April Style Sudoku, At Home Edition

Since this year took an unexpected turn, that has also meant that my blog content has taken a little bit of an unexpected turn. Normally, I’d be knee-deep in planning and wearing spring outfits right now, but since I’m now working from home (and staying home in general; in the past month, I’ve only left the house for some walks and hikes), my real-life outfits are looking a little different than usual. I miss planning new outfits but I’m not sure that I miss wearing my “regular” clothes…yet. Honestly, I’m still thrilled to not be wearing jeans and pants that don’t have stretchy waistbands, LOL. (And, of course, it goes without saying that I feel very fortunate to be able to help by staying home, and I’m beyond grateful for the essential workers on the frontlines!)

To kind of get my creative juices flowing again (using that phrase loosely…), I decided to put together an at-home/work-from-home style sudoku: a style challenge that combines 16 items into 14+ outfits. My work-from-home wardrobe has felt very uninspired so far, and while this style sudoku isn’t exactly groundbreaking in any way, putting it together helped me more clearly consider the garments and combinations I am drawn to right now (and focus my thoughts on something besides the news). Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to put some new arrivals to the test! My tentative plan is to do a style sudoku for every month I’m at home…the challenge for me will be trying to wear as many different garments in each one as I can!

If you’re new to this style challenge, check out my style sudokus from 2019 (January, April, July, and October) for other examples (featuring “real” clothes/outfits) and more details.

When it came to picking items, I just browsed my Stylebook app and added a bunch of comfy pieces to a separate style sudoku “packing list” and culled the items from there. I grabbed a bunch of items that I have already worn to work from home this past month, and I also avoided “nice” items because Rosie likes to lay on my lap while I work and I become very hairy very quickly! I stuck with a somewhat moody color palette, with lots of greys and blacks and a touch of white, navy, and gold. I almost went with a burgundy tank instead of my black tank but switched it at the last minute. It’ll be interesting to see if I wish I had stuck with the burgundy tank instead by the end.

This style sudoku looks different than a regular sudoku because I didn’t include shoes this time; I don’t wear my shoes if I’m just hanging around the house. That proved to be quite the challenge! I ended up leaning on third pieces (cardigans and sweatshirts), my trusty baseball caps, and jewelry to fill in the spaces reserved for accessories and shoes in a regular style sudoku. I figured I should probably keep wearing earrings every once in a while so my holes don’t close up, ha.

As I do for all sudokus, I’ll be breaking down what I wear into three different blog posts over the next two weeks and detail what I did on each day and how the outfit worked for those activities. It is highly likely that my activities will be exactly the same every day, so along with each outfit, I’ll also be sharing three things I’m thankful for. This sudoku already feels very boring to me, and I apologize in advance for that. I’m trying to keep blogging through this uncertain time since it’s an escape for me. I want to be able to look back and see what I was thinking, feeling, and wearing.

Below the sudoku, you can find the details of all 16 items. I’ll be sharing a daily photo of my outfit over on Instagram stories (check out my “Style Sudoku” highlight) and then posting them here after a few days have passed.

FIRST ROW

Everlane cotton scoopneck muscle tank / no longer available; similar options by Everlane: 1 / 2

Zella ‘Live In’ high waist pocket 7/8 leggings (grey) / exact style or similar from Nordstrom

AUrate birthstone stud earrings / exact

Everlane lightweight French terry crew / exact

SECOND ROW

Barefoot Dreams ‘CozyChic’ lite circle cardigan / exact

Madewell wool-blend baseball cap / no longer available; similar by Keds

Zella ‘Live In’ high waist pocket 7/8 leggings (black) / exact style or similar from Nordstrom Rack

Grana pima modal tank / no longer available; similar by Gap

THIRD ROW

Grana pima joggers / no longer available; similar by Old Navy

LOFT striped tee / no longer available; similar from ASOS

ModCloth waffle knit cardigan / no longer available; similar by Patagonia

Everlane baseball cap / exact style or similar from Target

FOURTH ROW

AUrate short beam hoops / exact

Kate Spade ‘One in a Million’ initial pendant necklace / exact

Grana v-neck t-shirt / no longer available; similar by Old Navy

Amour Vert ‘Tatum’ dream rib pants / exact (limited sizes) or similar from Zappos