Project 333: Week 2

Well, week 2 is finally over, and it was a little harder than week 1. I didn’t break the rules, but I also didn’t take pictures every day, or find it as enjoyable this week. In fact, it was a little more stressful. There were a few times I was in a hurry, and I sort of panicked as I looked at my tiny chunk of options. I would have loved to go to my dresser and grab a sweater, but I couldn’t. Also, I’m having to do laundry a lot more often. I don’t have as much of it to do, but I’m having to do it more often,  because if I don’t I’ll run out of things to wear! Maybe I just didn’t do a great job at picking out my 33 items. There are some I’m wearing a lot more than others–there’s even some I haven’t worn at all yet because I keep repeating the other ones.

I did at least take 3 pictures:

I lost interest in taking the pictures throughout the week, because I was just too busy AND because some outfits I literally just threw on. I do have one positive thing to say though. That magenta shirt in the middle was kind of a wildcard choice for me. It was an impulse buy several weeks ago, and once I got it home, I was too afraid of the bright color to wear it. I normally stick with dark and neutral colors, but I forced myself to put it in my 33, and I actually felt really good in it! So I will be keeping it around for a while. It’s a little more dressy than what I normally wear, but I feel more like a 30 year old in it than I do in some of my other clothes, which is good. It’s definitely a great option for parent/teacher conferences and things of that nature.

I feel like I still have a long way to go before I stop caring so much about clothes. I genuinely love them. I see them as an artistic expression. It probably doesn’t appear that way, because my clothes are not necessarily “artsy”, but I do feel an attachment to them when it comes to expressing myself. One thing I’m noticing is that this is teaching me to value each item more than I did before. So whether or not I decide to do this again, I think it will help me to choose quality over quantity in the future–to not buy something unless I can really see myself wearing it a lot. I already feel like there are a lot of clothes I’m more ready to get rid of now, because they just don’t seem as valuable to me anymore. That is definitely a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, I’m still purging all the closets and cabinets in my house, and getting rid of tons of stuff! I can’t stand clutter so it feels really good to finally let go of so much.

One step at a time.

Project 333: Week 1

I finally made it through the first week of this Project 333 challenge! Sometimes it was easier than I thought, and sometimes it was harder than I thought. Halfway through the week, it really hit me that I have to stick with only these items for an entire 3 months. So, I still have about 11 weeks to go! I started to question whether or not I chose my items well, and I already began to feel bored with what I picked out. How sad is that? I came to the conclusion that I’m just going to have to stop caring so much about what I wear. Part of me struggled with that thought, because I’m like, what’s wrong with caring about what I wear? I had to really give myself a talk, and realize that it’s okay to care about what I wear. It’s okay to care about what I look like. The problem is that I care too much.

I will admit that, so far, this has been somewhat freeing. I have spent so much less time thinking about what I’m going to wear. I have not stood in front of my closet, staring at my clothes, going through each piece over and over again, and eventually melting down because “I hate everything I own” or because “I look hideous in everything”. While I’ve already felt the sting of being a little trapped, it has been nice to just go to my closet, put something together, and walk out the door. I thought that taking all my options away would be really scary, and it still kind of is. But, it is also a stress reliever. This week, I didn’t waste a bunch of time going through several options over and over again. For an indecisive person, narrowing all the options way down may actually be a huge help. Also, when I do wear something, I feel like it’s really me. (For the most part) I tried to choose items that speak to what I want my style to be, but I also threw a couple in there that I wanted to experiment with. So I think I will have a look every now and then that’s out of my comfort zone, but for the most part, I think this will help me define what my personal style is so that I stop buying random pieces of clothing on a whim and then never wear them.

So, here are all the outfits I chose from Tues (the day I started this) – Sunday:

Week 2 starts today, and I’m looking forward to getting more creative with all my pieces.

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In other news, we decided to clean out our kitchen last week! We got rid of anything that isn’t useful to us or that we just don’t like anymore.

This is only some of it, as we actually got rid of several boxes worth of stuff. It’s hard to believe that all of that was in our cabinets. Before my kitchen made me feel stressed, but I love being in it now. There’s so much more counter space, everything is organized, there’s no more clutter, and no more ugly coffee cups. I feel very motivated to keep simplifying and purging. On to the next room!

 

 

Project 333

A long time ago, I was researching capsule wardrobes and came across Project 333. It sounded really interesting to me at the time, but I didn’t really feel ready to take it on. Coincidentally, I randomly watched a documentary about The Minimalists on Netflix yesterday, and they mentioned Project 333. Suddenly, I felt ready to take the leap.

I’ve been thinking about and admiring minimalism for such a long time now. I read blogs and articles about it frequently. I’ve never had the guts to jump in and actually do it, but of course, being the overly ambitious person that I am, I decided to dive right in with my biggest weakness: my wardrobe. This is admittedly not the best idea, but I’m a go big or go home kind of person when it comes to the things I’m passionate about.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Project 333, you basically go through your entire wardrobe and choose 33 items or less that you will wear for 3 months. This includes shoes, jewelry, and accessories but excludes lounge wear, workout wear, and underwear. To some, this may sound really easy. To me, it sounds extremely hard. I am the kind of person who thrives on options and possibilities. I admit that this idea makes me feel a little trapped and boxed in. However, I also feel that it’s worth it in order to rid myself of this unhealthy obsession.

I place so much of my value and my worth in the way I look. I am not a shallow person, but I am a very insecure person. I am also an introvert, and it takes people a lot of time to get to know me. I think somewhere in my subconscious I feel that it’s easier to just wear who I am on the outside, so that I don’t have to go through the trauma effort of letting people in. Letting my walls down is an enormous fear for me. I make sure to have a nice, protective coating on the outside to keep prying minds away. So in many ways, it is a defense mechanism.

I also believe it is a creative outlet. I am a very creative, artistic person. I am my own canvas. I get bored with things easily and tire of my clothes very quickly. I need a new adventure, a new look, a new outfit to match my feelings. You would think a creative person would just create something new with what they have. Instead, I want the instant gratification and the excitement of buying something new.

Lastly, I am a perfectionist. I am never really good enough in my own eyes. Yesterday’s outfit is not as good as today’s and today’s won’t be as good as tomorrow’s. See…it really has nothing to do with my clothes, but with my own distorted view of myself. I don’t love who I am on the inside, so I try to fix it by being something special on the outside. Unfortunately, neither is ever good enough. I’m hoping to change that this year.

So, right now I’m going to show you all 33 items that I’ve chosen to wear for the next 3 months, and then each week, I will show you the outfits I put together every day that week. No, this is not a fashion blog, but I need to do this for accountability! I’m already going in knowing that this is going to be harder in cold weather, because I have to factor in outerwear and also because I normally layer a lot in the winter months.

(P.S. It is a total coincidence that my first 3 month challenge ends on my birthday. I don’t know how I feel about that.)

My 333 Winter Collection

15 tops, 2 dresses, 3 pants, 6 shoes, 4 cardigans, 2 coats, and 1 jacket = 33 items.

I’m not going to lie. This was hard. I specifically remember reading that it’s okay to tailor this plan to your own needs, so for that reason, I didn’t include jewelry and accessories. Those just aren’t problem areas for me. I wear the same jewelry all the time, most of which are sentimental pieces, and if I ever wear a scarf or a hat, it’s always the same things over and over again. I also rarely ever switch purses, so I just stuck with clothes.

I chose a very wintry color palette, and tried to get a good mix of casual and dressy-casual. The journey begins now. Wish me luck!