Looking forward

So I'm almost in the final month. 
The weather has temporarily taken a turn for the worst (although we're promised it's going to be back in the 20Cs next week).  I have piles of laundry as my toddler is going through a bed-wetting phase, so it's new bedding most days and the general laundry is getting neglected.  I have run out of clean, casual long-sleeved tops and today was not short-sleeves weather.  So today I wore an item I have ear-marked for Oct-Dec project 333.   I'm not sure about it.  In some ways I love it (colours, style) in others I"m not sure (is it too casual, do I look like I'm wearing a sack?).

I'm becoming much more discerning about what I wear now, as if I'm going to wear an item as a wardrobe staple for 3 months, I've got to love wearing it and feel great in it. 

I have a confession.  There are four items of my Project 333 wardrobe I've not worn or only worn once.  I find this unbelievable.  These items are:

• a pair of black trousers.  I feel that I need a pair.  I wore these all the time prior to 333, but have seriously gone off them and never wear them.  I think it's because feeling good is important to me and, although I didn't realise this when wearing them before, these just don't do it for me.
• a black shirt.  This would be something I wore for work but I've not worn it for two reasons - 1. It's a little bit tight on me. 2. My workplace is fairly casual/smart-casual, so I don't really need it.
• a white shirt.  I've worn this once, for an initial business meeting with a prospective client.   It's another victim of the dress-code in my office.
• my camel-coloured rain coat.  To be fair, I don't feel that the weather has necessitated it.  Maybe once September kicks in...
• now the weather is slightly cooler, I've also stopped wearing my light-weight patterned trousers.  This makes me sad, but it's so much harder to layer up with trousers.

I'm trying to use this to feed into the selection of Oct-Dec project 333 wardrobe, however the only way I've done this so far is to go shopping.  For the first time in 2 months!  In the sale, obviously.

• I've ordered some new black trousers, to replace the existing unworn pair.  These look nice on the website, but if they don't fit right/make me feel great, they're going straight back.
• I've mentioned previously that I have two patterned tops in the current wardrobe that I'm not sure about and don't feel that they suit me, so in the same order I've sent for two plain tops to replace them.  These are short-sleeved and, if they fit/make me feel fabulous, I'm going to replace them in my current wardrobe straight away.  I'm not sure if it's wise to replace in the final month, but I'm hoping (kidding myself??) that I'm building an overall wardrobe that will meet my needs for all the seasons.  I'm also struggling to find short-sleeved, summer tops in deeper colours, so grabbing them when I do find them.

When buying I felt much calmer than in the past.  There was no excited euphoric feeling on placing the order.  The items were in my virtual basket for over a week, until I was sure I was doing the right thing.  This was a good feeling.

Half-way through

As I calculate it, July-September is 92 days, so I've just passed the half-way point.  I thought I'd draw together my thoughts so far.

Overall - I love doing this.  I probably did it before to some extent without realising it, but feel so much more in control of things having a smaller wardrobe with limited options.  It takes out any what-to-wear stress in the morning and as long as I keep on top of the laundry I know I should be fine for pretty much any occasion.

I'm learning about my sense of style (or lack of it!).  There are a number of items in my 333 wardrobe that I don't think suit me, that are limited in what I can wear them with and which will definitely not make it into any future project 333 wardrobes:

• My navy linen trousers and navy sleeveless top that I wear for work.  Navy doesn't really go with any other top/trousers combination in my wardrobe.  I'm not sure it's a great colour for me (much as I love them, blues are not good or "warm" enough).  The navy top is definitely going as soon as the clock strikes midnight on Sept 30th, I'm going to hang on to my linen trousers until I find a suitable replacement in black/brown.
• Patterned tops - I have a couple of patterned tops, in my colours, so red/cream and brown/cream.  They should work.  But I don't feel that they do.  I think it's the style and the fit, but I don't feel good in them.  I'm definitely going to stick to (mainly) plain tops in the future - or at least patterns that I'm comfortable in (stripes have continued to be a favourite, for example).  Life is too short to hate my clothes.
• Shorts.  I don't really wear shorts, I've worn them on holiday and perhaps 1-2 times otherwise.  I'm considering relegating them to the extra items for a holiday wardrobe.
• I'm not going to bin or replace these items now for a couple of reasons.  Firstly because when it comes to Spring/Summer I might be a different size, new fashions may have emerged that I really like, so I don't see much point in buying now for 9 months time.  Secondly because I'm realising that I need specific items, I want to be sure that these items are right for me, I want to feel good wearing them.  I don't want to buy on impulse.  So I'm going to bide my time, keep an eye on what is out there and only buy when I'm sure.  Hopefully in the next 9 months (before the next 333 summer wardrobe is needed) I should have found suitable clothes.

Quality is an issue for me.  Some of the clothes I really like in this wardrobe are very thin and consequentially are quite worn, after continuous use over the past 6-7 weeks.  These items were from the cheap end of the spectrum, I'm not sure if that's the issue or if it's just because they're lighter, thinner summer clothes.  Now my wardrobe is smaller and I'm buying less, I'm starting to think much more carefully about what I buy.  In my head I have a list of colours that are right for me.  I have a list of styles that I think I could probably pull off.  I have a list of clothes I need/gaps in my wardrobe. 

My shopping is now starting in the ethical/fairtrade clothing ranges - places like People Tree, Braintree hemp, Komodo, Namaste.  In the past I've found these clothes to be good quality, wear well and you have some kind of reassurance that they're not being manufactured in sweatshops.   The trouble is, if you're restricting yourself in terms of what suits you, when there are a limited number of suppliers you may not get what you want, in the style you want, in the colour you want, in the size you want.  But I figured it's a good starting point.

I'm still excited about Project 333, I'm putting together my autumn/winter wardrobe already and I'm attempting to be more minimalist around the home also (this may not be immediately apparent to anyone else, but I am...).  As long as I'm not expected to minimalise my number of handbags...

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.