My wardrobe has gone from this:
to this:
Okay, that doesn’t look that dramatic. How about some math?
This:
Minus this:
Equals this:
A few weeks ago, I was reading my good friend Kat’s blog, and she mentioned briefly that she was doing Project 333. I Googled it and was intrigued. Thirty-three items of clothing for three months? I wanted to know more, so Kat emailed me all about her experience and what her 33-item wardrobe included.
The guidelines of Project 333 are simple: 33 items of clothing for three months – including jewelry and shoes, but not including running clothes, PJs, or in-home lounging clothes.
THIRTY THREE ITEMS. Including shoes! And necklaces! And earrings! It took me nearly an entire day to whittle down my wardrobe, probably something to do with my ‘helper’:
(Keeping it real with the messy floor. Ahem. Not my stuff.)
Let me be honest: I AM TERRIFIED. I texted Kat a few times while I was doing it, whimpering texts about how scary it was to only have a few pairs of pants and shirts to wear. I’m on spring break this week – but next week when I go back to work and have to actually wear nice clothes? Nervous!
I imagine this will curb any ‘retail therapy’ urges that arise – how can I buy anything when I have SO MANY CLOTHES in plastic bags shoved in the top of my closet? I know that having fewer choices and less stuff makes me happier – so I’m hoping this wardrobe situation will prove the same.
I’ll share more with you over the next few months – what the process was like, what my wardrobe includes now, and how it goes – both the good and the bad. I might also do this with Gabe. If I’m feeling particularly impulsive-slash-crazy again.
This is way more crazy than that time I gave up buying new clothes for a few months. What am I thinking?! Here goes!
Very interesting idea. I recently gave a bunch to Goodwill and I still have probably 30 shirts, so I’m trying to wear them spaced out rather than the same ones over and over. Good luck, may the odds be ever in your favor. ;)
very interesting.. I think it would be a good exercise for anyone! Though I would probably not include my jewelry since I don’t have a ton of it and it doesn’t take up much room. Scarves and shoes, though would count. Hm.. intriguing. I might have to try it this summer. We’ll see! Best of luck. Looking forward to updates!
Same! But I am a rule-follower, so I narrowed myself to one pair of earring and two necklaces. :)
This sounds so interesting. I’ll have to read up on it. I might consider doing this. You can do it, Ashley!!!
You should do it! Thanks for the support, Heather. :)
Wow, I just cleaned out my closet, but you’re making me look like a slacker! ;) Good luck, I’ll be curious to hear how this goes!
Haha. I felt like I didn’t have THAT much…but I still have two boxes of maternity clothes AND two boxes of seasonal clothes in addition to all my stuff in my closet. Crazy!
Such a good idea! I have way to many clothes in drawers, closets, hiding under the bed, and thrown carelessly on the couch. It makes me feel overwhelmed and I don’t even wear 90% of it. I might try this!
EXACTLY! This is why I think I might possibly be okay. I was sad to hide all my pretty shoes and pants and skirts – but if I’m honest with myself, I hardly wear them, anyway!
I’ve seen this and similar challenges before and am always intrigued. The only problem is I have to wear suits to work, which I’m not going to wear on weekends or after work, which limits the whole mixing-and-matching thing. I do really want to whittle down my closet, though, so attempting a modified version of this would be good motivation.
Yeah, you should totally do a modified version! I think the extreme nature is part of the fun, really.
If I do it for Gabe, I might do a 43-item challenge…because he changes his clothes so much and makes a mess. :)
I have heard of this project before but it sounds like it would work best for a SAHM type. As a working woman in an office setting I have mostly an entire different wardrobe for work alone. However, the prospect of saving money and doing less laundry is amazing. I would assume the clothes would wear out quicker though so would you would have to replace items more often?
I find the workout clothes don’t count to be humorous. So what prevents one from going crazy with buying workout gear then? ;)
Keep us posted on how this works out!
If you were SAHM, then your clothes might all count as ‘in home lounging’ and you could have as much as you want! ;)
I think it could be more challenging for people with uniforms – because you can’t really wear parts of scrubs on the weekend to relax – but I think most people probably could do with less than they think, which is the point, I imagine. :)
I think if something wears out, I’d replace it with another item in my stashed wardrobe instead of buying new items…but who knows? We shall see! :)
Ooh, this really appeals to the pioneer/minimalist in me. I’m sure you’ll do great!
closet cleaning is my Lenten clean out project for the week… i’m curious with these stubborn post-pregnancy pounds if i can even find 33 items in my spring/summer wear from two years ago.
I can’t wait to follow your journey!
yay! i’m excited for you! i plan on blogging about my experience as March ends and then I’m going to do it again for april to june so we can compare notes! I have honestly loved only wearing a few things. and as some people have commented it’s harder if you have a strict work “uniform” but i’ve found that even my “professional” wardrobe is pretty casual and could easily be mixed-and-matched with jeans for a casual outfit. maybe though I don’t dress professional enough at work?! ha!
I think this is a really cool idea and I hope you will blog your progress. I will definitely read more into 333 and might have to take the challenge myself! Thanks for sharing.
If anyone can do this, you can. Go, girl!
I hadn’t yet heard of this project, but knowing that too many choices is overwhelming and a limited number of choices actually makes people happier — I’ve SO thought about doing something like this. I was at a weekend event once where Gwen Bell was also in attendance and I remember her talking about how few things she had packed. I think about this idea and traveling and how I ALWAYS overpack. I think what I need to do is something like this — eliminate the excess. Love this, very inspiring :)
I really like the idea of this! I’m incredibly interested in seeing how it works and what your thoughts are as the time goes on. I really need to do a wardrobe purge. This could be the incentive I need, thought I don’t know that I could go down to 33 items.
You should take pictures of your outfits each day so we can see how you work it all out!
Woah! This is crazy and awesome and crazy and cool and…wow! I’m excited for updates on this!
I am kind of doing this at the moment but not through choice! Luckily my work is very lax about what I wear (apart from if there are important meetings on) so due to me being tight with money and not wanting to buy new clothes whilst pregnant my work and my casual wardrobe seem to have merged into one! I am living in my leggings and long tunic tops and my boots. Although with the weather getting nicer I might start wearing little ballet pumps soon. I have loads of jewellery but seem to have worn the same necklace and earrings for about a month now. I was actually saying to the husband the other day that I was sick and tired of wearing the same clothes over and over again! We have a programme hear called Goks Fashion Fix and he says that women only need a 26 piece capsule wardrobe for everything and that includes shoes, handbags and jewellery. Not sure if I completely agree with him but the makeovers always look good at the end of the programme!. Good luck with the project and can I just say that your “helper” seems to get cuter everytime you post a picture of him!! Oh and I agree with Ashlie that you should take pictures so we can see how you work them out.
I have been really interested in doing something similiar to this for so long now! Good for you! You always seems so organized.
I think I really am resisting going over my clothing because I need new and hate shopping.
Best of luck ~ looking forward to reading about how it goes :)
Impressive! Interested to read about how it goes.
Scary at it may seem but that is a great idea. I think it will teach you discipline on when and how to spend your money when it comes to jewelries and clothes. I’m thinking if I should do the same thing. hmm. Looking forward to your posts about it. :)
I read about this a few months ago, before we moved to Korea, and it definitely helped me pack for the big trip. I left some clothes at home, but I got rid of a LOT of clothes through donation or garage sale-ing. What I brought I’ve had to get Really creative with — and I am thinking about making a blog to follow my minimalist fashion puzzle that is my South Korean closet. Good luck with this, looking forward to hearing how it goes.
I love it! I can’t wait to hear more about how this goes.
This is the moment I realized everyone owns more clothes than me.
I haven’t gotten new clothes since Jay was born and I don’t wear jewelry.
33 items? Pretty sure I don’t have that many. (Except random old clothes that don’t fit anymore from ages ago.)
Hm.
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OOOOH! The intrigue!
33 would work for me, definitely. I would do the 50-piece challenge I’ve seen elsewhere (Ms. Minimalist, maybe?) for Jonas! We go through so many clothes…
I think I’m going to do this for the summer. I’ll pack away my obviously winter things (even though we really didn’t even have winter here this year.) and go for it. If I don’t go looking for something, it’s clear I should get rid of it.
This is awesome. I’m slightly interested in pulling this off myself. If I weren’t pregnant, I’m pretty sure that I’d do it. But since I am, I’m going to have wait on this one.
I have been inspired to have a garage sale, though….
Thank you and good luck!
Those transitional times of life are hard. I had a box of maternity clothes AND post-nursing clothes after I had my son. It was crazy amounts of clothes I just couldn’t wear!
It’s a really really cool yet scary project. Where I live the weather changes a lot: we went from heat wave to winter temperatures to warm in just a few days/weeks. What do you recommend in that case?
I am going to try doing this… very excited. Except, I’m not sure I even have 33 items in my wardrobe that I would even want to keep. Ha ;)
hi! I’m moving continents and recently had to give away/whittle down my stuff! It was scary but it’s an amazing feeling, knowing that what really matters is being with my husband and that I can live with so little stuff.
I know you started the Project 333 over a year ago, but I had to find this post because I’m starting the project this week! Wish me luck!:)