Tracking My Daily Outfits for 100 Days (OK, 80)

In order to understand my daily outfits better, at one point this spring I decided to post daily outfit selfies on Instagram for 100 days. I didn’t spend much time deliberating - the challenge sounded easy enough, so I started posting. It has been quite illuminating to see how my style actually looks in real life.

First of all, the inspiration. I have a moodboard that I carefully curated to reflect the aesthetic I want to have: subdued and bright colors, sleek tailoring, beautiful modern shapes, and color on color on color.

My moodboard - available here if you want to take a deeper look

By the way, on Tuesday we are having a live on Substack with On Shopping My Closet to discuss how we find inspiration. It is my first-ever Substack Live, so tune in!

The actual daily outfits, however, were quite a bit different from what’s on my moodboard. There was color here and there, but not nearly as extensively as in my inspiration images. Here is one example of my daily outfit set, and the rest are at the end of the post.

Here’s what I observed.

The simple act of posting makes you try a little harder

There were days when I wasn’t in the mood to get dressed at all and would happily have lounged around at home in sweats and a random T-shirt. Knowing I had to post an outfit made me at least try to combine things in a more interesting way - or reconsider the sweats and put on jeans instead.

That’s probably good for my style, although sometimes it did feel like an obligation.

My WFH wardrobe is still my crutch

I have been trying to solve this problem since 2024 and still haven’t fully figured it out. I have made some progress recently by replacing T-shirts with blouses, but the fundamental problem remains.

I have no problem dressing for courses, meeting friends, going to the theater, or anything festive. WFH? Comfort takes center stage, and I am still struggling to make it look interesting - but I am working hard on changing that!

I love color, but I don’t wear it much

Despite having a moodboard full of interesting, subdued and bright colors, I mostly default to burgundy, chocolate brown, cream, and navy.

Colorful pieces are quite occasional, although they are usually behind some of my favorite outfits. Apparently, I love looking at color, but something doesn’t quite work when it comes to wearing it - maybe it requires more effort?

I also seem to have a one-bright-color-per-outfit rule. I actually tried wearing a lime-green skirt with a red top and felt like a traffic light. It felt so wrong that I immediately understood this is probably not my thing.

However, the moodboard combinations of subdued colors with brights and neutrals are definitely my cup of tea, and I see myself incorporating more and more color into my life.

I am underperforming with accessories

The same brown shoes appear in almost all my photos, I carry the same bag most of the time, and there is a lot of the same brown trench coat.

Meanwhile, my moodboard is full of bright, interesting, colorful accessories.

I love my bags and shoes - sometimes perhaps a little too much - and I am thinking about how to bring more variation into my outfits instead of buying another chocolate or cognac-colored bag.

Jewelry is also used very sparingly, and this is definitely something I would like to improve.

Overall: I highly recommend the challenge

The 100-day challenge helped me make a little more effort when getting dressed, but more importantly, it showed me the actual truth of my style.

There is a difference between the style you aspire to and the style you actually wear - and apparently, I needed 80-ish outfit selfies to see it clearly.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue posting every day, but if you want to follow along, come find me on Instagram! And below are the rest of the outfits of this experiment.