do feel better when I get dressed, even if I don’t really try to put an outfit together.
- I feel super overwhelmed by my closet. Partly because it is currently not set up well for organizing in a way that would help with the overwhelm. Redoing my closet organization is one of my “house to-do” items, probably for next year, or whenever the mounted rod that came with the house falls down, whichever happens first (genuinely a toss up at this point).
- But also because I just have so many pieces, many of which I’ve had for years and I’ve grown out of, either mentally or in actual size (because bodies change and fabrics shrink). (And then I get overwhelmed trying to process how to responsibly find new life for these pieces because I don’t want them to end up in a landfill and then I have to lay down.)
- I feel like I’m “zeroing in” on how I want to define my style–not because I’m suddenly going to be oh-so-fashionable, but because it will make some things so much easier. It will help me not get distracted by knitting and sewing patterns that are gorgeous but not something I’ll ever wear. I’m not big on shopping in general but it will help with those times that I feel I “need” to buy something (as in a quick replacement that I can’t make before a deadline, although I like to avoid those altogether).
- I already knew this but watching 40 slides of what I’ve worn this year shows that I really really really love my Ginsan cardigan and this gray hoodie.
- Oh and I really struggle to keep count from day-to-day.
Altogether, I’m enjoying this challenge a lot more than I thought I would, and I’m finding it to be really helpful.
Have you ever done a “wardrobe challenge”?
