Project 333: Minimalist Wardrobe Challenge
Dress, Shoes, Belt, and Scarf
There is no way to be a true Minimalist Woman without some consideration of the Minimalist Wardrobe. I’ve posted previously about getting rid of two-thirds of my wardrobe and enjoying the resulting extra space and easier maintenance. Now, this did not mean I had a truly minimal number of clothes, but simply two-thirds of a weight-swinging pack rat’s number of clothes. The frugal element was also at work, because as an article of clothing became unwearable through use or accident, there would still be something in the closet to replace it. That was last winter. Now I am taking advantage of a 100 Things-type challenge, called Project 333. This is the brainchild of Courtney Carver, the blogger-goddess at Be More With Less. Those who accept the challenge are to select 33 items of clothing and wear only those items for 3 months, from October 1st through December 31st. If you’d like to challenge yourself, get on over to her site and sign on, as we’re ready to roll on Friday of this week.
The real challenge is what Courtney designates as clothing–it’s not only tops, bottoms, and shoes, but also coats, hats, gloves, sunglasses, scarves, and jewelry! The items which get a pass are one’s wedding ring, underwear, pajamas, workout clothing (and only for workouts–don’t you dare wear those sweatpants to the grocery store), and at-home lounge wear. Thank goodness for that last bit, as I love my bunny slippers and would hate to give them up for three months! I actually thought it would be a snap to select 33 things for a minimalist wardrobe, since I pretty much live in jeans. But it was hard. Where I live, the temperature range between the start of October and the end of December can be from 90F to -10F. Plus, there are the holidays and dressing for events that can range from picking apples to champagne galas. Well, maybe not the gala but I don’t rule out apple picking. For someone who doesn’t hold down a 9 to 5 office job or have much of a social life, I still had a strong drive to cover any possible situation that might arise, rather than just planning for what I know I’ll need. Project 333 is not only minimalism but anti consumerism: you can’t buy any clothes for the duration of the project, either.
The no-shopping deal isn’t a problem. So far this year I have bought one pair of jeans, two white t-shirts, and one pair of sandals, all of which replaced worn-out items, and all bought at extreme discount thanks to a combination of store coupons and half-price sales, totaling just under $48.00. I am quite tall and have never found jeans long enough at a second-hand store. My feet are narrow and arthritic, so I need to be fussy about fit, support, and comfort. The white t-shirts are well-made and of Pima cotton, and came out to $3 apiece after all the discounts. I did not plan any clothing purchases this fall or winter. Life at Chez Minimalist Woman is simple. We wear jeans and t-shirts and sweaters. My husband, noticing my raised eyebrow before we left to go to a party, said, “But I’m wearing my best flip-flops.”
Uncluttering is one thing, but further reduction of what remains can really bring home the definition of being materialistic. It’s not only spending money, but even acquiring cheaply things you want rather than need, under the guise of saving money. It’s also materialistic to hang on to everything you have “just in case.” I had twenty years of “just in case” crammed into my closets until last winter. Starting on Friday I will have only the things relevant to Here and Now. That is a good rule of thumb for living the simple life: Here and Now. In the Here and Now I work at home and the other aspects of my life are equally casual. My needs are for comfort, ease of care, and layering for extreme changes in weather. I no longer require or even want the clothes I needed in previous work or social roles. So here are my 33 Things:
- Black wool cape/ruana
- Denim jacket
- Black wool beret
- Black leather gloves
- Black faux leather tote bag
- Sunglasses
- Wool challis paisley scarf/shawl
- Large off-white block print scarf/shawl
- Small silk print scarf in black, cream, grey, and rose
- Tan fitted menswear-style vest
- Large silver hoop earrings
- Silver rabbit pendant
- Pearl stud earrings
- Oversized fisherman knit turtleneck tunic sweater
- Black wool V-neck cardigan
- Off-white cotton V-neck sweater
- Tan V-neck sweater
- Grey well-worn wool tunic sweater
- White cotton tunic shirt
- Blue chambray shirt
- Grey turtleneck
- White t-shirt
- Black long sleeve t-shirt
- Wide black braided belt
- Black tank top
- Black jeans
- Skinny jeans
- Everyday jeans
- Blue plaid Converse sneakers
- Black low heeled boots
- Black loafers
- Black oxford pumps
- Black longsleeved polo-shirt dress
The addition of that last item, the black longsleeved polo-shirt dress (it’s the dress in the picture above), was inspired by my friend Christianna Pierce of elegant simple life. She has a Minimalist Wardrobe project of her own, The Black Dress Challenge, where she will wear the same (washable) black dress every day for the month of October, varying its look with accessories. It will even see her through a fairly formal occasion. If that’s a challenge more to your liking, hurry up and sign on, as that starts on Friday, too. Anyway, her project made me rethink selecting a skirt for Project 333, and after trying out my old black dress with various scarves, sweaters, t-shirts, and a vest, I realized I had an excellent multipurpose garment on hand. My lifestyle is not conducive to wearing dresses all day every day, but I will wear my Black Dress frequently this month! Bonus: I’ve got orange and black striped tights, so I’ll be ready to rock on Halloween ;D
Anybody else up for the challenge? Or just talking clothes?
chiaruscuro
23 Responses to “Project 333: Minimalist Wardrobe Challenge”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Leave A Comment...
-
RSS Feed
Subscribe in a reader Books
Minimalist Photographer
I signed up for the 333 challenge, so was very happy to see your lift! I quit/retired seven months ago after 34 years of working in the professional world, so guess what clothes I had mainly – work clothes and a few tired, old weekend grubbies! A few weeks ago, I gave away all of my work clothes with the exception of two of the more casual skirts that can be worn with riding boots…which I don’t own yet. I went to a thrift store and purchased three pairs of jeans for working around the farm – mowing, painting, general upkeep of this old place. I can wear the old jeans with old sweatshirts…which I don’t own yet. I have several pairs of dressy jeans and pants that I can wear with tanks and sweaters and jackets…which I don’t own yet. I do have a lovely black sheath dress. I suppose I can wear that to the mailbox… I’m not doing very well.
Hey, Meg it sounds like you have far less that 33 things! If so, more power to ya. I’ve promised myself to “clean up” a little more often, and even if it’s just a trip to the grocery store or the coffee shop, put on the dress for a change. You, on the other hand, probably couldn’t wait to get rid of the professional clothes. The skirts sound good, though.
Better get shopping, so you can get the boots and sweaters and jackets you really like
…happy to see your “LIST”….not “lift”…
Hey Meg,
Your list looks both well-thought-out and mix-and-matchable. I’m glad the black dress made the cut! Did it take a long time to winnow down your list to these 33 items?
I love how you have styled and arranged your ensemble in these two photos. I hope you’ll be posting frequent photos throughout the challenge.
And thanks for the mention of The Black Dress Challenge
Christianna
Christianna Pierce recently posted..Let Your Life Dance Lightly
Christianna, it took me a week to winnow down from 40 to 33, and I’m giving myself until bedtime tomorrow to swap something for something else. The hardest part was the jewelry. I don’t wear much jewelry, but what I do wear are like talismans to me, each piece part of the day’s mojo.
The photos, as always, are Steve’s, and he did the arranging as well. I selected the items and laid them out in a straightforward way, then told him to do whatever it took with those items to create a good composition and photo. I knew he would
Photos of myself in my clothing, however, will be much harder to come by!!! Maybe just the outfits….
I love this idea. I am going to sign-up! I loved seeing your list. I had already been working on a blog post about challenging myself not to buy any clothing this winter. Limiting myself to 33 items totally fits with the theme. Now I have to come up with my list. I wonder if it would be cheating if I only pick 30 items and leave myself some room for items that I may have forget or didn’t think of?
Carrie recently posted..Cloth Napkin Twist
Hey, Carrie, I know what you mean about leaving a little wiggle room, but I think the idea is to commit all the way, right from the get-go. You’d have to check with Courtney about that. As I said to Christianna, I had the hardest time minimizing my jewelry in spite of the fact I don’t have much or wear much, but I dearly love what I do have.
So great you’re going to join in and especially challenge yourself not to buy more stuff you don’t really need. I went shopping with my mom and dad today, as my mom needed something special for her 60th high school reunion. They kept encouraging me to pick out a little something for myself, too, but I stuck to my guns, and cheerfully said that I really didn’t need anything, and in fact was trying to get rid of stuff. Yaaaaayyyyy!!!! ;D
Great list! I’ve been culling my closet since I first read about Project 333. Limiting my shoes has been a challenge, but I think by the end of the day tomorrow, I’ll have my final, final list ready.
I’ve been surprised by how many work clothes I no longer wear that are still in my closet. I stopped working 9 to 5 in 2004, yet still have a lot of office clothes. As a professor, I still choose to dress professionally (some colleagues choose otherwise!), but I’m usually only on campus 3-4 days/week. I don’t need the same amount of work clothes as I did pre-2004. It has been liberating to realize and act on!
I look forward to reading more about your Project 333!
Hi Beverly–oh SHOES! Tell me about it–that was about as hard as narrowing down my jewelry. I can also relate to a closet full of clothes that are no longer relevant. The professorial wardrobe reminds me of when I taught–at first I took great care to dress like a professional. But by the last semester of my 3-year teaching career, when I was also in the midst of renovating a 150-year old house, I just showed up in my jeans, sweatshirt, paint-stained sneakers, and a bandana wrapped around my hair. Real elegant ;D But it didn’ hurt at all–if anything, the students had a good laugh and relaxed, especially the guys.
Good luck on Project 333!
Your wardrobe sounds tres chic, Meg! And this post inspires me because I’ve often felt it’s harder for women than men to pare down to just a few items. Clearly, you’re able to do it with a flair for accessorizing. (And I can just picture you in your black cape, tall and statuesque!)
I’m happy to read about your just-in-case-itis (which I wonder if it’s more of a female thing…). I’ve been working on how I deal with this ever-so-real challenge in my life. And maybe I should restrict it to life and death, or rather, health concerns. First aid kits, earthquake emergency kits, etc. Most things really can be let go with little consequence.
Belinda Munoz + The Halfway Point recently posted..ALL CLEAR- FeedMedic Alert for thehalfwaypoint
My just-in-case-itis came from growing up on a farm in the 50′s and 60′s, one that was not too far away from a town, but far away enough to warrant a goodly amount of self-sufficiency. My mother to this day lives in fear of tornadoes, spider bites, frozen water pipes, and farm machinery accidents. Of all of those, there was only one farm machinery accident in 5 decades, and it turned out just fine. But growing up under the influence of that mindset results in the same mindset, and is very very hard to shake off. In myself it manifests as Stocking Up with giant packages of toilet paper and canned goods, etc. I’m now weaning myself off of the stocking up habit. But there’s still a nice supply of Emergency Stuff!
hi meg,
i think i could do this. after what i just did w/my fall wardrobe on 5 basic pieces, 33 sounds doable. i’m going to consider it. thanks for sharing your very chic list.
~janet
Hey, that’s great, Janet–the more the merrier! Post your list when you get it done, I’d love to compare it with mine
Hi Meg! Thanks for your recent comment on my blog.
33 items sounds doable since I don’t have that many clothes and my daily “uniform” is black pants and any top I feel like wearing (my wardrobe is mostly black with touches of nude and gold, so quite easy to mix and match). On the other hand, limiting my shoes will be a challenge. 
The no-shopping deal won’t be a problem for me because I don’t like shopping for clothes.
Oh shoes are so hard, aren’t they??? I’ve always been one to wear a different pair than I wore the day before, both for comfort and to conserve the shoes (and never for fashion reasons, oh noooooooo ;D ).
Hi Meg!
I just came across your site and this post caught my eye… I travel a lot, and have always had such a hard time picking just the few clothes I would wear for weeks (months, a year…) at a time. What a challenge! What seems a bit of a shame to me is that to make it work, the reflex tends to be to cut out all colour, so that everything will match. Don’t get me wrong – I love the simplicity and elegance of black & white, but doesn’t it seem a bit sad to lose out on all those beautiful colours?! That is always the hardest part for me, anyways…
I love that fact that so many of you are doing this just because of the awareness it will bring you, and it is making me want to go weed out my closet – right now!
Thanks for the inspiration
Hullo Rose, and thanks so much for stopping in!
The color issue for me was accidental, since those are the colors I have been wearing my entire adult life: black, white, denim, khaki, with occasional bits of red or purple. I’ve tried to break out of that rut many times, but always end up going back to the old standbys because they suit the way I live and my coloring and physique and there’s rarely any problem with matching or clashing colors. The other advantage to basic pieces in black is that even inexpensive ones look pretty good if they aren’t faded from washing.
That being said, scarves, tanks, and t-shirts are the color guards (you’ll note I’ve a purple tee and 3 scarves for this project). They’re inexpensive and take up little room in either the closet or the suitcase. When I last traveled I took with a great big red, pink, and purple print silk scarf with a beaded edging that was so darn cheerful it made everything else I was wearing just part of the background. Turned out to be practical, too, shielding my delicate neck against the stiff spring wind on the North Sea coast
I’m into minimalist lifestyle just very recently. And after clearing clutter around the flat, I jump to the wardrobe part and this is really most liberating, especially for a girl, I think!
I just want to say your 33 items are really inspiring. Too bad I discovered Project 333 too late and couldn’t start with everyone.
I’m thinking, after I’ve filled my wardrobe with the basics, I might start on my own too. ;P After all, it is the spirit that matters!
I put up a list on my newly opened blog of what I think my wardrobe should contain, do drop by and comment!
Good luck on your three months!
Emma recently posted..Wardrobe planning
Hi Emma–don’t let being late stop you, go on over to the Project 333 post on Courtney’s site and let her know you’re participating! As you say, it’s the spirit of the thing and giving it an honest go.
We’ve had hot weather here for a week, and it was hard to get through with only the black tank top and the one short-sleeved tee. It’s back to sweater weather now, and I might even get to wear the skinny jeans tucked into boots next week
Heading over to your blog now….
This is the inspiration Ive been looking for! I recently quit my job and joined my husband in retirement. I’ve been looking for a simpler way to live -this is it – I’m going to sign up today – if not too late, and get my 33 item wardrobe started! This should be interesting!
I tried to cut down my wardrobe to half of what I had but had a hard time. I live in Oklahoma with such weather extremes that I have to have a varied wardrobe. I did get rid of clothes that did not fit or I had not worn for ages. I am not buying any more clothes at this point as I recently retired. I just need to keep some good clothes for substituting and going out. My basic wardrobe now consists of jeans, chinos, tshirts and cardigans. I love it.