Round 2: Project 333 October-December

 At the beginning of September I started to daydream about my autumn-winter project 333 wardrobe.  I hadn't actually made a conscious decision to carry on, but it all seemed to come together so easily it seemed a shame not to.

So I looked at what I had (I have a much better autumn-winter wardrobe than spring-summer) and it seemed so easy.  I've kept a few items that didn't make the cut, either as potential substitutes or because I really like them and can't justify getting rid quite yet.  I've carried out a few items from the previous July-September wardrobe (long sleeved t-shirts, work shirts, jeans) and I think I'm there.

Knitwear (8)
I don't like to be cold, so have lots of knitwear.  Two big cosy jumpers in black and purple - love these for non-work or even work if it's really cold.  Three cardigans in purple, brown and black - for both work and play.  Three jumpers, again for in or out of work, in deep red, black and teal.

 


Work shirts (3)
I didn't wear my work shirts much during the summer, but it's good to have them in case I actually have to look the part and as an extra layer under a jumper...

Casual tops (5)
Realistically, these are the tops I'll be wearing most of the time (and two from the previous project 333 wardrobe).  I really like them now, but who knows how I'll feel by Christmas.

Dresses (2)
Yes, I know, I don't wear dresses.  But with leggings (not counted) and boots I'm going to risk it

Trousers (6)
I'm going for two pairs of denim jeans (one blue, one black), two pairs of cotton jeans (I didn't know you could get jeans in non-denim fabric and still call them jeans, but apparently you can) in black and brown, which can be worn for both work and home, and two pairs of strictly work trousers, in black and brown.

Non-coat jackets (3)
These are extra layers for when a cardigan just isn't enough.  Good for work over a shirt/jumper combination when it's cold but not cold enough for a big winter coat.  Good to just pull on as you leave the house or take with you just in case.  I seriously love these.  I've had one for nearly ten years...

Coats (2)
No picture as I've not dug them out yet, but a have a very warm brown knee-length coat by www.Braintreeclothing.co.uk that I bought at the Greenbelt festival a few years ago.  As well as this (and depending on what I'm wearing underneath) I have a black cape bought from M&S last year that I love.   Some people are saying that capes are the big thing this year, some people make jokes about batman.  But it is truly the warmest, easiest thing to wear that I have ever owned.

Footwear (4)
Again, no picture.  I have over-the-knee black boots which I love (they were part of my first wedding outfit and I've been saving them for "best" until project 333 made me realise that if I love them I should wear them) which I will wear with the dresses and made the longer tops if I'm feeling brave.  I have almost-knee-length brown boots which I normally live in.  A pair of shorter black boots for wearing with trousers (I don't subscribe to the idea of short boots with skirts, I would feel ridiculous) and some work shoes (probably black).

Which makes 33.  It seems like a lots of clothes.

I've stuck mainly to browns and blacks as base colours because black is easy and I like wearing it and brown suits me most.  But I've also tried to bring in colours that suit me and go with most others, so hopefully it won't be a complete disaster.  

I'm bending the rules slightly as I've decided not to include leggings and vests as in the winter they are basically underwear.  I'm not including jewellery as I don't wear much in winter and if I do it will be a special occasion.  I have also not included hats, gloves and scarves, because it's winter.  I definitely have more clothes than I did in summer, but have justified that as it's colder and I'll need more layers...

So here we go again.

Project 333 July-September: the conclusions

So I've completed Project 333 in the summer - 3 months with only 33 items of clothing/footwear.  It was actually fine.  I learnt a lot.

1. I learnt which clothes I actually didn't like/feel good in (you'd have thought that I'd have been able to figure that out on my own, wouldn't you) and I subsequently got rid of those clothes.
2. I learnt that while doing project 333, it makes it very tricky to have more than two "basic" colours - for example, I had black, brown and navy but these weren't easy to combine and I ended up with a couple of items of clothing that could only be worn in one outfit - which is not great when you're trying to be minimalist.  And the main selling point of project 333 (to me) is that theoretically most things in your wardrobe can be worn together (taking the hassle out of deciding what to wear in the mornings). So that's been taken forward to next time.
3. I was reminded that clothes actually wear out.  I feel really stupid saying this, but I suppose I've bought clothes with such regularity (or to be fair, my size has fluctuated) so I've not had nearly as much wear out of clothes as I should have.  In fact I can tell you the last time an item of clothing wore out for me - it was a pair of linen/cotton maternity trousers that I worn non-stop through 1.5 pregnancies.  They literally fell apart so I could never again.  It was really disappointing as they were great trousers, but I certainly got my moneysworth out of them.
4. I learnt that fashion is a pain.  In my head I know roughly what colours and shapes suit me.  I look for v-neck or scoop neck tops - but high neck/slash neckline/round neck are the main styles in the shops.  I like bootcut/wideleg trousers (apparently currently the height of unfashion) but the shops are full of skinny jeans/cigarette trousers(??)/ jeggings - all of which make my legs look like parsnips.  I like brown - I needed to replace my brown cardigan - but could find nothing.  A search for brown brought up items in wishy washy taupe, or beige or camel, not chocolate brown.  Brown is obviously not in fashion.  (I eventually found one, but only by going to a specialist cardigan website that fashion had missed).  It is usually eventually possible to find what you're looking for, but it takes ages and many frustrating hours searching the web.
5. I learnt that I'm a creature of habit.  On a slow day this week I thought about my hypothetical project 333 wardrobe for spring-summer next year - lots of things in the wardrobe are very similar to those in this time.  I will properly segregate "holiday clothes" as shorts and sandals were really only worn for 1-2 weeks, I will replace a few items (the navy coloured clothes, for example) and will probably treat myself to 1-2 new things (if they suit me...) that turn up in the shops next year, but other than that, I like what I have.  *I have actually bought some summer shoes in the sales this week, as I really felt that I didn't have any "nice" shoes to wear outside work - I'm just sorry I'll have to wait another 6+ months to wear them*
6. I have found it liberating to get rid of a load of clothes.  I didn't think I would, but I did.  It is joked that I have my own collection at the local charity shop.
7. I've learnt that although I occasionally need smart clothes for work, it's not that often.  It's a bit annoying having to include smart work clothes into the wardrobe when they only worn a handful of times, but I guess if my projects changed their could be a greater need in future.
8. There are still some clothes I can't part with.  These are often dresses and skirts.  I'm not a dresses/skirt person, although I've worn both in the past.  I also have a number of posh-ish dresses that I need to keep hold of as my company has black-tie events twice a year and it's bad form to turn up in the same outfit twice (if you're female, obviously.  It's compulsory to wear the same outfit again and again if you're male...)  But back to the dresses and skirts.  I think I'm hanging onto them as they are definitely dresses/skirts I would wear if I were to wear dresses/skirts.  So they sit behind the wardrobe door that I seldom open - now that I can view my entire project 333 wardrobe by opening one door...
9. I learnt that I want to do it all again.

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.