Project 333 may not be for me(?) - YouLookFab Forum

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Project 333 may not be for me(?)

MovingFashionForward

I thought I might try Project 333 challenge (33 pieces only, for 3 months) for fun but upon looking at my outfit records and totting up how many pieces I've worn, I discovered that in the last 4 days alone I have worn 38 pieces, and I've hardly worn anything from my winter wardrobe yet! Perhaps I'm more a candidate for the world record in number of pieces worn in 3 months?

Anyone else fallen before even choosing the 33 items?

I'd love to hear from anyone who has successfully completed the three months despite starting from a vast and enjoyable wardrobe too!

Sheepishly,

Sarah

Dressing

53 replies

Latest reply was from viva

Anonymous

yes, I have not lasted a day. I dug out some clothes to try a 33 item capsule and realized that I have 15 + accessories alone, was overwhelmed and thought 'this isn't for me' . And I am okay with that, I have other fashion things to think about

Deb

Veteran

I've fallen just thinking about 33 items!
The only time I can think in this frame is when I'm living out of a suitcase while travelling. Otherwise I'd prefer an expansion on that number and to have more options. It will be interesting to read the stories of the people who can manage it. By the by, I hope you and your husband are doing okay.

Susie

Veteran

Well, I haven't failed because I never even tried!

I've been tracking my number of wearings for over a year now so I know that number of items would never work for me. For a 2 month period (Oct-Nov), I wore the following number of pieces:
Pants 20
Jeans 9
Skirts 4
Dresses 3
Sweaters 22
Knit tops 5
Shirts 3
Toppers 5
Layering tops 4
Sweatshirts 3
Bags 15
Shoes 22

That's a total of 48 clothing items, plus the 15 bags and 22 pairs of shoes. That doesn't count any jewelry, outwear, scarves etc. Clearly I prefer much more variety than 333 allows!

Sara L.

Veteran

Does that include just clothes or accessories and shoes? I could never do that if it included shoes. I might be able to limit my clothing items, but I crave variety in shoes and would hate to limit myself to only 2 or 3 pairs.

Anonymous

Why fight it? I think it's wonderful that you have that many pieces that you actually WANT to wear. Celebrate that!
When I had a larger wardrobe I only liked and wore a small portion of it. Enjoy your fab clothes!

TraceyLiz65

(website)

Veteran

After 3 weeks in Ireland I was bored and craving variety...I could never attempt this as I have a love of completer pieces, jackets , sweaters and vests. Don't even get me started on my boot addiction...I deprived myself for years as a SAHM and finally have a wardrobe I love and can express my artistic nature since I am no artist but crave creative expression. I know for others that kind of simplicity is just as comforting as my need for variety.. I guess knowing and embracing our nature is key...

approprio

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, I've looked at this too, and to be honest I suspect it's a bit of a trap. It's such a seductive idea, building up a perfect look around a tiny number of pieces. And then you suddenly realise your life, your tastes, the seasons you live through and all the roles you have to play are so much more complex than that.

But then I came to think that the maybe the sense of the concept is to build capsules around specific looks and silhouettes, maybe even personae, and to use those to shape a more systematic approach. At least, that's what I'm trying to do.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I've tried several capsule attempts in the days of YLF yore, and I eventually got it through my thick head that they are not for me. Or I should rephrase: not when I'm at home and not under any other logistical restraint. It just doesn't make sense to me to have perfectly good clothes in my closet that I'm not allowed to wear. Now, some people are minimalists and prefer a small wardrobe in general which I think is a little different.

Sal

Veteran

I have not tried, but have a growing frustration for some aspects of the capsule concept. I think it is often not about minimalism but about shopping, and that the idea can work better on paper than in reality. I think it would work quite well for DH, as he does dress this way.

I am more interested in buying pieces with longevity for me, that I will love and wear and wear.

deb

Veteran

There is no way I could do it so I have not even tried. You get extra credit for thinking about it, though.

DonnaF

Veteran

IIRC, the Project 333 person did not count EVERYTHING. (And I'm too lazy to look it up.) I would only try this if I were living out of a suitcase or had lost/gained weight or were pregnant or something. Otherwise, I would really want to utilize more of my wardrobe. In addition, I generally pull clothes out of my dryer when they are quite damp and then spray them down to take out more wrinkles. I can foresee having laundry bottlenecks as I wait to accumulate a full load and then waiting for stuff to dry. . .

Kudos to you for trying! Actually, I may only wear 33 items; I've never counted. I bridle at the *rule* aspect, and three months sounds like a long time.

Astrid

Veteran

I think I could do the amount easily, what I would fail at is building a capsule for three months. There's just too much weather change to realistically predict what I would need during that time.

I like what Claire said. It's great that you have so many pieces you truly love!

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

Well, the 33 is just an arbitrary number. The idea is to come up with the right number for you. You may choose to include accessories and shoes in that number or not. It's a project on the self-discovery journey. You make it your own.

AnnieMouse

Veteran

Even as maximal as I am, I kinda love doing a 333 so I have the opportunity to shake myself up and change my patterns.

When I say "maximal," I mean I really get stressed out having to limit myself - I haven't run my November numbers yet, but in October, I wore 54 tops/ jackets, 23 seperate bottoms, and 22 unique pairs of shoes! If I can do it, anyone can, for sure

Kat

I tried and failed! I felt like I couldn't squish my life, including my bike commuting clothes, into the capsule. Maybe because of that, I found that for me, minimalism makes me overly materialistic. I focus and obsess too much on the individual pieces and lose what I understand is supposed to be a liberating feeling of possession clutter. So there you go, I was clearly doomed from the start!

Laurinda

Veteran

If it works for someone, great, but the idea never really appealed to me -- I enjoy my variety.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I've been keeping strict track since mid September, so 2.5 months or about 12 weeks. It was a bit of an unusual time because the seasons changed, but slowly -- so I had to dip back into my Spring/ summer closet for items for quite a few weeks and that might unnaturally expand this short seasonal capsule.

Here's a breakdown of what I actually wore:

7 coats

3 dresses

4 skirts

7 pants (not denim)

11 jeans (different cuts, colours, washes, patterns, etc.)

6 jackets

4 cardigans

16 shirts/ tops

20 knitwear

1 shorts

14 footwear

5 bags

That's 98 items, for a lot less than 33 weeks. Yikes. Clearly I am not cut out for the challenge, either!

Now, I could reduce by a lot. Some of these items only got worn once. But others have been worn 15 times or more in the 12 weeks.

It's certainly interesting to contemplate.

I guess if you take away the bags and shoes we are talking more like 79 items. So it's along the lines of "an item a day." Sheesh. Mo's math would tell me I won't get enough wears from many items here. And she is right. But that is mostly in the tops department. Jeans get a huge amount of wear.

shedev

Veteran

I sorted and photographed my capsule and then decided it was just silly to place most of my wardrobe off limits. My goal is to wear my entire wardrobe.

Anonymous

I think project 333 would be good if it appealed to you on some level, or seemed like fun. A lot of people have junk in their closet that they don't wear, and need a gradual approach to letting it go. This experiment allows them to choose their favorites and box up the rest. Or, some people get overwhelmed by too many choices, so this is a way to reduce the visual clutter and rotate their clothes (when my kids were little, I did this with their toys and they had such fun seeing their old toys again that had been on "vacation").

I feel bad when I read about someone doing a minimalist challenge and it seems they are feeling deprived or enduring a hardship--for no reason, because the clothing is right there--in a storage box! Life is too short! If having a large amount of clothing at your fingertips is a blessing to you, keep it out on display and have fun with it. If you hate looking at too much stuff, then try doing with less. It takes all types, like TraceyLiz said, and we each need to find what works for us. Big hugs, Sarah! <<>>

thimblelina

(website)

Veteran

Yes, what Claire said. People need to exercise their free will. If you like your stuff why wouldn't you use it and enjoy it? Conversely if you hate your stuff, why wouldn't you let some of it go & figure out why you ended up with stuff you hated? People CAN live with far fewer clothes & personal effects than the average 21st century North American possesses. We all know that. Doh! But it doesn't mean any of us, personally, have to go to some arbitrary extreme to prove a point. I'm kind of flummoxed. I've had a really small wardrobe over the years because I was authentically completely caught up in other projects and other modes of expression. I had no clothes because I never thought about, shopped for, or spent money on clothes. Why would someone dick around with hours & hours plus dollars and dollars devoted to acquiring a bunch of clothes only to then not use them? What am I missing here?

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I don't normally read GOMI but was having a browse there recently and on the thread discussing the blog Un-Fancy there were some posters that made great points about this recent idea of minimalism that really isn't minimalism. It's become this buzzword that bloggers can use to draw traffic because then people feel like they're doing something different, but if you're always obsessed about the perfect item to add to your capsule, then you're just as caught in materialism as much as you always were.

It's like someone brilliantly said on Claire's recent post about domino effects after changing one piece/category in your wardrobe, a wardrobe is something to be constantly managed, not a problem you finally solve and then you're done forever.

Deborah

Veteran

I admire you. I don't like numbers and I just can't think about doing something like this

catgirl

Veteran

I can see how this would be limiting but also educational if you stuck with it. But how did you wear 38 pieces in 4 days? Curious!

Anonymous

@Laura, you are SO right. Just because someone has a small wardrobe or is a minimalist, doesn't mean they're free from materialism (or envy, or greed, etc.) *cough* You can worship "stuff", but you can just as easily worship "minimalism". Ask me how I know this!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Good thoughts here.

One of the things I'm trying to figure out for myself this year with tracking actual wears is how many items I feel comfortable owning for "just a few" yearly wears.

My closet is not tiny by any means any more; it's moderate to lightly padded, I'd say, for my lifestyle and 4 season (or 6 season) climate. But I know for a fact, without tracking, that I DO wear all my clothes. I know every item I own, never "forget" about stuff, and suffer from none of the hallmarks of an "out of control" closet.

What I also know, from even a few months of tracking, is that special occasion items are not the only items that might only be worn five or six (or even fewer) times per year. I definitely have a few button up shirts, a few sweaters, and a few pairs of pants that fall into that category also.

So the question is, do I keep them, or get rid of them to create a more streamlined wardrobe? (Or, more likely, in my case, to replace them with some pretty new distraction, LOL.)

Knowing when you've reached your own person "just right size" wardrobe -- that's the trick. And it's not easy!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

The closest I'll ever come to a 333 is a virtual one. Which, ironically, I just created in stylebook, a couple of days ago. I do find it amusing, but as soon as I'm done, I see all the pretty, fav items that didn't make the cut, and move on. Like most here, I don't see the point of setting aside things I already own, just because. I think it does make sense to help guide packing, or starting over, but not much else.

And just to fess up.. I did create packing lists in stylebook to track what I actually wore in each "season". Late summer/early fall, which was pretty much september and October, I wore 75 items, 14 were footwear, 2 belts and one scarf. My 333 wouldn't count shoes or accessories, for obvious reasons :). And in November, I wore 53 items, 10 of which were footwear and one belt. (Hmm, interesting. I guess semi tucking took a backseat this fall).

Ya. Not for me!

ETA. Oh yeah, and this does not include my evening/weekend at home outfits of lululemon yoga pants with tees and hoodies. (I know, I know....).
Ya. Not for me

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Sarah I am always thrown by how people get on their high horse about the limited number of clothes they wear. I love what Claire said above (and I am obviously and absolutely not talking about her!). If you have beautiful clothes in your closet why shouldn't you wear them! To do otherwise is just a waste of good clothes and enjoyable experiences. I think these experiments have their place for people that want to challenge their creativity like AnnieMouse suggested above, but other than that I think it makes more sense to think about being more deliberate about adding to your closet rather than limiting your use of what is already there.

Dee

Veteran

I've never done a 333 challenge explicitly, although I have packed for some long trips in that spirit. I think the worst part of doing it everyday would be my latent guilt over everything left hanging up and unable to be worn during the project.

I have carried on for longer trips (4-6 weeks, and 30 items is probably the high end of what I'd pack) multiple times so when not faced with the guilt factor but dealing with the limitations of a small wardrobe, I've learned a few things. I've found I'm happiest when my clothes:
1) are comfortable. I'm never going to want to reach for things that I don't find comfy.
2) are in line with my style goals. When traveling, that tends to be looking put together but a little more subdued in terms of color and pattern than my daily wardrobe, because it tends to hold up better in terms of photos.
3) mix and match well with each other. Again, sticking to a limited color palette works well here, and I don't vary my silhouette as much. Although bringing two dresses in different styles can go a long way for breaking up my denim related boredom.
4) can be dressed up or down with accessories. I'm not talking black tie, obviously, but a wide range of smart casual looks and maybe one cocktail dress can cover a lot.

I always find it hard the first week because I feel limited, but by the second week, I enjoy putting together pieces in ways I might not have thought about previously because a different item could be grabbed instead. And by the end of a month or so, it does feel more streamlined because I've gotten a good idea of what works together and how I enjoy wearing certain pieces. When I get home, I often find myself feeling overwhelmed by all my options and don't end up wearing as many "new" pieces as expected.

Anyway, sorry for rambling a lot, especially since I can't say I've successfully done the challenge. I wanted to give some idea of why working with a limited wardrobe can be nice, even starting from a larger wardrobe.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Sarah, I haven't tried the 333 project, but I love your idea of instead trying to see just how many items we can wear in 3 months!

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