The First Six

...fits from the 30 for 30 challenge

Feb 19, 2026

I’m six ‘fits into the team style challenge - and that’s the focus of this piece.

If you’re thinking “WTF is she on about?” - then a couple of weeks ago, I shared a plan for a collaborative sustainability style challenge with my colleagues.

In brief

Nine colleagues and I are taking part in 30 days of 30 different outfits based on what we already have. There are optional themes for each day. We can opt out on home office days and weekends. It’s about sustainability, creativity and connection (as opposed to fashion). The themes and challenge details are here.

The IRL execution

So far, everyone is taking part. Some more arm’s length than others - not everyone always has the capacity, and that’s fully okay. The group chat is both active and supportive, with new friendships forming.
There’s a lot of elevator selfies and distinct individuality. It’s pretty diverse in terms of approach and outcomes. The group is from the UK, Iran, Hungary, Albania, Austria, Serbia, the US, Russia and Finland but we all live in Vienna.
I’m trying to stick with the themes I listed, in the order I laid them out. It gives me a frame in which to create.
I’m not spending much time planning ahead, I’m sort of rolling with it in the morning, and accepting the outcomes, flaws and all.
So far what I’ve put together involves combining things in ways I haven’t before. This is extra complexity that I’ve layered on, but it’s an ‘optimal utilization’ habit that I deploy at lot.

The ‘Fits

Here’s some notes about how it’s going for me.

Day 1. Cozy

Cozy means being enveloped and just the right temperature. I went for things that were soft and heavy. A weighted blanket in clothing form. This skirt, is my coziest companion; it’s weighty and the folds are like cuddles. It’s one of the newest of the ‘from new’ items in my wardrobe. It’s been a winter staple in what’s been a persistently chilly winter.

Day 2. Pop of Colour

I’m aware that what’s evolved is more “a pop of navy”. Yeah, I wrote the inspiration brief, and I couldn’t stick to a “pop”. I started with the dress as and the top over it and I didn’t feel like myself. I genuinely didn’t have the motivation (or time) to start with a new outfit so I added the scarf.
The top used to be a dress, and I altered it, I cut off the bottom and gave it mildly poofy peplum. I like the relationship with the tights and the stained-glass pattern on the scarf. By the time I got to the shoes, I was in true ‘leftfield’ mode.

Day 3 - Neutrals

My dog, Ron, had an operation and I was in home office for a few days. Here, I was waiting on the call to go and collect him from the Vet, two days later than planned1. I intend to take part on this day, but I had challenge FOMO and so I decided I was neutral enough to join in.
Apropos of nothing, due to multiple moments of missing my mouth whilst consuming, I ended up wearing three tops on this day. Dr Beckmann’s stain pen did a good job with pesto on a white shirt, but failed with chili sauce on stripes.

Day 4 - Joyful

I woke up with this dress as being the only option in my mind. And it was snowing, hence the insulated boots. This jacket is at least 15 years old and the lining needs replacing, but it’s always bought me joy, and I especially like the proportions of it with the dress. A colleague made the earrings and gave them to me as a gift.

Day 5 - Print/Pattern

The explicit focus of the challenge is shopping our wardrobes and not buying stuff. I have a confession. I bought this dress last Friday. Not specifically for the challenge but… still it’s new to me.
It has a story and it’s not just any old dress. I found it in a secondhand shop, about 50 metres from my front door. The label gives the shop name and full address, which is about 250 metres from my front door. There is no shop there now.
I’m guessing from the stitching that it was handmade, and from the styling, that it was conceived over 40 years ago. There’s a very good chance that this dress was born and lived in my corener of Vienna more than four times as long as I have.
I’d had my eye on it since January, the shop had a sale, and it was still there - I got it for 2 Euros.

Day 6 - Art Inspired

Hannah Alexandra did some experiments with ‘style by art’ inspiration and it was an indirect nudge for me to add the theme to the list.

Since I lean into artsy, with a sprinkling of offbeat, I thought this theme would be easier than it was. I dismissed several options for not being weather appropriate. I’ve been drawn anything Hockney with a swimming pool since I was at secondary school - So I went for The Bigger Splash; I played fast and loose with the blues. Inspired doesn’t have to mean literal. The bag is one that I got several years ago from an exhibition of Hockney portraits. I thought it was funny to include it and pretend that I was one of the models.

20% down. 24 to come.

Notes, but not footnotes

Check out Angela Jones epic about online second-hand shopping. She’s a knitter of people and their passions. She involved me and several other lovely folk in the piece.

I can’t portray myself as a secondhand expert. It makes up some of my wardrobe, but I also have lots of things that I bought brand new. I try to buy mindfully and treat what I buy, whatever the source, as a long-term commitment. The intent is lower consumption, through high utilisation, repair/alterations, conscious sourcing and creating less waste overall.

He’s fine. He had an op to remove a lipoma. A week and a bit later, he’s bored out of his little mind. He wants to jump and play and, go on adventures down the Danube Canal - all things that are forbidden for two WHOLE weeks! Not yoghurt though, he can have yoghurt.