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One of the most interesting things about my choice of dress for this month’s challenge is that it almost necessitates pattern mixing. (Unless I only want to pair it with solids for the whole month, and that seems kind of boring.) For today’s outfit, I opted to layer a checked shirt, which, when combined with the striped dress, makes for a decidedly springy picnic vibe!
I bought this skirt towards the end of the January one dress challenge, but couldn’t quite make it work with that dress. (Though I have worn it a few times since then and always get tons of compliments on it.) But I really love it layered over this month’s challenge dress!
Admittedly, this is a lot more color than I normally wear, but that’s part of the goal of the challenge – to be more creative with my wardrobe. Plus, I love that I can show that even though my Contra Collection is mostly black white and grey, it works well even if your wardrobe extends beyond that neutral color palette!
After all the fun I had with the one dress challenge back in January, I decided to tackle it again for spring! So today I’ll be kicking the challenge off by introducing a new dress and a new set of rules.
In the first round of the challenge, I really didn’t love the dress, so I didn’t even count the dress by itself as an outfit. But for this challenge, I’ve chosen a dress that I really love, so I’m counting it as a look by itself. (With a statement necklace, of course! More on that in a second.)
Because first I want to talk about this dress. Even though I love it more than the dress I chose in January, it’s going to be an interesting choice this time around because it’s definitely not as versatile. There are no buttons, zippers, or wraps, meaning I can literally only wear the dress one way. So this month’s challenge will be all about creative layering.
I’ve decided to do another round of my one dress, thirty ways challenge in April, and this time, I’m hoping to get other people to play along!
The goal for the challenge is simple: over thirty days (starting April 1st), come up with 30 different ways to style the same dress.
I want to keep the challenge as flexible as possible, but to make it easier to join in, I thought I’d lay out a few ground rules:
If this challenge seems impossible to you, I’m going to let you in on a little secret! You don’t have to wear the dress all day every day.
That’s because the one dress, thirty ways challenge isn’t about forced asceticism. It’s about creative expression within constraints.
So you can opt to wear an outfit all day, just for a few hours, or for a few minutes while you snap that day’s pic!
The point isn’t to force you to wear the same piece of clothing for thirty days. It’s to get you to play and experiment with what’s in your closet! (And to document it to refer back to later when you’re stuck in a style rut.)
One of the most valuable things about the first round of the one dress, thirty ways challenge was taking photos of every look. Not only did the photos allow me to reflect during the challenge and come up with new, creative ways to push my style, but they were incredibly valuable after the challenge ended in helping me pack for a trip!
Documenting your outfits doesn’t have to get fancy. While I like to shoot mine in my studio with my fancy camera, you’ll get the same information with a mirror selfie on your smartphone. The goal is simply to have a visual record. (Even if you don’t want to share your pics on social media!)
Of course, if you do want to share your images on Instagram, be sure to tag your posts #onedressthirtyways (You can share them in your main IG feed or in your Stories!) You can also tag @meganauman in the comments so I see what you’re wearing!
In the first round of the challenge, I gave myself a few more rules (to force myself to be even more creative). They were that I had to stick to only two necklaces and two pairs of shoes and that I had to complete the challenge with only pieces I already owned. (Unless I was out shopping and saw something really amazing!)
This time I’m mixing it up! My tentative rules for this go round are to showcase a different necklace every day and to mix in at least five pieces of clothing that I didn’t wear during the first challenge. (So that I don’t fall back in the same combos I used the first time around.)
But those are my rules. Other than styling the same dress thirty ways (and documenting it), any other constraints for the project are entirely up to you!
You might find it helpful to document the rules you’ll be sticking to throughout the project, whether that’s some place only you can see them or in a blog post or on IG. (Writing them down will help you stick to them!)
As I mentioned in my wrap up post for the first round of the challenge, I feel like most of the creative magic didn’t happen until after Day 10. Which is why I was really glad I committed to 30 days.
But I also know that 30 days is a big commitment. So if you’re unsure, start with something smaller, like 10 or 15 days! (Just be sure to still use the hashtag #onedressthirtyways so we can find your posts!)
Once you get started, you may find that you want to keep going for the full 30, or perhaps dipping your toe in to a shorter challenge this time will give you the confidence to tackle the full challenge the next time around.
Ultimately, give yourself the flexibility to make this challenge work for you. Because, at the end of the day, it’s not about rigid rules, but about helping you get more creative with your personal style!
The next round of the one dress, thirty ways challenge starts April 1st! Comment below with your Instagram profile if you’re planning on joining in!
One month ago, I gave myself a challenge. Take this lackluster wrap dress (that I wanted to keep because it was super cozy) and come up with 30 creative ways to wear it.
And because I really like creativity within constraints, I gave myself a few other rules as well: I could only style the dress with pieces I already owned. I could only choose between two pairs of shoes. (Though in the end I pretty much wore the same pair every day, because that’s what happens when you find a pair of shoes you love.) And I could only wear two different necklaces. (Because as a jewelry designer, it would have been too easy to just go crazy in the jewelry department. But I wanted to show how you could make one or two investment pieces work with your whole wardrobe.)
So how did it go?
For the final day of my one dress, thirty ways challenge, I decided to wear ALL the layers. I really liked the way the stone in the bold Contra necklace looked with the chambray tunic I wore yesterday, so I knew I wanted to give it one more go for the challenge. I decided to pair it with the navy and white pleated skirt that has definitely become a favorite since this challenge started.
I originally planned to just wear the wrap dress as duster over the shirt and skirt and call it a day, but that somehow didn’t feel like enough for the final day of the challenge. So I opted to add the navy shirt dress I wore on Day 26 for one more layer. The result is that this outfit makes me feel like a total creative badass! (Which seems like the perfect way to end the challenge!)
Ever since I wore the plaid shirt over the wrap dress, I’ve been wanting to make a wrap skirt with the same cut as the dress. But since I’ve still got two more days in the challenge where I have to wear the dress (and haven’t had the time to sew a skirt anyway), I decided just to see if I could fold the dress in on itself and wear it as a skirt. (Without it looking too lumpy!)
The result is that I was able to wear it as a skirt with this chambray tunic. (Which would have never fit over the bulky sleeves of the wrap dress.) It’s exciting to think that, even 29 days into this challenge, I’m still coming up with new ways to wear this dress!
It’s sort of hard to believe I made it 28 days into this challenge before wearing a pair of jeans! I love jeans, and practically live in them, but I really wanted to force myself to do something different with this challenge. Still, I knew at some point I was going to want to style the dress as duster with a pair of jeans. (And to keep in the spirit of the challenge I opted to wear them with the green shirtdress I wore on Day 14. And I opted for the smaller Contra necklace, because it works so well in the neckline of that dress!)
Of all the looks I’ve put together for this challenge, this one shows the least of the wrap dress. But that doesn’t mean the wrap dress isn’t playing an important role. I wanted to wear the dress from Day 17 again (because I love the winter color palette) but truth be told, that dress is very thin. Wearing it over the wrap dress makes it that much cozier (and gives it a little extra length). And since this outfit was already all about the cozy, I figured I’d add my favorite oversized charcoal cardigan (that I’ve already worn a few times in this challenge) to really up the coziness factor.
Today’s outfit had me digging deep. And by that, I mean deep into my closet! I’ll admit that I was struggling a bit coming up with another idea that felt new, but then I remembered this navy shirt dress in the back of my closet. And since it unbuttons all the way, I was able to layer it over the wrap dress. I love that it’s a simple solution that yet again transforms the wrap dress. (Especially when I pop the collar and give it a little attitude.)