What to wear? It's a question we all face each morning.
If you've been following me on Instagram, you've seen that my April project was Project333. Project333 is a challenge to only use 33 clothing items for 3 months. The rest would be boxed up. As my husband and I were moving at the end of March, I thought this would be the perfect time to do this project. I read, re-read Courtney's rules on over at bemorewithless.com/project-333 and even attended one of her Q&A sessions. Going into this, I knew I would be transitioning from winter to spring to summer weather. I live in New Jersey and the weather has been crazy lately. I also have a few upcoming trips coming up so I will have to decide if I need to pull other items from my boxes.
Interestingly, I didn't realize that my closet already had it's own color palette so that made it easier. I didn't purchase anything new to add to the closet. Additionally, most of the things I have I've used for at least over a year. At some point, Everlane was like a uniform to me so there's a lot of pieces from them. A representation of what I have in my current closet is in the pictures below though not complete.
Prior to me doing this project, I also read The Curated Closet for inspiration and ideas. I started playing around with what my potential capsule wardrobe looked like via Pinterest. Here's the board that I used which had a good amount of what I already had in my closet. Some of the Pinterest images gave me a few good ideas on how to style existing pieces.
Coincidentally, April also hosts Fashion Revolution Week, which is a call for transparency on who makes our clothes. Bringing my wardrobe to only 33 items opened my eyes to my spending habits as well as the ridiculous amount of resources it takes to produce garments. I prided myself in getting the best deal mostly from fast fashion and I've come to realize that quantity never beats quality.
The Items I Started With + Extra Shoes
1 spring trench coat
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of black Ponte leggings
1 pencil skirt
1 chambray dress
1 blue shift dress
3 black dresses
1 blue sleeveless dress
1 black blazer
2 chambray shirts
3 grey sweaters
1 blue sweater
1 pink sweater
3 formal tops
2 casual tops
2 black tank tops
1 formal sleeveless top
1 t-shirt
3 scarves (counting as 1) ;)
1 pair of boots
1 pair of black wedges
1 pair of casual sneakers
1 pair of flat oxfords
Things I Didn't Include
I didn't box these things up figuring I would need them and they were technically within the guidelines.
Activewear
Outdoor/hiking jacket
Running/rain jacket
Hiking boots
Running sneakers
Underwear
Sleepwear
Home clothes
Project 333: Experimenting with a capsule wardrobe and using what I already have.
I documented my first month on Instagram and will be checking in for the other 2 months. I will write another wrap up after I complete the full 3 months. So far, it's been freeing not to have to worry about what to wear. Seeing a smaller closet has lessened my anxiety. Knowing that I also have a limited wardrobe requires me to put things away immediately less I have a closet full of wrinkled, unwearable clothes. I do also now appreciate some of the pieces I have. I have to admit that I probably have worn some of my clothes a few times or once even. Having a limited amount of clothing has also made packing and traveling easier. I'll write more about how it made packing easier in a later post.
Tell me if you've done #project333 and how it went for you. I'd love to get your thoughts and lessons learned. If you are thinking of doing it, let me know so that I can follow along.
From my experience and probably from every other parent out there, children go through clothing quickly so spending a lot of money on clothes that rarely get worn is not worth it. Think about the COST PER WEAR/USE when buying an item. How much use will you get out of it for the price that you pay? The past few months I’ve learned where to find the best secondhand baby clothes and I’ve listed them below. Buying secondhand is a great way to save money and save resources in the end.