... so I challenged myself (week 1 of 2)

With the change of wardrobes - summer clothes put away, winter clothes back out from storage - I had gotten a bit bored with the items from the last few winters. Especially so, as I had pared down my wardrobe greatly last year and thus gotten a lot of wear out of fewer items. All the skirts (I actually wear skirts more in winter than in summer, with ankle boots and tights) seemed over familiar, same with the t-shirts and sweaters. What to do?

Staying true to my minimalism goals I wanted to challenge myself to make new combinations. But I felt so limited that I permitted myself a small number of purchases to change the look a bit. A couple of pants, a bright yellow "teddy" coat, a couple of patterned blouses and some sweaters. Nothing expensive, nothing fancy - except for the nice pair of new studded black ankle boots (soooo comfortable, this must have been the first time that shoes were actually totally comfortable right from the start.

​So there I went with day 1 of my challenge:

Happy with the new pants from Stradivarius. A fashionable color, matching the old sweatshirt from COS from two seasons ago and my boots from last year. The bag (not leather!) is actually a bagpack and has not been worn yet. Felt like a good start.

Day 2 with last year's felted bright orange miniskirt from COS and my trusted booties with the red sole. The sweater really is a summer item from American Vintage and the red ball necklace is from Gudrun Sjoeden. Love that skirt!

On day 3 I finally found a way to wear the pleated skirt I bought last year (and only ever wore on Christmas eve!!!). It's difficult to get the silhouette right, it needs a small, figure-hugging top which I had amongst the old things. Same with the pink ball necklace and the shawl which really adds "umph". The puffy jacket makes for a cool combination!

Oh, day 4 was difficult. I really wanted to create a combination with one of the two almost identical patterned blouses I bought (this one with lavender base color and another one with olive base). But I am really not a "pattern girl" - always feel a strong need to tone down the pattern with some solid color. Which was kind of successful with the the turquoise wrap cardigan. But I must say, I am still not totally convinced ...

AAAh, day 5 is totally me again. Nice solid colors, strong contrast with the black and yellow and satisfaction about getting the shots just right with the yellow accessories in my bedroom. Strong emphasis on the great new boots from LaShoe, and a nice extra touch with the yellow textile necklace from COS (a few seasons ago, actually from the kids department). This combination simply felt good and you can see it in the pics, don't you?

And that was the end of the first week. I actually took the weekend off, reverting to trusty jeans and tshirts and enjoying the free time with husband and friends.

​(Second week to follow in a second post!)