Project 333

Project 333 is the brainchild of Courtney who blogs at bemorewithless.com.  She writes inspiring posts about simplifying everything from your kitchen to your sentimental items.  In September, she introduced the idea of wearing only 33 items of clothing for a 3 month period, October 1st through December 31st.  After reading the post, I knew right away that I wanted to participate, but knowing myself well enough, I wondered if I could sustain that  much fashion 'boredom' for that long.  I mulled it over for a couple of weeks, spent an hour one afternoon writing out a list of all the clothing I own, and finally on October 1st decided, Okay, I'll give it a try.

When I worked through my closet on the day I wrote down my clothes list, I discovered two things. First, I found out that I have fewer clothes than I feared.  Through the years, I've learned what I like to wear, what looks best on me, and how to avoid impluse buying of clothes (most of the time).  Second, I realized that I have more clothes than I thought!  In my mind I thought, "I only have four or five pairs of pants."  Reality check: double that number.  But I wasn't wearing the other pants!  I was cycling through the same five pants and leaving the others in the closet, sad, alone and unworn.  That was lesson number one.

Lesson number two was the realization that I really like the clothes that I wear. They're comfortable and colorful.  They're casual and classic.  They're mostly washable.  I tend to find a pair of pants I like and buy two in different colors and wear them until they fall apart.  I do the same thing with t shirts, but with those I buy them four or five at a time.  Last winter I even did that with a cashmere sweater I found at a great price. I have never owned a classic cashmere sweater, and I have heard people say that they wear their cashmere sweater all winter the way other people wear a favorite sweatshirt.  I loved the teal sweater but my husband preferred the purple one, so I bought both. And I started wearing them instead of my sweatshirt, at home, on errands, to work.  Yes, if I like something, I wear it to death.

When I mentioned Project 333 to The Professor, he thought a minute and said, "I don't think I own much more than 33 pieces of clothing."  He was right; he had a better estimate of what's in his closet than I did.

This link will take you to the first post Courtney wrote about Project 333.

Here is the original post I wrote about Project 333 at the blog I share with my two daughters.

I quietly joined Minimalist Fashion Project 333 on October 1st. When I first read about the project on Courtney's blog BeMoreWithLess, I thought, "Hey, I could do that. No sweat. I don't have that many clothes, anyway." Then I walked back to my closet and took an honest look. I certainly had more than thirty-three items hanging there. So I began to glean and declutter the clothes I obviously would never wear again and dropped them in to a big black trash bag to take to the thrift store.



Here are the original rules for Project 333:

•When: October 1 – December 31 (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)

•What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes.


•What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring, underwear, sleep, in-home lounge wear, and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)

•How: over the next two months, outline your 33 items, by the 1st of October, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.


•What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. If you purchase items for project 333, stick with the one in, two out approach. Consider the essentials and stick to 33.


Now it is October 5th.
I'm posting my list:


1. black dress slacks
2. black capris
3. grey jeans
4. tan jeans
5. navy fleece jacket
6. long sleeved black knit top
7. long-sleeved white knit top
8. navy skirt
9. navy short-sleeved knit top
10. teal cashmere sweater
11. purple cashmere sweater
12. turquoise cardigan
13. print blouse
14. black camisole
15. white camisole
16.-22. various colored t shirts
23. black shoes
24. black flipflops
25. sterling silver earrings
26. watch
27.-28. two necklaces
29. gloves
30. lavender 3/4 sleeve sweater
31.
32.
33.
These last three slots I am reserving for scarves and a sweater that I've nearly finished knitting. Or maybe another pair of earrings (I do love my earrings).
Five days in to this and I'm thinking that because I made my final list last week and started the project when the weather was presenting us with triple digit temperatures I may have over estimated the t shirts and under estimated the sweaters. This week we are having rain, clouds, fog, and temperatures in the 60s. We shall see.

I did add a turquoise fleece pullover within a few days, and I realized that I had not added my tennis shoes to the the list. Even though I wear them for work outs, I also wear them with my jeans several times a week. So, I have 32 pieces of clothing on my list and I'm still holding out for a handmade scarf or sweater.

We are almost 1/3 of the way through the minimalist fashion project, but you can join at any time!  Choose your 33 items and join us!