I think limiting the number of purchases for a year worked for me because I had spent the previous year re-building most of my wardrobe after losing quite a bit of weight. While it sounds like fun, I actually found re-building very disconcerting since I had to give away most of my favorite items which were now too large and looked terrible on me. The need to find something to wear meant I often ran out to the shops and bought things that fit and looked nice on me, but, when I got home, didn't seem like "me". My new wardrobe was starting to be a mismash of styles. I'd also buy cheaper items, often in multiples, just to have a variety of colors-- for example, the same pants in black, grey, and tan, or a stack of "buy 2/get one free, mix and match" T-shirts.
During this process, I did acquire some items that I absolutely adored; they were usually, but not always, more expensive and better designed pieces that made me feel wonderful when I wore them. That made me think that what I really wanted was a smallish closet full of clothes that I loved and would wear until they were ragged.
I started by pulling out the items that I loved, and then tried to fill in some of the holes with items from rest of my closet. I did a bit of remodeling and redesigning (like ripping off the ruffle that was sewn onto one of my sweaters--my satisfaction at that told me that I need not ever look at anything with a ruffle again!) Once I had a small core group together, I could see that I did have some quite specific likes and dislikes. I figured, for better or worse, that was the beginning of my style evolution. For example, I could quite easily give up dresses but you would have had to tear my straight-legged pants from my cold, dead fingers. The same was true for pumps (toss) vs. boots (mine!)
Personally, I think that, for me, it was the culling down made my preferences much clearer. And wardrobe "holes" became things that I couldn't conceive of living without, such as my dark-wash, straight-legged jeans, a scoop-neck T, a great jacket, a pair of short boots, and a trench coat. Truly, if these things were not in my closet, I'd have a hard time getting dressed most mornings. But, if they were important to my "style", I wanted the perfect ones that would take me every where and make me feel wonderful every time I wore them. So, it made sense to think of any of these as one of my 12 items, if I didn't currently have it in my wardrobe. I also realized I dislike wearing most jewelry, but I always wear a watch. Because I didn't have a watch that I loved, that also became one of my 12 (and I found my perfect Seiko men's watch at a flea market for under $10!)
This is going on a bit longer than I'd intended, but, I think, if you want to try something like this, you need to figure out what you are trying to get out of the process so you can set your own goals and "rules". You might want to give yourself "free passes" if you need certain items to carry you over, or you may exempt certain categories from your number, or set a different number, or use a dollar amount-- whatever seems reasonable to you. If you learn more about what you like and don't like, and, ultimately you are happier with your closet, in my books, you end up winning.
