You know you’re minimalist when you have to go back to get MORE clothes for your Project 333. If you aren’t familiar, Project 333 is an experiment in keeping a simple wardrobe. You choose 33 items to wear for three months. Everything else gets packed away until the end, at which point you take a look through and, ideally, get rid of most of the things you didn’t wear.
I have a friend who would not do well with this project. She might be able to swing a Project 333 in which you can choose 33 items for 3 days. You think I’m exaggerating. I am not. She’s an unapologetic fashionista. I greatly enjoy the things she does with hair, makeup, clothing, and accessories… but damn, I have helped her move three times now and it’s a lot of stuff! (Much love to you, you know who you are!)
Anyway, I went through my closet and picked out the clothes I wear most. Wardrobe decisions have followed an interesting and varied path in my closet…
- Backwards hanger method – Whatever is still on a hanger after a set amount of time goes bye-bye. I did sell a few items on ebay after a year but I confess that some are still in my closet. But they will be going away.
- Feelings method – How does each piece of clothing make me feel? Fat and frumpy? Dump it. Fabulous? Obviously keep. Sorta short but I love it? TBD.
- Doctor Who method – Only wear outfits that I would be comfortable being caught in should the Doctor appear in his TARDIS to take me away. Don’t laugh. Good method.
- Ex method – What would I like to be wearing if I run into an ex? (Note that Doctor Who is more important than this)
- Free-boob method – What can I wear without a bra and still look and feel good in my outfit?
#5 is a very serious new twist in my life. Without a bra, I cannot wear loose-fitting tops with reckless abandon, all tunic-style and flowy. Nope. Boobs. Can’t do it. (Check out the next post for photos on how to wear work-appropriate outfits without a bra – I think I’m pretty stylish!)
So I have arrived at Project 333, something I have long wanted to do but never really felt like doing. After all, my wardrobe is only around 50 items (I’ll do an accurate count after Project 333 and the subsequent purge), so it’s not like I have a clothing habit to fight off. But it’s a new challenge and something I’d like to try! Here’s what I am wearing:
- Black dress
- Brown dress with polka dots
- Brown dress with flowers
- Green dress with flowers
- White and black patterned dress
- Orange and black paisley dress
- Jeans
- Jeans
- Jean shorts
- Black capris
- Khaki capris
- Grey tank
- Pink tank
- Black tank
- Black tank
- Black tee
- Green tee
- Green/brown/black empire waist tunic
- Purple button-down
- Brown button-down
- Grey button-down
- Blue cardigan
- Brown cardigan
- Black cardigan
- Cozy sweater
- Black vest
- Purple pashmina scarf
- Black flip flops
- Sneakers
- Purple flower hair clip
- Celtic pewter earrings
- ???
- ???
I’m not counting underwear, socks, pajamas, gym clothes, or my volunteer uniform.
Project 333 begins now!
Have you tried a wardrobe challenge? How did it go?
Caitlin Liz Fisher 
Look at you with not even 33 items! haha you’ve GOT this! good luck 🙂
On my first count I had like 19. I laughed at myself and got more clothes. 😀
I’ve not tried project 333 but I suspect that I’d also struggle to find 33 things!
I think it will be fun! And a great excuse to get rid of more stuff 🙂
I don’t have enough clothes to do the Project 333, I looked at it once and was surprised that there is a charge for joining,Did you join or are you doing this on your own? I like the Dr Who challenge, never heard of that but I think I would fail horribly as I tend to live in work clothes, which for me are covered in paint. 😉
I am just doing it on my own! 🙂 Hey, paint is a look!
That it is 😊
Never got around to it, but I should really count the clothes I wear most of the time. Sadly we have weird seasonal changes here, clothes dry slowly and I wash only once a week, so this could be a bit of a challenge in winter (maybe if I counted tights as socks …). In the middle of summer, no problem at all. What kind of climate do you live in? I guess I’d leave at least two slots open for spontaneous special occasions (last minute holiday to region with different climate, or invitation to a fancier party than usual). Love the idea of the Doctor Who method! Though husband might get jealous 😀
I’m in Cleveland. It’s hot right now so I’ve just got summer stuff on rotation, but to be honest with the addition of leggings my wardrobe stays the same year round!
Rather than 33 items, recombine items to create a dozen outfits. For example, 3 shirts and 3 pants can be recombined to create 9 different outfits.
My wardrobe lends itself well to that idea. I just wanted to try out the Project 333 to help myself identify clothing that can be discarded. Good tip though!
I wondered about seasonal too. I live in Iowa and by no means do I wear the same things in the winter that I wear in the summer. Footwear, sweaters etc, all change. My plan is to rotate 33 items for the season. Hope that counts as doing it correctly.
Yep, Project 333 is using 33 items for 3 months at a time. You can rotate your items each time 🙂