Jane's Capsule Wardrobe Challenge

I'd been thoroughly looking forward to Jane's Capsule Wardrobe Challenge from the moment it was announced. Then life got in the way, and I practically forgot about it until I saw Jane's post of her Day 1 outfit last Monday, when I had already gone to work fully-dressed in one of my stand-by outfits. Fortunately, my stand-buy outfit included lots of basic pieces that go well with many other pieces. Unfortunately, most of those basic pieces were black, meaning that this capsule wardrobe was not likely to be very adventurous...

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[This is the only purse I use on a daily basis. I never show it in pictures, but it goes everywhere with me, like a watch or a wedding ring, along with a black leather tote bag so purely functional that I didn't think it should count as one of my five accessories. I only own one other purse, a black satin one for formal occasions. Crazy, huh?]

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I finished planning my outfits for the week during the bus ride home on Monday, since it was going to be a late night.


I decided I'd let the black jacket serve as my one piece of permitted outerwear, something I regretted when it got really cold around mid-week. I barely took it off for the rest of the week. To these five accessories, one piece of outerwear, and three wardrobe pieces, I added seven more wardrobe pieces:

[boring-but-essential basic black cotton leggings]

And now, the not-very-adventurous results...

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

I wore this skirt as a dress once before, but on that occasion, I simply safety-pinned elastic in place as temporary shoulder-straps because I knew I'd never be taking off the cardigan I was wearing over them (girfriend seriously does not handle strapless dresses well; just take my word for it). This capsule challenge motivated me to again attempt to wear this skirt as a dress, but wishing for a more lasting solution, I refashioned it by assembling straps out of old trim and ribbon.

I permently stitched the straps in place at the back neckline/waistline, and installed hooks at the front neckline/waistline. So it can now be easily converted from a skirt into a dress-with-shoulder-straps within seconds.