Friday, November 1, 2013

Wrap Up

Well, the October Dress Project 2013 is complete!  Guess what I am NOT wearing today?!

Overall, this was a very good experience.  It definitely made me be far more creative than I ever have been with putting together my outfits.  I found it took much longer to get ready for the day though, than it did normally, as I kept trying to put together something original.  Some outfits were definitely more successful than others.  I did find navy a bit hard to work with, and would definitely choose a black dress next time around (if I ever do this again!).  It also definitely made me appreciate how vast my wardrobe really is.  If I can put together 31 outfits based on 1 dress, how many other outfits are hidden away in my closet just waiting to be found?!

Quite a few ladies at church knew I was doing this project, and they were always so encouraging whenever they saw me, and couldn't wait to see what I would wear next time.

Which brings up another point - nobody ever noticed (that I hadn't specifically told) that I was doing this.  People so don't look at you as much as you think they do!

Two questions remain.

Which is your favourite out of the entire month?

And, should I ever choose to wear this dress again - which of the 31 versions will I wear?!


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Day 31 - Challenge Complete!

The dress
Leopard scarf worn as a skirt (pinned in the back)
Black belt
Black leggings
Black boots
Grey pearl necklace
Jean jacket from Targe

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Day 30

Two outfits today!
The dress
Blue belt
White skinny jeans
Grey Boots
Long beige cardigan from Ricki's

Unfortulately this looked really ridiculous with a winter jacket over top, so when I had to go out later, I changed into this....
Same things, just switched to the grey cardigan

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Day 29

The dress
Grey/white striped shirt from the Guess Outlet
White skinny jeans
Grey boots
Jean jacket from Target
Peas in my Pod necklace

Monday, October 28, 2013

Day 28

The dress
Maroon turtleneck
Grey skinny jeans from Guess Outlet
Black boots
necklace from Express

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Day 26

The dress
Peach/orange/white sweater from Hollister
Black leggings
Black boots

Friday, October 25, 2013

Day 25

The dress
Red sweater
Leopard print scarf
Black leggings
Black boots
Black hair clip in a side ponytail

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Day 24

The dress
Grey 3/4 length shirt from Gordman's
Red belt 
Necklace from Express
Black leggings from JC Penney
Grey boots from JustFab.com
Red clip in my waterfall braid

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Day 23

The dress
Grey and red striped sweater
Black leggings
Grey boots
Mother's necklace
Grey hair clips

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Day 22

The dress
Scarf worn as a skirt (pinned in the back), from my parents' trip to Europe
Brown belt from another dress
Black leggings from JC Penney
Grey boots from JustFab.com
Jean jacket from Target
Grey pearl necklace from Kohl's
Bracelets
Black flower hair clip from Claire's

This is what the back looked like (under the jacket)...

Monday, October 21, 2013

Day 21

The dress
Black and white shirt from New York & Company
Black belt
Black leggings from JC Penney
Black Uggs (they kept my feet super warm during Olivia's hockey game tonight!)
Black headband from Walmart
Custom mother's necklace

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Day 20

The dress
Red shirt
Black leggings from Kohl's
Black boots from Payless
White pearl necklace
Red hair clip from Claire's

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Day 19

The dress
Grey sweater from Kohl's
White skimmer keg going jeans from the Gap Outlet
Grey boots from JustFab.com (half price deal!)
Silver chain necklace

Friday, October 18, 2013

Day 18

The dress
Pink sweater from Smart Set (I think!)
Scarf - gift from my parents' trip to Europe
Black leggings from JC Penney
Black boots from Dress Barn

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Day 17

The dress
Light beige long knit cardigan from Ricki's (seriously been a couple years since I've worn this!)
Brown belt
Jeans from Buckle
Brown boots from JC Penney

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Day 16

The dress
Black cowl neck sweater from Kohl's (? not sure, either Kohl's or Gordman's would be my guess!)
Black leggings from JC Penney
Black boots from Dress Barn
Blue belt
Black hair scrunchie

Met up with Pamela after Kids Club today - here we are together again.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Day 15

The dress
Chambray shirt from Kohl's
White skinny skimmer length jegging jeans from Gap outlet
Brown boots from JC Penney
White clips from Claire's

Monday, October 14, 2013

Day 14

The dress
Grey chambray shirt from Gordman's
Red belt
White hair clip from Claire's
Grey skinny jeans from Gap Outlet
Black boots from Dress Barn

I confess that this was actually the 2nd outfit I wore yesterday.  Today we were home all day long and I just stayed in home clothes.  I figured wearing two the day before was the same thing. :)

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Day 13

Didn't realize this picture was so blurry!  It was a little chilly today, but I wore this to church anyway.

The dress
White shrug from Kohl's
White pearl necklace
White belt
White high heeled sandals from Payless

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Day 12

The dress
Black turtleneck sweater
Red belt
Black leggings from JC Penney
Black boots from Dress Barn
Chain necklace
Red hair clip from Claire's

Friday, October 11, 2013

Day 11

The dress
White jegging skimmer length jeans from the Gap Outlet
Dark brown boots from JC Penney
white belt
Light beige sweater from Kohl's
Copper ball necklace

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Day 10

The dress
Black and white striped sweater from the Guess Outlet
Black ballet flats from a Groupon deal
White peas in my pod necklace
Black flower clip from Clare's

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Day 9

The dress
Grey shrug from Target
Blue pendant necklace from Kohl's
Gold flats from Payless

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Day 8

The dress
White scarf worn as a shawl, from Target
Pink belt
White capri length leggings borrowed from my oldest daughter
White peas in my pod necklace
Pink flower clip from Claire's
Gold flats from Payless

Monday, October 7, 2013

Day 7


The dress
3/4 length grey cardigan from Kohl's
Red belt
Red clip from Claire's
Grey open toe booties from Payless Shoes
Custom hecklace - light bulb filled with birthstones of our entire family

It was GNO tonight, so Pamela and I got to see each other's outfits in person. You can see my shoes a lot better in this one too :)

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Day 6


The dress
Awesome red shoes from Payless
Grey pearl necklace from Kohl's
Red belt

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Day 5

I confess - today I was home all day long in pj's and home clothes, so I didn't actually wear this outfit out anywhere, basically just put it together for the photo.  I'm not so sure about the navy/black combo - what do you think?

The dress
Black leggings from Kohl's
Black boots from Dress Barn
Black baggy chunky cardigan from Kohl's (I think)
Blue belt from a different Kohl's dress
chain necklace
Black flower hair clip from Claire's

Friday, October 4, 2013

Day 4

This picture is actually more flattering than it was in real life.  The oversized style shirt didn't go as well as I was expecting because of the flared style skirt of the dress. And I'm not too sure about the black/navy combo, but it definitely worked better than the dark grey leggings I had previously been planning to wear.  Still worked ok.

The dress
Coral sweater from Kohl's
Black leggings from Kohl's
Black boots from Dress Barn
chain necklace

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Day 3

Today was trickier for me. Several of the pieces I thought would work well, didn't. But I think this ended up ok. 


The dress
White legging skimmer jeans from the Gap Outlet
White scarf from Target
Gold flip flop style sandals from Payless I think

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Day 2

The dress
Grey short shrug from Target
My Peas in the Pod necklace (4 large ones for my kids, 2 small ones for my babes in heaven) from Jolie Handmade Jewellery
Brown boots from JC Penney (from our recent church ladies retreat in Fargo!)

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Challenge is on!! Day 1



Light beige cardigan from Kohl's
dark brown belt from Target (I think) tied as per "Classic Knot"
leopard platform high heeled shoes from local buy and sell Facebook page
necklace from Two Belles & A Bead.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Challenge Accepted - The Dress

I first heard of the October Dress Project from my friend Pam, who heard about it last year, but didn't commit to doing it until this year - check out her ODP blog here.  And she's managed to talk me into joining her.

What is the October Dress Project and why would anyone do it?

Here's a snippet from the October Dress Project blog....
Here is the basic idea: for thirty-one days, from October 1st to October 31st, you will build all your outfits around one single dress. You will put this dress on in some way, shape, or form, every time you get dressed.

Why? There are a lot of a different women participating, and each participates for different reasons, but the motto sums it up as 'anti-consumerism, pro-simplicity, anti-conformity, pro-imagination.' This can translate into a lot of different motivations, from an out-of-control wardrobe to a concern for environmental sustainability, from an intellectual exercise to a deep rethinking of what you do with your clothes and why. It encourages thinking of your clothing more creatively as you use one dress as a canvas for the other clothes you have in your wardrobe. It prompts dressing more responsibly as you begin to reevaluate the versatility of a single garment. It helps you to cut away the clutter surrounding personal worth, body image, and consumer culture (one of the first thing many people notice is that no one else notices them wearing the same dang thing every day!) It gives you a starting point to begin challenging cultural norms of buying habits and our perception of needs.


I'm a little nervous about this project because, although I have quite a few clothes, I don't have many accessories, nor do I have a tremendous eye for fashion, particularly when it comes to layering and accesories. I'm a more than a little concerned that I'm not going to be able to make the dress look that different from day to day.

But that's also exactly the reason why I'm doing it.  I want to get more creative in my clothing choices, and putting outfits together, and utilizing the items that I already have in new ways.

I am, however, giving myself two exception clauses.....
1) Nathan and I have a trip planned to Minneapolis to watch the Jets play.  I must wear my Jets jersey to this event.  I will try to make it work with my dress, but if I can't make it work, I won't wear it to the game - but then I will wear the dress one extra day at the end of the challenge to make up for it.
2) Due to this trip, I am allowing myself to shop at the Albertville outlets and the Mall of America.

So, with those two caveats in place, here is the dress I'm going to use for the challenge.


Unfortunately, it's navy instead of black, but I'm hoping it will work out well anyway.  I believe I got it from Kohl's.

I admit, I may be picking up a couple of accessories with this dress in mind on our church's ladies retreat in Fargo this weekend. :)

Well, here goes nothin'!