Sarahritchie17 If you haven’t heard of Project 333, it’s a minimalist / capsule wardrobe challenge that was created by Courtney Carver of https://bemorewithless.com.
The gist is that you pick 33 items from your closet and wear them for three months. This includes everyday clothes, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. It does NOT include undergarments, socks, jewelry that you never take off, a pair of workout sneakers, or workout clothes (as long as you don’t live in your workout clothes—if you do, they count!). I also did not count swimwear, coverups, or sunglasses in my 33 items.
You can read more about Project 333 on Courtney Carver’s blog at bemorewithless.com or in her book Project 333.
This post focuses on my experience with the project over the past three months and the lessons I learned from it.
How it Started
I heard about Project 333 on the Optimal Living Daily Podcast which I listen to each morning. As soon as I heard about it, I was interested and started looking up the details online.
I had been gradually paring down my closet for the past few years and focusing on replacing fast fashion with fewer quality pieces. I found this challenge could be a way to take it to the next level.
I started this challenge as another way to simplify my life and decision-making each day. I think when I take one aspect of my life and simplify it, it creates a ripple effect because it affects my overall mindset and approach to everything I do.
Going into the month of April, I cleared out my closet and dresser, set aside 33 items, and folded the rest into a Tupperware storage box under my bed. Here are the 33 items I chose for Spring 2021:
Jackets
- Teal windbreaker (Columbia)
- Denim jacket (American Eagle)
Tops
- Strawberry festival t-shirt
- Be a difference maker t-shirt
- Plain peach t-shirt (Target)
- Always summer t-shirt
- Pittsburgh Pirates v-neck (Nike)
- Make it happen cropped tank
- Maroon twisted crop tank
- I washed up like this tank
- Simply Southern salmon t-shirt
- Floral silk cami (Victoria’s Secret)
- Blue cami (Express)
- Floral sleeveless collared blouse (Express)
Bottoms
- Pinstripe tie-waist shorts
- Dark denim short shorts (American Eagle)
- Peach denim shorts (H&M)
- Scalloped navy tie-waist shorts (Francesca’s)
- Navy crop leggings (lululemon Align 21”)
- Denim jeans (American Eagle)
- Denim high-waist shorts (American Eagle)
Jumpsuit / Dress
- Blue jumpsuit (Ashe Couture)
- Green floral mini dress (Francesca’s)
Accessories
- Blue crossbody purse (Kate Spade)
- Fedora hat
- Silver bracelet (MantraBand)
- Rose gold bracelet (MantraBand)
- Silver chain diamond necklace (Kay Jewelers)
- Gold chain layered necklace (Francesca’s)
Shoes
- (30.) Birkenstock style slides (American Eagle)
- (31.) Blue sandals
- (32.) White low top sneakers (Sperry)
- (33.) Nude heels (DSW Kelly & Katie)
How it Went
At the beginning of the challenge, I took pictures of my outfits each day to see if I could really put together unique outfits with this limited number of items. I was really surprised that this challenge didn’t require more outfit-repeating.
One thing that people recommend when doing this challenge or creating capsule wardrobes is to choose mostly neutral-colored clothes because they’re easier to mix and match. For my personal style and it being Spring, I still wanted to incorporate some bright colors. I think it worked because I really only chose two bright colors—peach and teal which mixed and matched easily with simple denim.
After about a month of taking photos of myself every day, it started to feel a bit vain, and I started repeating outfits at that point anyways.
What I Learned
Doing this challenge really taught me how much I actually use from my closet on a regular basis. I don’t need as many clothes as I think I do. I have so many clothes that sit and wait for the right occasion to come up, but those occasions are few and far between. One thing I did miss was having more options when events did come up, though. For example, when I wanted to wear a dress, I only had one option, but I don’t wear dresses often enough to justify including more than one in my 33 items. I guess if I was to do this challenge permanently, I would have to get used to borrowing occasion-wear from friends, which is definitely a more sustainable idea anyways.
It is definitely easier to decide what to wear when you have less clothes out and in your face. I really enjoyed the simplified and minimalistic look of my closet. There was space between hangars, and I could actually see what I had.
You get creative with what you have. When you have less to choose from, you get more creative with how you pair things. I felt like I came up with some outfits I would not have thought to put together if all my clothes were accessible.
I also gained a greater appreciation for some of the items I didn’t choose. When I went through my Tupperware at the beginning of July to pull out some new pieces for summer, I was excited to have fresh pseudo-new options.
What’s Next?
When I went back through my Tupperware, I realized that there wasn’t much I really needed or wanted to pull out. A good amount that I’d put in storage was jackets and layers that I wouldn’t need until Fall and Winter, especially in Florida. There were also some items I’d picked for Spring that I was ready to put away for a bit. So I ended up, somewhat unintentionally, putting together another capsule wardrobe. The idea of a capsule wardrobe is similar to Project 333. You take out what you want for the season, put the rest away, and when the next season comes, instead of shopping for new clothes, you shop from the things you already have. Here’s what I ended up with:
This pretty much matched the number of tops and bottoms I’d chosen last time which had worked well. I decided not to include accessories or shoes in the count this time around because I missed having a wider selection of jewelry and shoes to wear.
I’ll probably use this capsule wardrobe for July and August and then switch it for September to the end of November to better align with Florida seasons.
I’m realizing this post is starting to sound a bit crazy and over-intentional, so I’ll stop overanalyzing my wardrobe now…
But I did really enjoy this challenge and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a way to start slimming down your wardrobe, buying less, simplifying your decision of what to wear, and living more minimalist and sustainable.
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Cheers!
Sarah
