When Katie over at @whatkatefinds, first mentioned that she was going to do a 20 x 20 for the first 20 days of January, I was instantly intrigued. After doing my mini capsule for Chicago in September (Click here to read about that), I knew that a true capsule closet was never going to work for me. However, I still love the principal of it and that it forces you to be more creative when putting your outfits together. As Katie encouraged others to join her, I knew that I wanted to try it out and see what happened. So today I’m sharing just that. My thoughts on choosing 20 clothing items only to wear for 20 days.

I am quite the planner, so you better believe I started a list in December, categorizing tops, bottoms, jackets, etc and even going as far to assigning each clothing piece a number. I knew that I wanted to choose some versatile classic pieces like a graphic tee and high waisted denim Levi’s, but I also knew I wanted to have some fun. I didn’t want to just wear a top and a bottom and call it good (although as you’ll see below, sometimes that’s all I had the energy for haha).

Here is the list of 20 items I chose to work with for the 20 days:

Sleeveless leopard blouse
Mustard cardigan
Cream crew neck sweater
Tan/Beige crew neck sweater
Orchid Redefining Beauty Graphic Tee
Gray embroidered floral sweatshirt
Black & White striped tee shirt
Long sleeved White Redefining Beauty Graphic Tee
Light Wash Denim Button Down Shirt
Camel Brown Turtleneck
Olive Green Short Sleeved Maxi Dress
Gold Pleated Velvet Skirt
Leopard Skirt
Black Paperbag Waist Pants
Burgundy Leggings
Medium Wash High Waisted Levi’s
Black Levi’s
Black Adidas Leggings with White stripes
Black & White Hounds-tooth Blazer
Olive Green Blazer

One thing that I wanted to be really conscience of with this 20 x 20 challenge, was to choose a lot of thrifted items since that’s all I’m purchasing this year and to show you guys how versatile and on trend thrifted pieces can truly be! 11 of the 20 items ended up being thrifted.

There were some exceptions that I wanted to share before I get into the outfits and what I thought about this whole experience…

Shoes were not included in this because I live in Michigan and during this 20 days we experienced rain, sun, lots of snow, and more.
While I did include two pairs of workout leggings, I did not wear them to workout and didn’t include my workout clothing. I knew I would need clean workout clothes for most of these days and that would make for a LOT of laundry, so I wore other items to workout in.
Accessories for me were also not included because this is what I think truly helps you change up a look and style a few items many different ways.

Below are the 20 outfits I created with the 20 pieces of clothing (Scroll to the right):

Overall, I loved this challenge. I created some outfits that I probably NEVER would have put together had it not been for the limited choices I had for the 20 days. I definitely think that if you plan this challenge properly, i.e. plan in advance and think through your items and how you could potentially style them, it makes for a much more successful 20 days. Here are some other pros to this challenge:

Getting dressed was so much quicker in the morning because I only had a certain amount of clothing laid before me to work with. If I knew I wanted to wear a particular item, I would start with that and quickly build around it.
I purposely planned this challenge to coincide with a No-Spend month, which was perfect timing because I wasn’t tempted to go thrifting since I knew I couldn’t wear any potential finds until the 20 days were up.
I can tend to wear a lot of easy outfits like sweaters and leggings in the winters so I like that this challenge forced me to wear more dresses, skirts, pants, etc, during the week.
I definitely felt a sense of gratitude for the items I have in my closet and really thought about how excessive we can be when it comes to fashion. You don’t need hundreds of items to create a bunch of unique outfits. I love that I did this challenge during January because I think it set a good tone for the rest of the year.

However, I will say that by days 18, 19, & 20 I was starting to be over the challenge. I have to admit that while I did technically style a 20th outfit for day 20, I didn’t wear it because I only left the house to go workout and ended up putting PJ’s on after my workout so that I could be comfortable for the rest of my snowy, work from home day.

I am really happy to be back to creating outfits from my entire closet now, but I will definitely do another 20 x 20 this spring or summer! I am really happy that I chose this as one of my 2020 goals (click here to read the other 19 goals), and I encourage you to try something similar if you want to test out a capsule wardrobe, but don’t know if it’s realistic for you!

Have you ever done a challenge like this? What are your thoughts on the matter? Comment below and let me know!

Have a great day,

Andrea

I told you this post was coming! haha I have truly fallen in love with thrifting and I am so excited to finally talk more about it with you. I know initially I was going to have my friend Margaret (@margaretellenhess) write this post, but she opened a thrifted/antiqued/new shop (@edgewoodplaceoccasions) within an antique store, and her plate became very full. Instead I’m going to have her talk a little bit about her shop on here soon, so those of you who are local to the Jackson/ surrounding areas, can go visit her shop if you’d like!

Majority of my inspiration and love for thrifting has come from Margaret and also my friend Mercedes (@mercedesrichelle). Thank you ladies for bringing this fun hobby into my life that allows me to re-purpose items that are still good (aka reduce my waste) and tap into a whole new way to express my creativity!

Get a cart the second you walk in the door.

The first time I thrifted with my best friend Margaret, she insisted I get a cart when we walked in. I remember thinking like ‘WTF Margs, we’ve been here for 2 seconds, I haven’t even found anything”. BUT GUYS. It makes perfect sense! If you don’t get a cart, you have to carry things in your hands as you find them. This means you don’t have both hands free for searching through racks and that you’re more likely to get tired and overwhelmed because it will feel like a lot of work. If you have a cart, you can throw in whatever you want and don’t have to hold anything! For this reason I also suggest a cross-body purse so that you don’t have to hold that.

If you are drawn to the fabric, fit, whatever, PUT it in the cart.

This is the other MAJOR tip my friend Margaret taught me. If you gravitate towards a piece for a certain reason, just throw it in the cart. It’s impossible to know exactly how it’s going to fit until you try it on and you might be pleasantly surprised by items you never thought would work. Plus sometimes you can figure out a way to style something a certain way that makes it better than what it looks like on the hanger…but more on this in a little bit.

Go with plenty of time to move slowly. It’s not a race.

One of the worst things you can do is go in a rush. I find myself feeling more anxious and overwhelmed when I am rushing myself through racks. Thrifting is not always quick and there’s no guarantee that you will find anything, so it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to treasure hunt.

Bring a friend.

I love thrifting on my own, but it’s always easier and more fun when I bring a friend. I love weird prints and sometimes it’s hard to tell whether something is cute or too dated. Having a friend to give you a quick yes or no can move the process a long faster. Also it may help you to say yes to certain things and step out of your comfort zone!

Keep a running list of items you are looking for on your phone.

Since you don’t always know what you’re going to find at the thrift store I like to always have a list of the general types of pieces I am looking for, for my wardrobe. This helps me keep ideas in the back of my head so that I’m not trying to search every inch of the store every time I go in. Sometimes I really want graphic tees so I’ll head to that area first. This makes me feel like I have a plan in an environment that can sometimes feel a little unorganized and chaotic.

Don’t expect to find everything in one day. Go often.

Thrifting is definitely a marathon hobby. You cannot expect to walk in every time and find 20 new items for super inexpensive prices. If you have the right mindset and work to appreciate the process. It makes the thrill that much better when you find amazing items. I like to go often but only for about 30-60 minutes so that I’m never reaching the point of getting sick of it, any time I go. Also, depending on your thrift store, they might put new items out frequently. So it’s always in your best interest to go often.

Ignore sizes.

This one is so important because sizing is not a universal thing between clothing lines. The standard of sizing within a brand has also changed over the decades, so it’s impossible to know exactly what your size would be. There will most likely be a mix of vintage and current pieces so don’t only go for racks in your size. Some stores are organized by size and some are by color, so it’s important to make sure that you’re looking at everything! I just found a blouse that I am obsessed with and guess what… it’s a size 22W! While I knew it was going to be too big, I had to try it on because I was obsessed with the pattern of the fabric. Fast forward to the fitting room, and after a tie in the front and slight tuck into my high-waisted, tight Levi’s, it became the most ADORABLE over-sized top for super hot days this summer.

Try things on.

Some people get weirded out by trying things on, but I cannot tell you how crucial it is. There are so many pieces that I probably would have bought had I not tried them on because I thought they’d look great when on the hanger. There’s also so many pieces I would have never bought (i.e. that floral size 22W top) had I not been able to put it on and style or tuck it exactly how I’d want to wear it. I obviously wash everything when I bring it home on a deep wash or sterilize washing machine setting, but I think the trying on process is so key to making sure things fit right and you aren’t wasting money. Remember, just because things are inexpensive DOESN’T mean we want to waste our money. A shirt you never wear is still a waste of money, no matter how much you paid for it.

Some of my favorite pieces to get at the Thrift Store:

Blazers
Denim
Button-Down Blouses
Workout Tops
Basics
Skirts
Jackets/Coats
Accessories (Belts, bags, scarves, etc.)

I think this is all I’m going to talk about for now because I want to talk about thrifting on a more regular basis on my blog. I have truly fallen in love with every part of it, so I’m excited to share my finds with you all. I asked on Instagram if you’d like to see monthly thrifting hauls and how I style the items with those I already have and got a very postive response. More than half of you wanted to see them as IGTV episodes, but a good amount of you wanted them as blog posts, so I think I’ll still post on here every time I make a video that corresponds for those of you who just want to read!

If you have any additional tricks for thrifting leave them below! Also tell me your favorite thing you’ve EVER thrifted below.

Have a beautiful day,

Andrea