30-Day Outfit Challenge: Discovering My Style and Boosting Productivity
Confession: More days than not, I don’t get dressed.
I know about all the studies that have proven how getting dressed can boost your mindset and productivity. I know how a cute outfit makes you feel more confident. I know how colors can influence your mood for the better. But between growing up homeschooled and then transitioning straight into the WFH (work from home) life–not to mention dealing with years and years of chronic illness, which means I have very low energy every day and often feel pretty terrible–I’m just not motivated to get dressed in the morning.
Of course, I put on real clothes when I’m leaving the house–but not until fifteen minutes before I have to leave. And usually, as soon as I walk in the door, those hard pants are coming right back off. Seriously, I refuse to put on jeans just to sit on my couch. And I often have days where I’m at home all day and don’t see anyone in person. So what’s the point in getting dressed?
But over the last several months, I’ve noticed that something has changed: Little by little, I’ve become more and more interested in clothes.
The Feeding Tube Fashion PhenomenonThis is a phenomenon I’ve noticed with several girls who are tube fed, and I have several theories on why. I think the main reason is because it’s something we can do; a part of life we can participate in, even if my bloody stoma or leaking formula or long line of tubing affect my choice of outfit. Can’t go grocery shopping? Let’s buy clothes instead. No meals to plan? We can still plan our outfits, so we’re sure as heck going to do so!
One chronically ill friend (whose style I admire) even got theological about this, telling me how she thinks that, as women, we have a unique ability to create beauty out of brokenness–how maybe, when we clothe our malfunctioning bodies in bright colors and beautiful fabrics, this is an act of redemption and a way that we proclaim our broken bodies to be still good. Another friend (who is not chronically ill) pointed out the practical truth that for the first time in a long time, my weight is stable, and I can wear what I want to wear–which helps develop my style as I can now buy clothes with the knowledge that I’ll be able to wear them long term.
Whatever the reason, I have continued to enjoy fashion (although that might be a strong word) more and more. However, I’ve felt increasingly guilty about the ridiculous amount of clothes and jewelry I have accumulated that I never wear. And that leads us to this challenge: Get dressed in “real clothes” at least six days a week, stay in those clothes for the majority of the day, and take a photo each day to document the outfits on my blog for inspiration, motivation, and accountability.
How the Challenge Will WorkThe goal of this challenge is to create a habit of getting dressed each morning that will carry on long term. For the purpose of this challenge, I’m defining “real clothes” as anything besides actual pajamas. I think another reason I don’t get dressed is because I sleep in leggings and T-shirts, which are in that gray area where they can count as either leggings or real clothes. For Christmas I got some wintertime Harry Potter pajamas, and I asked for more pajamas for my birthday so I could have a clearer transition between day and night.
Basically, if I put on something fresh in the morning and wash my face with something other than just water, it counts. The criteria is if I can open the door or go get the mail without being embarrassed. We’re shooting small here, folks. I’m also reserving the right to wait to change into black jeans or a black dress right before leaving the house because, cat hair. It’s a problem.
With all of that said, let’s get into my outfits from the last 30 days–and don’t forget to stay tuned to the end of the blog post for the results of the challenge!
Day 1 (Sunday)I hate to take my one “off day” so early in the week, but yesterday was a travel day and there was no way real clothes were happening today.
Day 2 (Monday)I had a stern talk with myself about not abandoning the challenge on the first real day. Then I chose a legging-and-T-shirt ensemble for this cloudy day at home.
Day 3 (Tuesday)As often as I gravitate toward delicate gold jewelry, I also love an excuse (like this new white Old Navy shirt) to break out the colorful earrings.
Day 4 (Wednesday)The worse I feel, the less I want to do this challenge. Anyway. I was hot this morning, so I threw on these workout clothes (the top is cute, but made me super itchy everywhere it touched me). Before going out later, I changed into the other outfit shown below.
Day 5 (Thursday)Nope, still not convinced to wear jeans to sit on my couch all day.
Day 6 (Friday)I don’t know why it never occurred to me until today to pair my black lace bralette with this hand-me-down top. I added black jeans and silver jewelry, and also dug these light blue Keds out of the back of my closet. Normally I wear the same pair of white tennis shoes all winter and the same pair of slip-on sandals all summer, but I want to start branching out with shoes.
Day 7 (Saturday)Unfortunately, today’s outfit was for a funeral. I dressed up my black maxi dress with gold flats, a jean jacket, a ring I bought in Alaska, and these interesting new earrings (from Belk). I also added a touch of color with this necklace–passed down from my aunt who sadly died when I was younger, it’s been a staple in my wardrobe for many years.
Day 8 (Sunday)I LOVE this sweater dress (from the Bates Sisters Boutique a few years ago)! I usually wear it with black leggings and gold flats, but since it was pouring rain today, I traded the flats for wedge booties.
Day 9 (Monday)I should’ve just put up a bunch of pictures with no captions and let y’all guess which days I left the house and which days I stayed home. It’s probably pretty obvious. *smile*
Day 10 (Tuesday)All blue all the time today. (I also cleaned my mirror. Can you tell?)
Day 11 (Wednesday)All the spring fever vibes today, right down to the Birks! This gray/pale pink color combo has been my fave this week. And I have to say, I’m actually loving the feeling of getting ready every morning, even on days when I feel pretty bad. (Like normal people do. You know.)
Day 12 (Thursday)I love this Old Navy dress I found at Goodwill last week. I also have all of my favorite/nicest jewelry again (I accidentally had left it in Mississippi a few weeks ago)!
Day 13 (Friday)I felt awful, had a bad attitude, and was going to take my one day of the week to stay in pajamas. But in an attempt to turn my day around, I got dressed in some semblance of an outfit. Considering the blue flannel I added when I got chilly outside, there were no points for style today, but overall getting dressed definitely helped.
Day 14 (Saturday)I stayed in the T-shirt and shorts I slept in all day and had a great attitude about it. 
This is an outfit that I’ve absolutely loved this winter–it makes me feel so stylish! On top I have a black tank top from Target and a cozy cardigan handed down from a friend. On bottom, I’m wearing jeans and wedge booties, plus pearl earrings and gold rings.
Day 16 (Monday)For years, 75% of my shirts were blue and striped. So I banned myself from buying any more blue shirts… but I think I overcompensated, because now it feels like all my shirts are pink (and still striped). I’m not mad about it though.
Day 17 (Tuesday)I REALLY did not want to get dressed today, but I dug out the comfiest outfit I could find and sucked it up.
Day 18 (Wednesday)I got this Gilmore Girls sweatshirt for Christmas and I think I wore it every single time I left the house in January. Also, today I tried layering necklaces for the first time–layered necklaces are trendy right now, but this was my first time, and I loved the look!
Day 19 (Thursday)Okay, I am OBSESSED with this outfit!! It’s SO cute, but so casual and comfortable! New favorite outfit unlocked, for sure.
Day 20 (Friday)We love a T-shirt dress moment for a day at home!
Day 21 (Saturday)No real clothes happened today.
Day 22 (Sunday)I liked this cozy new Loft sweater from Goodwill (and as you can tell, I’m now obsessed with layered necklaces), but I think it would’ve looked much better if it had been tucked in somehow.
Day 23 (Monday)Today’s outfit was for a concert downtown and involved a lot of deliberation! The final product: black jeans, brown boots, a black lace bralette, red tank top, jean jacket, and as usual, gold jewelry including layered necklaces. I absolutely loved how this outfit came out–such a fun “going out” outfit. (I would’ve added a red lip but, you know, masks.)
Day 24 (Tuesday)This was about as much as I could manage today.
Day 25 (Wednesday)Initially, I really didn’t want to get dressed today–but I really enjoyed wearing this breezy wrap skirt that a friend gifted me a while back.
Day 26 (Thursday)Today was St. Patrick’s Day. I spiced up my green shirt, skinny jeans, and white tennis shoes with these fun earrings.
Day 27 (Friday)Adding some color to a rainy day at home.
Day 28 (Saturday)No change of clothes happened today.
Day 29 (Sunday)Blue shirt and blue jeans plus gold flats and simple gold jewelry.
Day 30 (Monday)Thirty days is a LONG time, but we finally made it! And I shamelessly repeated this outfit today because it’s seriously my fave.
ResultsI still don’t really want to get dressed in the morning, especially on the days when I’m going to be at home all day. But I’m always glad once I do. Is it just a coincidence that I’ve been more productive and happy? Maybe so… but getting dressed is definitely helping my mindset on days when I feel worse than usual.
I had so much fun creating outfits and putting together jewelry, shoes, colors, patterns, etc–a great way to exercise my creativity and develop my style. It was also helpful to track what I wore–I now have a full month of photos to look back through and see what outfits I liked the most, which ones I thought looked cute initially but then didn’t do it for me, and what clothing items I wore multiple times (or didn’t touch for the entire month–I feel like I barely scraped the surface of my closet).
Also, can we just appreciate the amount of weather Georgia threw at me in a month?? There were days during this challenge when it was 80 degrees, and then two days later it’d be snowing. Crazy times.
Anyway, the bottom line (lol this post is SO long) is that I really enjoyed this challenge and I’ve officially gotten myself into the habit of getting up and getting dressed every morning. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to plan my outfit for tomorrow!
Do you get dressed every day? What’s your style like? What was your favorite outfit from this challenge? Talk to me in the comments – and if you want any links to anything I wore this month, I’m happy to try to find them for you! PS – if you’re wondering what the writing peeking out from the top of my bathroom mirror says, it says Love is not something that can be wasted.
