30 for 30

It's been a little while since I've done a challenge (apart from the New Authors Challenge, which I'm still doing), and when I saw this one, I couldn't resist. The difference is that it isn't a reading or writing challenge!

The rules are: choose 30 items of clothing from your wardrobe (including shoes; not including underwear, jewellery and accessories), and remix those items into 30 different outfits over the following 30 days. No shopping allowed; no other items allowed.

It's an unwritten expectation that you also photograph yourself in each of these outfits and post them on the blog, and to be honest it's this that's the sticking point for me. I'm not too much of a photo person, I barely ever wear makeup, and I never do anything with my hair. Most of the other people who have signed up for this have style/clothes blogs; most of them are, I assume, stylish people. I... am not. I love clothes, but I'm unimaginative with the way I dress, and I want to change that.

I've expanded the rules a bit for myself. I'm counting scarfs, tights and belts as accessories; I'm counting socks and singlets as underwear. I'm also not including gym clothes in the count, because I have no particular desire to jazz up the shorts and old tees I wear to the gym.

But I've chosen my 30 items — and wow, are my clothes unremixable!

Three skirts

Two pairs of trousers, a pair of leggings, and jeans

Two jackets, a dress and a tunic

Heels for work, three pairs of sandals and two boots

Three shirts for work

Four knitwear tops

Black and white: reliable fallbacks

A bit of colour for the wardrobe

New author challenge 2010

Because I don't have enough challenges already, I decided on one more: The new author challenge (2010).

The rules, in brief, are as follows:

1. Between 1 Jan 2010 and 31 Dec 2010, read works by a certain number of new authors.

2. You can choose to read 15, 25 or 50 new authors.

3. A maximum of a third of the new authors can be from anthologies.

I'm going to aim for 25 new authors this year — and if I can get to 25 by August (or thereabouts) I might aim for 50 for the whole year. We'll see. (Update on 11 August: OK, I hit 26! I'm going for 50.)

1. The name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss*
2. The hunger games by Suzanne Collins*
3. Poison study by Maria V Snyder*
4. The final empire by Brandon Sanderson
*
5. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. Ash by Malinda Lo
7. The thief by Megan Whalen Turner
8. Girls like funny boys by Dave Franklin†
9. Sasha by Joel Shepherd
10. Mystic and rider by Sharon Shinn
11. Mira, mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
12. Kushiel's dart by Jacqueline Carey
13. What my mother doesn't know by Sonya Sones
14. The poison throne by Celine Kiernan
15. The blue by Mary McCallum
16. Knife by R J Anderson
17. The hollow kingdom by Clare B Dunkle
18. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher*
19. Girls in trucks by Katie Crouch
20. Kitty by Deborah Challinor
21. Mistwood by Leah Cypess
22. Soulless by Gail Carriger
23. Play dirty by Sandra Brown
24. Crossing over by Anna Kendall
25. Tsunami blue by Gayle Ann Williams
26. The maze runner by James Dashner
27. Mansfield by C K Stead
28. My way to hell by Dakota Cassidy
29. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
30. The personal shopper by Carmen Reid
31. Stillwater Creek by Alison Booth
32. Candor by Pam Bachorz
33. Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
34. Cecelia Holland in The dragon book anthology
35. Homeland by Clare Francis
36. The chocolate run by Dorothy Koomson

* Great author — would highly recommend.
† Would not recommend this author.