Another look at Project 333

I've written several posts about Project 333 since I first started blogging about it in October 2012 and, as several readers have asked questions about it, I thought it was time to review what I have learnt.

The first lesson I learnt was that I had a wardrobe full of clothes that didn't fit me, didn't suit me or that were totally unsuitable for my current lifestyle.  At the beginning of Project 333 I had taken all my clothes out of my wardrobe, plus the spare room wardrobe and a multitude of other hiding places.  I made sure that my husband John was out of the way for this exercise as the shock might have been too much for him!

First of all, I divided my clothes into 3 piles: the clothes that I loved; the clothes that I should have discarded months if not years ago; a "Maybe" pile, which proved to be the biggest one by a long way. The second pile went straight into our local recycling bins, which are for a Spanish charity, and then I had to deal with the remainder of my clothes.

My target was to select 33 items of clothing that would form my Autumn wardrobe and put the remaining clothes away until it was time to select my Winter 33. To begin with I followed the "rules" and included shoes and handbags in my 33, however that was a step too far for me, so for my Winter 33 I only included items of clothing. Click on the following link to find out more about getting started with Project 333.

I thought it might be interesting to look at last year's Spring 33.

 

Hmm. Only ten of the above items have been included in this year's Spring 33. A couple of tops have had to be thrown out and there are about a dozen other items that are ready to be brought into action once the weather becomes a bit warmer. Last year I included two summer dresses, as I knew I had occasions where I would be wearing them before I selected my Summer 33. This year I have included a couple of warmer dresses for any evening events that may occur before summer arrives.

It's obvious that there are nine items from last year that haven't been included in this year's 33, so I wondered what the reason was. Comparing the two wardrobes, it became apparent that last year I had twice as many different colours, apart from more neutrals. I have learnt another important lesson from doing Project 333: by limiting the number of colours that I wear, and by choosing colours that flatter me and also go with each other, I have created a far more versatile wardrobe.  This year's Spring 33 will provide me with far more choice and be more flexible than last year's

I have also learnt how useful accessories can be in creating different outfits and changing your look. Here's one simple example: I can wear the navy jeans, green striped top, a pair of flat shoes and casual handbag during the daytime, then change into a pair of heels, add a necklace and swap the casual bag for a smarter one and I'm ready to go out in the evening. This is because I have cheated a bit and excluded my accessories, scarves and jewellery from my 33!

The final lesson that I have learnt is that we really don't need so many clothes. They say that most women wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time: my aim is to make that closer to 100%.