I am a wannabe minimalist. I crave space and openness and light. I don’t want to see crammed bookshelves or overflowing closets in my home. I want as little room taken up as possible. I want to live with less because that kind of life is appealing to me.
Over the past few years, I’ve bought into consumerism and the buy-buy-buy phenomenon. Shopping has become a drug to me, something to do to make me feel better. Yet I swipe that credit card and a hand grips me deep in my stomach. I don’t get a high from shopping, I don’t even particularly like it all that much. (Being at the mall usually puts me in a bad mood.) As much as having new things and wearing the latest trends is nice, it’s not the kind of life I want for myself.
As I mentioned in a post last week, I long to live a frugal life because I want to. Yet I’m getting caught up in what I should be doing, not what actually feels right in my heart.
So, now, for the next three months, I am going to dress with just 33 items. Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge that urges people to whittle down their closets and jewelry cases to just the bare necessities. Undergarments, loungewear, pajamas, and workout clothes are excluded but everything else is not. This challenge also includes accessories such as jewelry (though wedding rings and sentimental jewelry that you never take off are excluded), shoes, and any other accessories, such as purses, sunglasses, scarves, etc.
I thought the easiest time to do this would be in the summer months when all my winter clothes are put away and I’m already down to the basics of my wardrobe. (Always give yourself the best possible avenue to succeed when you’re trying something new!)
Thankfully, I work in a very casual office where I could wear jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops every day if I wanted to. So this was very helpful when creating my new wardrobe.
When creating my 33 items, I made sure to pay attention to clothes that made me feel really good when I wear them and not frumpy or awkward. I knew I wanted the majority of my wardrobe to be shirts, that I don’t wear jewelry at all, and would only need one purse throughout the challenge.
So, I whittled it down and was left with the following:
– 2 pairs of jeans
– 1 pair of shorts
– 19 shirts (vary between dressy and t-shirts)
– 2 dresses
– 1 skirt
– 1 purse
– 1 pair of sunglasses
– 2 cardigans
– 1 pair of black flats
– 1 pair of TOMs
– 1 pair of flip-flops
– 1 pair of black sandals
I started this challenge last Tuesday and have already noticed a change in the way I view picking out what I’m going to wear for the day. My closet was never stuffed full, but there was always an array of dresses and skirts and nice tops and t-shirts and should I wear this cardigan with that shirt or should I wear those shoes with that dress… with a limited selection to pick from, it’s made mornings go a whole lot smoother. I know the clothes that are hanging in my closet are ones that I love and make me feel good, so there’s no trying on shirt after shirt and discarding it because I “feel fat” in it.
Right now, it’s been nice. I enjoy the extra space in my closet and the limited selection. And with the next three months being focused on not spending money on anything unnecessary, it folds in nicely with that (since I don’t plan on buying any new clothes to supplement my wardrobe for the next three months).
It’ll be interesting to see how this changes my outlook on how I want to present myself and dress on a daily basis. Who knows where it will go from here, but that’s another blog post for another time. For right now, I’m going to enjoy my new minimalistic closet and the freedom I’m finding in fewer choices on a daily basis.
What do you think – could you whittle your closet down to 33 items to wear for 3 months? Have you ever participated in Project 333?
I love this idea. I’m not sure if I can do exactly this but I challenge myself to make due with what I already have instead of going out to buy. It’s worked but I did buy 3 new black shirt/dresses to go to Paris. Glad I did though since they really do don’t wear a lot of color! My closet before that looked like a bright rainbow.
It was hard whittling it down to just 33 – especially when you add shoes and accessories to the mix! And I’m wondering how I’ll do in the later weeks when I’ve been wearing the same rotation of shirts for weeks! We’ll see.
I tend to go crazy when I have a trip planned for vacation clothes! I totally went overboard with my latest vacation, so it’s something I have to watch out for. Three new black shirts/dresses is tame! Ha. 😉
I saw this on Ashley’s blog when she did it and was very intrigued! Can’t wait to see how it goes for you! Maybe I will partake some time. I just bought a whole bunch of NEW clothes though! But I bet on a regularly basis I don’t wear more than 30 – 40 items (not counting my workout stuff).
Once I started paring down to the clothes I really, really like and feel good in, it was fairly easy to whittle down to my 33 things. It gets harder when you add jewelry, shoes, & accessories to the mix, though! I have a tendency to buy clothes on a whim, so I think this challenge will really help me focus on making do with what I already have. Would love to see you to try it out sometime!
I feel like this would be easy for me because I’m under this impression that I don’t own a lot of clothes and where the same stuff everyday. But of course I haven’t actually COUNTED anything so who knows. I probably have and wear a lot more! I don’t have a problem with buying clothes — since I’m overweight, I don’t really like to clothes shop. But I think it would help me be creative in what I wear and how I put outfits together. It’s definitely an idea…
I was really intrigued by this idea because I know I don’t have a ton of clothes and wear probably half of what’s in my closet anyway. So it was interesting because I filled up almost an entire garbage bag of clothes to keep out of sight for these next 3 months! (And this is after filling up 2 garbage bags of clothes to give away a month ago!) It made me pare down to the clothes I really love, which is making dressing for the day such a more enjoyable process!
I think I could whittle it down to 33 items, excluding shoes and underwear. It would definitely be a challenge though! I’ve followed a lot of other bloggers who have done this and they always find it really worth while, so I’m excited to hear what you think throughout the next 3 months! I’m a wannabe minimalist, too. I definitely think I have the ability to get there, I just need the time to clear things out first haha
Ah, but shoes are included! That’s what tripped me up. I had my 33 items and then I was like, CRAP! I need shoes, too! Haha. So I had to get rid of 4 more items to fit the 4 pairs of shoes I wanted to keep. I’m just glad I don’t wear any jewelry because it would make the challenge hard! Whittling it down wasn’t too difficult, but it wasn’t super easy either.
You can definitely do this! I mean, I’m lucky because I don’t need a whole separate wardrobe for work clothes. I keep it casual. So I think this challenge would be a lot more difficult if I needed to dress business professional Monday – Friday!
Wow! That’s so awesome.
I didn’t realize that’s what Project 333 is about.
Um, could I do this? Quite possibly, yes.
It would be hard for me and I might even get bored with the clothes, but since I wear a decent amount of the same things over and over again, I suppose it makes sense. I have been really good about getting rid of things I don’t wear/don’t need each season, so maybe I could try this someday…
I worry about getting bored with my selection, but I think it gives a solid base to work with for now. I think I’ll probably stick with a minimalist closet when I’m done with the challenge, switching out clothes as necessary. But it has made me feel so much lighter and happier with my clothes! I really recommend trying it.
Ooooh! I like this idea. Sometimes I like to be trendy, but more often I find it tedious and anxiety-producing. I may have to try a challenge like this…I think I’d do well 😉
I am SO not trendy, ha, so I think that’s why this challenge is good for me. Cutting out clothes that serve no purpose – or worse, make me feel frumpy – has been such a great experience. But I’m only 1.5 weeks in. We’ll see how I feel about limited choices further in the challenge! 😉
I love this project, and I loved it when Ashley did it too! I’m fairly certain that when I open my overwhelming closet I likely already only choose from about 20-25 things anyway, but I’d be curious to see how difficult it is for me, especially because I just kinda like HAVING the options.
I do need to do something like this in terms of my spending. I LOVE buying new clothes, I’m fairly certain I could make a living spending money on clothes (LOL) but alas, I am not rich, and I do not want to be so materialistic, so maybe I’ll try some form or other of this project too!
Best of luck!
I am curious to see how I feel about having limited choices further into the challenge. As it stands, I haven’t reworn any outfits (only 1.5 weeks in!) so I don’t know if I’ll get bored as the weeks go on.
One option for you is something I picked up from The Joy of Less – if you add something to your wardrobe, you have to give something away. Then once you do shop for new clothes, it can only be do replace anything already in your closet. It really makes you question if you really want something! Just a thought. 🙂
I do not think I could do this… Maybe if it was temporary (I wasn’t sure if it was or if this is something a person continues to do going forward). Mostly I would struggle because I have invested a lot of money in my work clothes as 90% come from Banana Republic and I buy them with the intent to wear them for years to come! But I could benefit from paring down my wardrobe. I feel like I am kind of wearing the same things over and over right now as I don’t like to wear skirts or dresses with running shoes as I look ridiculous doing that!
Project 333 is anything you want to be! It’s essentially a challenge, so it’s living with a more simplified wardrobe for 3 months. Who knows what I’ll do once my 3 months are up… I do know the creator of Project 333 lives with a her 33-item wardrobe to this day (I think she started the project in 2010) and manages to make it work. For me, I don’t know just yet. I’m only 1.5 weeks in so I’ll have to see in a few more weeks when I’ve been wearing the same clothes over & over again! For me, it’s a challenge to really pay attention to my spending habits as it relates to my wardrobe and be mindful of shopping for things I don’t actually need. (Although I *do* think it would be harder if I had to dress business professional on a daily basis!)
I don’t know if I could do this, but I really like the idea of not having to worry about clothes that make me feel “fat” or frumpy. I have probably 20 tops that I like the idea of, but I hate them on me. I waste so much time re-trying them on hoping that my body shape has changed and the top will magically look amazing on me. I’d like to try the challenge just to avoid that happening every morning before work!
I think you should! The challenge itself is 3 months long and if it turns out, you had having such limited choices – then now you know! I just know my closet was getting out of control and I was buying things on a whim and wearing clothes I felt so frumpy in… I needed a drastic change. It’s a crazy challenge, but one I’m enjoying so far!
(And by “had having such limited choices”, I mean “hate having limited choices”. Must learn to spell check more frequently.)
I love this project and am interested to see what you say in 60 or 90 days about this challenge. I think I could do this because I only wear about 20-30 things anyway! I can’t wear jeans to work though, so probably 3-4 of my items would be work pants. Luckily it doesn’t include work out clothes because I go through a lot of those (probably 3-6 shirts a week)!