I like to think of myself as craving minimalism in terms of wardrobe size. But for a year now I have been doing a "33" (which is really a 32 because 33 doesn't make a nice box in Excel. But I still call it a 33.) The basic outline for a 33 came from Janice Riggs of theviviennefiles blog.

Having 32 pieces of clothes per season doesn't seem minimal to me when I think of a 10-item wardrobe. However, it does take a certain amount of discipline for me to keep it there.

I have done it five times, Fall of '12, and Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall of '13. The 33 excludes anything leather, scarves, and jewelry. Also outerwear and gear. Also layering pieces. The 33 is basically my clothes for work (business casual) and smart casual.

My 33 for Fall is: 4 black, 4 navy, 4 gray, 4 cobalt, 4 patterned tops, 4 solid accent tops, 4 denim, and 4 print skirts/dresses.

I just realized that the *same 33* is also 4 dress pants, 4 skirts, 4 dresses, 4 blazers, 4 other toppers, 4 silk shirts, 4 casual tops, and 4 casual pants. I didn't plan it that way.

I find that doing this has really helped how I think about my wardrobe. Identifying key neutrals and my favorite accent color greatly enhanced the mix-and-matchability of my wardrobe. Also, when I pick accent colors and prints (which are a new thing for me) I am reminded to pick them to go with my neutral pieces.

An example of how this works is that this summer, I couldn't make khaki pants fit into my 33. So for the first time in years, I wasn't trying to find tops and toppers to go with them that didn't go with anything else. Not to mention accessories.

I do find that when I do WIWs, I go through most of my wardrobe fairly quickly (because I wear several pieces at a time, especially when it's colder).

When I lay it all out like this it makes me laugh because I'm not actually hyper-organized or anything. I just love spreadsheets. I also love the feeling of knowing what I have and how it all works together. I love dropping the items I already have into a little 4x8 piece of Excel and then figuring out patterns and what items would complete the columns.

Do spreadsheets make you scream, or groan, or run away?
Do you utilize spreadsheets for wardrobe planning and if so how?
Have you ever tried a 33, and how did you like it?