The numbers game

How many clothes do you have in your wardrobe - including clothes hanging up in the spare room, or tucked away in drawers or in under-the bed-containers? Don't worry: I'm not going to ask you to count them all! In a way that was a hypothetical question, but the next one isn't.

How many of these clothes do you actually wear on a regular basis? I know that when I started doing Project 333 I was shocked at how many clothes I had that I hadn't worn for a long time. I understand that there are some women who buy clothes and never wear them - although that isn't me.  When I buy new clothes I usually do so because I love them, so I wear them fairly frequently. However over the years I know I will put on some weight, plus fashions have changed so some clothes begin to look dated, or they start to look a bit tired particularly if they weren't expensive in the first place, which is why these clothes have been put away and forgotten about.

At the beginning of Project 333 I had a fairly major clear-out, so in theory most of the clothes in my wardrobe now are ones that fit me, suit me and are in good condition.  As I said, this is in theory. Being over 60 is another important factor, as certain colours that suited me when I was younger don't look as good against my ageing skin. Since starting Project 333 in October 2012, I have made many changes to my wardrobe and feel that it is gradually becoming more versatile and that I'm wearing most of my clothes on a regular basis.

10 neutral items of clothing with colourful accessories

In the picture above, there are ten neutral items of clothing taken from my wardrobe.  The five tops can be worn with either the navy jeans or charcoal trousers, which gives me ten possible combinations. Add the striped jacket, light grey cascade cardigan and navy cascade cardigan into the equation and I now have thirty  different outfits; giving me a month's worth of clothes. Please note that I haven't even mentioned the accessories, which give me even more permutations!

The idea of Project 333 is to limit yourself to 33 items of clothing to cover 3 months, or one season of the year. I guess that means that you could have a total of 132 items of clothing, however some things will be worn in more than one season, which will bring the total down. Where we live in Spain it is very hot during the summer months and it can be very cold during the winter months, which means two totally different wardrobes. However Spring and Autumn are transitional seasons so, for example, I have some clothes in my Spring 33 that I wore during Winter and I will introduce a few clothes from my Summer 33 when it becomes hotter in May and June.

Janice of The Vivienne Files recently blogged about this topic and she ended up with a total of 90 garments: 45 for the warmer months plus 45 for the colder months. Janice explained that in Chicago they only have two seasons. If you click on the link above you can see how she has calculated her total of clothes needed for the year.

I've had a quick look at the clothes that I've worn over the last year and have added in recent purchases. This gives me a total of 60 items of clothing, however I suspect that there are clothes lurking in other places that I've managed to miss out so I am probably nearer to Janice's total of 90 garments.  Do you know how many items of clothing you own?