Reflections so far

So, I'm back from my holidays.  The weather was lovely, warm and mostly dry, so in the end I didn't wear some of my "back up" pieces, I went to a launderette and did some washing towards the end of the break (and the added bonus was that there was less laundry to do when I got home). 

It was interesting, some of the things I took with me really didn't work, so they've gone to the charity shop (I'm starting my own collection there...), other things which I've kept in reserve reserve position I've now decided I'm not going to wear again (wrong colour, fit, etc) so they've either been transferred to the "gym clothes" pile or again, off to the charity shop.

I've also had a good look at my wardrobe and I think I've made some rookie errors, especially with trousers.  I have two pairs of summer trousers that I love, one brown/cream, one red/pink and black.  I'm wearing one pair now, they are perfect for weather like this, hot and clammy UK summers.  As work is smart-casual/casual (depending on the office I'm in) I can make these work all week.  However, there are only a limited number of things I can wear them with.  The brown trousers - I have a brown work top, another top which is not suitable even for the casual days at work and that's about it.  Other tops don't go or it would be a case of pattern overload.  So realistically, that's one item, only one outfit.  The red/pink and black ones are slightly better, but only because I have three different, un-patterned black tops (vest, short-sleeved, long-sleeved) I can wear with them.

So, although I'm going to persevere for now, I'm going to keep that in mind going forward.

Speaking of going forward, I'm been thinking of the next stage - that is, October-December Project 333.  I still have a wardrobe full of clothes (I have no room to put the non-project 333 clothes out of sight, they're just in the other side of the wardrobe being ignored), so I thought that one way of whittling them down would be to give some thought to what I'm going to wear as we move into autumn-winter.  This can obviously change, but I'm made a start.  This time, so far, I have plain trousers (see above) and a few tops/tunics/dresses with accents of a number of colours, so it should be easier to mix and match.  At the moment I'm not including hats/scarves/gloves, or vest tops that will be worn for warmth only, plus I'm going to have bonus items of a warm cardigan (we have friends who have no heating, so I like to be prepared) and a Christmas jumper that will only be worn for a couple of weeks in December.  To be honest, as this next wardrobe is much more versatile, my options seem huge and I might cut it down further, either before or during.

But, a lot can change in (over) two months, so I'm going to focus on the current wardrobe for now.  Patterned trousers and all.

Day three of cheating

So, this is the third day of my holiday.  So far I've worn two of my "cheat tops" (those that were not in the original 33 and are designated "holiday only") and I've had a revelation.

I don't like wearing them.  I don't think they suit me, I don't feel good wearing them.  I find it odd that after only a week of doing 333, where I originally found it so tricky to select what was going in the minimalist wardrobe I can have such a strong reaction to a couple of pieces I've left out.  But maybe it's because I like the clothes I've selected so much that it's a reaction against all the things I kept because I thought I should like/wear them, they were the right colours, etc.

Whatever it is, these tops are going straight in the charity bag when I get back.

They're coming to get you...

I am a marketer's dream.  In the past, if I see there's something new out there, I want to buy it and try it.  I love online shopping and it seems that every time I buy something, the shop puts me on their mailing list.  So at least once a day I get an email telling me about the latest offer, latest sale, spend £30 get £5 off, free delivery today only, extra 20% off selected sale items.

Today was the final straw:
"R - you need new clothes" was the subject heading.
And yes, it worked.  I opened the email.  I really don't need those clothes.  Then it made me cross.  I'm as in charge of my own behaviour as anyone else, but the blatant hard-sell, implying my current clothes weren't good enough, was a step too far.

So I'm going to (attempt to) remove myself from mailing lists.  I don't want to be tested all the time, tempted by the latest "bargain".  I have enough clothes.  If I need something specific I'll research it and buy that one thing (ideally good quality, ethically sourced - if I can find something in my size/colour that I like) rather than buying cheap rubbish because an email tells me I need to.

Holiday cheating

I know I've been doing this less than a week, but I need to schedule some cheating.  I've checked the rules, and I'm allowed.  The problem is that I'm going on holiday for 10 days (hooray!) but won't have access to a washing machine (boo).

When on holiday I really don't want to be driving around trying to find a launderette.  I also know that, while I don't mind wearing the same pair of trousers a few days in a row, I'll want a clean top each day.  This is because:
a - I'll be in the south of England, so the weather could be sunny, warm etc as it has been generally for the past few weeks (so potential to get hot and sweaty)
b - or it could be torrential rain (so I'll get soaked through) 
c - I'm planning on trips to the beach where everything (usually) gets full of sand
d - I'll be with a small boy who frequently ends up wearing his food (and therefore, often, so do I)

So, my wardrobe has 5-6 tunics/tops that are suitable for non-work activities.  That leaves me with needing 4-5 days-worth of tops.  I've chosen these:

It's not a great view, but I have:
- a beige linen dress - I don't wear dresses often (hence it's not in the 33) but I like this one enough to take on holiday as an extra
- a striped beige/green tunic - I love this top so much, but it's not in the 33 for two reasons.  1 - I'm not sure stripes do me any favours.  2 - it's actually a maternity top.  I'm not pregnant and couldn't justify choosing a maternity top as one of my 33, but I'm looking forward to wearing it (once) next week
- a brown t-shirt/tunic.  I like this a lot, but there were limited things it would go with in my capsule wardrobe, so I left it out
- a beige t-shirt.  I'm actually not sure if this is going to make it to the end of the season without being sent to the charity shop.  I like the thought of it, but I'm not sure it suits me.  This is make-or-break for this t-shirt...
- a long striped vest.  I'm not convinced stripes look great on me, but I'm on holiday, so don't care (albeit briefly)

In a strange way, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with wearing clothes outside of the 333 capsule wardrobe.  I think I'm worried that I'll like it too much and give up, or I'll not actually wear many of the extras (despite having the opportunity) and then I'll have no reason to save them from the charity shop.  I'm feeling merciless - I've sent two bin bags-worth of clothes to the charity shop this weekend.  There's at least one more bag of potentials, but because they don't quite fit, I'm delaying the decision and putting them in the "decide later" pile.  But when it's clothes that I have worn and loved, it's a bit more tricky...

First proper challenge: laundry

So, my first proper challenge on Project 333 (if you don't count changing items on day one, which I don't) is laundry.
Even though I live in a house with two other people, one of them small and messy, we seem to be on top of the laundry so far this week, no overflow of laundry basket, no small boy having run out of summer shorts and t-shirts.  The laundry basket is half full.

We're going away for the weekend tomorrow and I've done some packing, an outfit for tomorrow evening and warm/cold options for Saturday and Sunday as you can never tell what the weather is going to do.  I then looked at what to wear today and I'm struggling for options - maybe the pair of jeans I've not packed (too warm)?  The black and white striped tunic (it's a short-sleeves kind of day)?

My entire wardrobe (that isn't packed) seems to be in the laundry pile.

I think it's because I've had a work-casual week, I've not worn smart-casual/smart clothes to work, so they're still in the wardrobe, being completely inappropriate for another working-from-home-to-get-this-report-written day.

Fortunately (not really, but...) said small boy wet the bed last night, so at least one laundry wash is going on.  So my wardrobe should be restored.  And I have resorted to not-leaving-the-house "in-house loungewear", at least until I go out at 6pm.  When it should be cooler enough to wear jeans.

The Men Who Made Us Spend

Just watching this on the ways we're persuaded to spend money on stuff we don't need.  I'm as guilty as anyone for wanting nice stuff (although I'm always trying to get the best deal on it). 

It's looking mainly at technology, but fashion is similar - it's so disposable, especially in the time of cheap fashion (Primarni and co).  The pressure to wear the right kind of jeans, for example.  A few years ago it was all about bootcut jeans (which I liked) and/or low-rise style.  Then it was all about skinny jeans (that make those of us with wider legs look like parsnips wrapped in denim).  Personally I'd rather wear what suits me, but once something is out of fashion it's much more difficult to get hold of (and some will ridicule you for wearing "nanna jeans"). So it's easy to fall into the fashion trap.

In the past, I've done my holiday clothes shopping in Primark, worn the clothes for 2-3 weeks, then just left them there so I had less to carry home (or more room for souvenirs) and because they were already falling apart.  I would never dream of doing that now - I'm not sure if it's because I'm more aware of where these clothes come from (and the conditions that they're made in), I'm too tight to pay out for clothes that have such a short shelf-life, or I'm getting older and just can't wear cheap fashion clothes any more...

I'm now trying to take the approach that it's better to buy something of quality rather than a number of items that I don't like as much and aren't as good quality (although good quality doesn't always mean ethically produced).

And leading from this is another reason why I'm doing Project 333 - I want to wear good quality, (where possible) ethically sourced clothes that suit me.  It's so much better to have a smaller wardrobe like this than a packed wardrobe, full of tat.

The first hurdle

Unbelievably today, the first morning of the challenge, I have fallen at the first hurdle. 

Today is a working-from-home day, but also take-three-year-old-to-nursery day and nip-to-the-shops-if-I-have-the-time day, so casual clothes seemed about right.  The weather is glorious here, so jeans didn't seem appropriate.  It was then that I realised that if I wanted to wear one of my patterned tunics (which I did), I had no light-weight, non-work trousers, as the ones in my 333 wardrobe are patterned and would look really wrong (there's looking good with less and looking like you got dressed in the dark/have lost all sense of style).

So I've now included a pair of linen, grey/beige (very thin stripes) trousers.  They look good!  I'm substituting them for my crocs, which will only be worn around the house or at the beach (now I'll have to stick to that...).  I am also stupidly excited about this, as said trousers didn't fit a few weeks ago.

Hopefully I can manage a few more days without another substitution...