This week I finished a 30-day fashion blogger challenge. I had to pick 30 items from my closet (including shoes but excluding accessories) and remix them into 30 different outfits to be worn over a 30-day period. No outfit repeats, no shopping during that time and no wearing an item that is not part of the 30 pre-picked items. It’s harder than it sounds.

The challenge is the brain-child of style blogger Kendi of Kendi Everyday. She started the challenge in the early part of 2010 as a way to curb her own spending and to teach herself to be more creative. In the Summer she opened the challenge up to other bloggers, that’s when I first gave this a whirl. And then in early November she launched the third installment of the 30 for 30 challenge, with more than 300 fashion bloggers participating and for the first time both guys and girls took part in the challenge.

Some people drop out. Some people can’t handle not shopping for 30 days and go through serious withdraw. Some people end up wearing some pretty insane outfits by the end when they’ve run out of normal combinations. But the challenge is a gift in disguise to everyone who takes part. (You can see all my 30 for 30 posts here.)

It teaches many invaluable lessons. Allowing people to see there are so many possible outfits that can be created using the same pieces in different ways. It teaches creativity, helping all of us think outside the pre-conceived outfits we’ve been living in for the last several weeks or months. It proves that less is more and a huge closet full of clothes does not mean you’ll be able to come up with endless clothing options. It’s hard to see what’s in front of you when you have your whole closet to pick from. When there are less options suddenly outfits become possible that you never even considered before. It creates a community of fashion bloggers who encourage each other to save money and repurpose what they already have.

Stay tuned… later in the week I’ll post on the key to mixing and matching clothing items to create endless outfits. Maybe you’ll want to try the 30 for 30 on your own - I dare you.