What remains

How much of the clothing I purchased while on the project do I still have and wear, and...how much more have I purchased? Accountability time!

Here's the list of everything I purchased as of June 12 (over 2 months ago).

1. Zodiac Vans
2. Tennis ball green lace Vans
3. Black leather leggings
4. White tunic shirt - wore it out 
5. tennis ball green tank + v neck tee
6. Minty blue sweater
7. Minty blue sheer layering long sleeved tee
8. LBD
9. White cigarette pants - too small in the waist, donated them
10. Black cigarette pants
11. Navy blue open weave pullover with hood  got rid of navy items over the remainder of the summer; sold on eBay
12. White knit jacket  too casual overall for direction my style was going in 
13. Black lace jacket
14. Citron fancy pants
15. Citron knit button front shirt  kept, but as loungewear--just wasn't sharp and fresh looking enough for work, slight fit issue in bustline
16. Black knit button front shirt  too small. had to rush to Target to replace it when it repeatedly gapped open during work. 
17. Eileen Fisher black maxi dress (this was an INSANE find at $7.99 at the Goodwill) 
18. Gap chambray shirt dress (another find for $2.25 at the goodwill)  just couldn't make this work. Really, really wanted to, but the cut combined with my body didn't work
19. 3 copies of the same shirt (I count it as one) with a badminton birdie print.from Target. So cute.
20. Geometric tank hi low shirt with spring colors   too small to wear comfortably more than a few times
21. Black stretch pencil skirt (for interviews)
22. Black sweater with chiffon trim from Banana

So, 8 out of 22 items, almost a third of the items I bought. Blush. Well, I'm getting there. 

What did I buy in June/July/August: 

1. White long sleeved tee, sheer with abstract floral/painterly print in black, grey, hot pink, green, blue, etc. --unknown, Goodwill.

2. J. Crew D'Orsay crackle painted flats, white/black

3. Steve Madden mules, black suede *probably headed on eBay, just a tiny bit too small 

4: Gold D'Orsay shoes --some odd brand, eBay *headed to eBay, too large by almost a full size

5: Boyfriend jeans, Gap

6: Heavy silky tencel smock like shirt, dark grey (really for fall) --Gap

7: White seersucker a-line smock shirt (I wear this at least once a week despite its wildly unflattering shape. I feel like a million tax free bux in it) --Ann Taylor 

8: White jeans, flared -Gap, eBay

9: White jeans, cigarette - Gap, eBay

10: Black lace shell -Target 

11: Black and white polka dot cardigan-Target

12: Black and white striped maxi * this was a replacement for another version that bit the dust in August -Design History, eBay

13: Leopard print and black D'Orsay flats --Goodwill, Sam + Libby *might be headed to eBay, slightly too small

14: Black booties (these are a style I've had three pairs of: American Eagle cone heel booties. I will buy these ANYTIME I find them. They are god.) Got them at a Goodwill. 

15: White hi-low short sleeved sweatshirt --Banana 

16: White sheer tuxedo shirt with white sequins-- some off brand, Goodwill 

17: White short sleeved shirt with chiffon trim: second hand from Banana

18: Black-two piece cotton shirt. This is a creation: a wide strap cami edged in cotton lace, cropped at the waist, over which this puff shouldered three quarter length cotton blouse with lace details and pin tucked edges wafts. #NOREGRETS. --odd off brand, from "the country store" in Parker

19: Multi-color leopard print pointed toe skimmers-- second hand store, Nine West

Things I'm resisting but might cave on: 

1: Acid green and lavender Supergas. 

2: White lace pencil skirt 

3: White/acid green striped casual tunic 

4: Various shoes (when will I learn not to buy shoes online? Never?) 

What I'm doing better at: 

• putting things in my shopping cart or "watching" on eBay and then waiting to see if I really like it 
• resisting colors that don't fit into my scheme 
• making sure I put together outfits on the hanger in the closet at the beginning of the week so I have grab and go outfits
• refining my look and making sure I avoid things I KNOW I'll regret
• Phasing out the tie dye and other more "hippie" styles, or putting them in lounge wear, where i can indulge my inner San Franciscan to my hearts' content 

What are my soft spots? 

• For some reason, I have trouble dressing my age. I usually go for either too young (Flying Tomato shirt I'm looking at you!) or too frumpy. I'm getting there, but I'm still drawn to "day pajamas" (much older "college president wearing art jewelry" look) and neon sneakers. Sigh. 
• I can't have enough fancy vans/fancy sneakers. I never would have thought this would be me, but with all the walking I do, they just look so good. Also, I have very small feet for my tall, curvy body and I need shoes with bulk or else I look like an ice cream cone. Not cool. 
• Refusing to accept that my bust line means I can't wear certain stuff. No! NO! NO! 

Project 333 and the evolving wardrobe

When I started Project 333 in March 2015, it was still very much winter. I was able to get through most of April and even some of May with the 33 items, plus a few swap ins and add ins. Then the warm weather hit.

June, July, and August have really challenged me. I've pretty much drifted completely off course from the strict Project 333 ideals. While I still have a small wardrobe and feel a lot of the benefits of the project, the purchasing part is where the wheels fell off.

I spent 2010-2013 in the Philippines, where it's generally between 80-100 degrees F everyday. The clothing look is casual, beachy, feminine, and sexy. Most of my clothing from that era was either hand made for me (and thus very hard to get rid of or put away) or very tourist-y purchases like flowing bright colored skirts, swim coverups, and the like.

My summer wardrobe was very, very skimpy and just didn't work for a new job I took in late July at a much higher salary and a title bump. I wanted to upgrade to a sleek, minimalist look with professional, high quality clothing. My steps:

I had to say goodbye (or repurpose) most of my summer clothing. Wispy, girly, playful clothing got sold, gifted, or made into loungewear/swimwear only.

I used what I learned about my style to curate a new spring/summer wardrobe. Clean lines, abstract, artsy looking clothing, black, white, aqua, hot pink, and lime/neon/citron green with accent of deep teal ONLY.

I had to accept some flops--mostly trendy one-off purchases that I bought on impulse. Still working on that!

I got into Pinterest as a way to "shop" and curate/create looks without spending too much money.

Some winter/early spring pieces made it in, but most did not. My boyfriend jeans are so much of a workhorse I'm considering buying another pair.

Now I have a very workable wardrobe for spring/summer/early fall. We'll see how it works as I transition to fall/winter. :)

Three months in

Well, it's been almost 3 months now. Project 333 started in March, end of, and it's been April, May, and now almost through June (couple more weeks to go). 

I've *loved* it. Few bumps along the way, like finding out I had no spring clothing whatsoever, but here's the highlights: 

• Sold about 300$ of unneeded clothing on eBay and still going (!) 
• Was able to invest in skincare that *dramatically* improved my skin 
• Was able to indulge in a super amazing new line of fragrances that I'm now moderately obsessed with (more later)
• Was able to upgrade some "foundations" like bathing suits, bras, nice footies from Nike, etc. 
• Was able to have money to outfit the bedroom with new bedlinens 
• Days that I was tired or not feeling well, it did NOT show in my outfit, as it sometimes can when one just grabs "whatever" from the closet on "off" days
• Refined my style significantly--and am still doing so. #fancyvanslife #didn'tchooseit_itchoseme!
• Feeling like I was making a positive change in a deliberate way to be closer to the person I wanted to be in life 

I have purchased some clothes while on Project 333. Here's a list: 

1. Zodiac Vans
2. Tennis ball green lace Vans
3. Black leather leggings
4. White tunic shirt
5. tennis ball green tank + v neck tee
6. Minty blue sweater
7. Minty blue sheer layering long sleeved tee
8. LBD
9. White cigarette pants
10. Black cigarette pants
11. Navy blue open weave pullover with hood
12. White knit jacket
13. Black lace jacket
14. Citron fancy pants
15. Citron knit button front shirt
16. Black knit button front shirt
17. Eileen Fisher black maxi dress (this was an INSANE find at $7.99 at the Goodwill) 
18. Gap chambray shirt dress (another find for $2.25 at the goodwill) 
19. 3 copies of the same shirt (I count it as one) with a badminton birdie print.from Target. So cute.
20. Geometric tank hi low shirt with spring colors 
21. Black stretch pencil skirt (for interviews)
22. Black sweater with chiffon trim from Banana

I think that's it. So about 7 items a month or so. Not bad. Basically had to buy an entire spring wardrobe from the ground up. Also was selling clothes left and right so don't feel super bad about this. I rapidly learned to ignore all the "noise" in a store and find exactly what I was looking for and be ruthless. 

Call Backs

Call Backs

I recently told my significant other that I felt like I had been wearing only a capsule wardrobe for as long as I could remember, and it’s been less than a month. Thinking about it more deeply, I can remember other times in my life when I wore a very small amount of clothing, and those times may have laid the groundwork for my comfort level with Project 333 now.

Month long trip to Russia, age 13 (with a group, but not with my family, so alone, essentially)

Like many things in my life, this seemed totally normal and not worth commenting on until I mention it casually to people and they seem very intrigued and surprised. You did WHAT? At WHAT AGE? ALONE? Seemed like NBD at the time!

My mom worked on and made by hand (!!) a mix and match wardrobe for me (that I can’t recall much of now, sadly) and living out of a suitcase seemed not only normal, but preferable. This desire to have very little and travel light never left me.

Catholic High School: Uniform dressing

My uniform was navy blue pants or skirt, or uniform skirt, and white or blue top, with optional navy sweater. Those were the choices, and yet there seemed to be endless ways to combine them and make them my own. Vintage silk blouse with men’s slacks, knee high socks with tassels and brogues, preppy layers of white over navy polos, and so on.

Assistant Store Manager, Body Shop: Uniform of all black with business casual (yet functional) expectations

I had about 12 pieces I wore day in and day out (once a week we had to do an open to close, that was 9:00 AM to 10 PM so those clothes had BETTER be comfy). I was *always* looking for cute, comfortable, stylish black clothing, but this was a kind of dressing with restrictions that I see now as “practice” for my current lifestyle.

Moved to Philippines with one suitcase and one carryon.

Yeah, I really did! Also seemed like NBD at the time? Not sure where I get this sangfroid about up and ditching all my possessions (helped that my mom stored most of them at her place, too) but I was somehow totally cool with moving *permanently* to another country with one suitcase. I had one or two workhorse pieces, like a shrimp pink linen sheath from Chicos (a gift from a co worker) and a grey tunic top, that I wore TO DEATH as I slowly purchased more items. I remember talking to my coworker Ryan on my third or fourth day in-country and saying “I am so stress free right now! Maybe it’s because my apartment could burn down with everything in it and I would be okay with that.”

Moved home to the USA with one large suitcase, one small suitcase, and one carryon.

This time I had considerably more clothing (I mailed two cartons home as well, before I flew home). There were so many irreplaceable items—handmade by local tailors or found in thrift shops, I just couldn’t conceive of letting them go. But overall, it was a limited wardrobe.

Throughout my life, there has been a theme of dressing with less. It just took until now for me to see that at some of the most comfortable times in my life, I was dressing minimally, deliberately, and with less. 

20 days in: Lessons and Changes

I’m 20 days into Project 333.

Things that have really worked for me:

Packing for trips, and for going between my apartment and my fiancé’s apartment.

                It’s so easy! I grab 2 outfits, making sure they’re in the same color story (I have 2 color stories in my capsule), and then if I need more, I simply wash the items and mix and match them. Since I tend to favor a layered look, most outfits have 2-3 pieces anyway, making this a great strategy for easy packing.

Selecting items for special events.

                I’ve gone to hipster craft fairs, a 4 day vacation in Western NY that included a sit down dinner, attended a family dinner to mark a special occasion, and gone to networking events. Not once have I felt wrongly dressed, under-or-over dressed, or out of place.

Readjusting my shopping.

                I have purchased two items during the project: a cardigan and a tee shirt. It’s been very hard to resist the siren call of browsing the thrift stores and sale racks, but I feel so much better about the two purchases I made. They are genuine wardrobe needs (replacing an item that didn't work, or filling a real hole in the capsule). I am also very, very picky about what I buy or think about buying now. A cute sweater in a consignment store that doesn't fit my capsule, even if it’s Anthropologie? Sorry, no.

Making extra money selling stuff on eBay.

                Being ruthless about my wardrobe (i.e., I really won’t be wearing heels much anymore, my lifestyle is so much more active than I anticipated at this point) has allowed me to put some really desirable items on eBay and make 150$ in about 2 weeks.

Things I’m still working on:

Sorting out the transitional seasonal clothing.

                Denver, CO has very unpredictable spring and fall weather—one week can go from 70’s to 30’s and snowing within 4 days. Some of the items I thought I would be wearing (long sleeved tees) I’m just not using because it’s too warm. However, the sleeveless shells I included make me feel too exposed this early in the season. I had to adjust and get a cardigan to wear over shells, and I’m looking at rotating in some summer clothes and rotating out some winter/fall ones.

Wardrobe-ing the wardrobe.

                For me, skirts without tights need another layer underneath- a split slip, Jockey Skimmies or the like. Since it’s spring, I’m going back and forth with wearing tights and no tights, meaning I keep forgetting to pack skimmies when I change apartments, making the skirts essentially unwearable.

Another challenge in this department has been footwear. Early on, I realized my moto boots were not getting worn, and subbed them out, and put a black “workhorse” tunic in instead. But I’m wondering if only 4 pairs of shoes is getting the job done.  My leopard print “Vans” are comfortable and fashionable, but they don’t go with my printed leggings or with tights and a skirt—they just look odd. My grey boots are comfortable, but they’re a hidden wedge and wearing them day after day is really hard on my feet (same with my black heels). I have slip on sandals, but then my toes need to be presentable (IMHO). So…shoes are still a challenge at this point.

Keeping the excitement level up.

                The first few days of the Project were terrific. It’s still very cool, but my over the top enthusiasm has waned a bit. I think it might be due to traveling—half my wardrobe is inaccessible to me and half of that half is in the laundry, meaning one of the most fun things (playing with clothes to make outfits) is not an option very often. I also need to replace the fun and entertainment value of shopping with something else—I really love rifling through a sales rack and finding bargains. What can I do instead?

Accepting the quality level of the items I have right now.

                Most of my clothing is thrifted or from, at best, department stores. The quality level ranges from fast fashion to high end but not designer, with most of it being Target-quality stuff. Not terrible, but tends to last only a season or two before looking shabby and worn. I take pretty good care of my stuff, but I see some of my thinner shirts have un-repairable “moth holes” from the thin material simply giving way, and some other items just not looking super fresh. How will I replace those, on a next to nothing budget? Right now my plan is to take my eBay money and invest in 1-2 high quality items from eBay, like Eileen Fisher or similar lines. Then I’ll slowly replace my wardrobe basics with high quality look a-likes. 

Selfies and Authenticity

One of my goals for this project is to become more comfortable with having my picture taken (by non professionals, which means pretty much everyone.) I don't consider myself naturally photogenic and I tend to freeze into what I call the "robot with the potato face" when there's a camera around. Add to that the fact that I'm so much taller than everyone around me (meaning the photographer is at the oh so flattering "shooting from below" angle and.....ugh.

However, one of the reasons I wanted to do Project 333 is to push myself past my plateau, to challenge myself in new ways. And being more comfortable in front of the camera is a must in 2015. Everyone has a camera phone and FB, Instagram, blogs, and Pinterest run on photos. Plus, with fashion or clothing, it's so much better to see than read about only.

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about selfies and authenticity. The shots I take of my outfits myself look GREAT (or at least really good). The shots taken by others look (in my mind) merely okay.

Let's compare:

Taken by me:

Taken by my workmate (same outfit, and I did not suddenly gain 15 pounds in 4 hours)

There's a few things going on here, but the main thing is *I can't see what's going on in real time and adjust it to look better* and *my workmate is not at a straight angle from me holding the phone straight out*. So my feet look super teeny tiny, making my upper body look gradually bigger and bigger, since my body is not a straight line in space starting from my feet. Real flattering.

It's so hard to let other people take photos (and believe me when I say this one above is the best of about 8) and then use them when you feel they aren't that flattering, or they aren't "the real you". I love this outfit and as I move around in front of the mirror, I can see all the ways it does flatter me--but in a flat photo it looks....not as flattering as it does in person.

So what is the best practice? To be "authentic" and allow all-thumbs shorties to take pictures and gradually accept that this is what I look like in candid photos? Or to mix selfies where I look pretty good with "ok" candids and hope the candids get better?

These are the type of questions that I actually enjoy thinking about with this project. Which is more real--the photo that I feel shows how the outfit makes me feel? Or the photo that shows the way it looks "in real life"?

Jessica's Post: 01!

For me, this project is less about fashion, which I can't say is exactly an interest of mine, and more about getting rid of things, curbing my hoarding tendencies, making room for my boyfriend to move into my apartment, and reducing the amount of brain space that is dedicated to what I wear every day.

 

In my dreams I would either dress like Rachel Maddow or else wear a slim sweater, slacks that magically fit right and weren't too long and also can go in the wash (which may exist somewhere in the known universe but see lack of fashion interest, which translates to not wanting to spend an entire Saturday trying on pants), and comfortable flats, every single day. Sadly I don't have the balls to butch it up, or really the figure either. But I like that this project is giving me permission to pretty much wear the same thing all the time and not think about it. Liberation will be mine. Already I am daydreaming about what I will do with all the mental energy that is no longer wasted on trying to please people with my appearance.

 

Day One:

Grey short-sleeved sweater with a black print, black slacks, black flats. Aaaahh bliss.

 

Day Two:

Printed blouse with a fancy little tie around the neck, different black slacks, and my favorite "pimp shoes," which are bright purple Cole Haan oxfords with pink soles and laces. (basically I guess my dream is to dress either like a fashionably masculine woman or how one might expect a gay guy to look, something with a little room for appreciating nice things without trying to get attention for my body)

 

Day Three:

This is actually an example of me using the limited wardrobe to make combinations I wouldn't have before. Tight black short-sleeved sweater, long stretchy fitted black skirt, skinny turquoise belt and turquoise (also Cole Haan) flats that I added to my 33 because they can both be paired with the two "date night" dresses.

 

This Day Three outfit looks really good on me but the nondescript Day One outfit made me so much happier, partly because there was nothing to adjust and straighten and poke at me all day but also because -- I don't need people looking at my butt. I want to just *be.* The more I think about it, the more I want to wear the blandest thing possible six days per week and keep a couple of simple low-cut black dresses on hand for date nights or other occasions, a nice suit or two for meetings, and be done with it.

 

My aesthetic already involves:

No manicures or pedicures or threading or waxing of any kind

Not coloring my hair, hello greys, you can live

Very light makeup 9 days out of 10, mostly just a tinted moisturizer and a little mascara and lip color

Spending the time I do allocate to taking care of myself on working out and cooking healthy meals, and occasionally testing new hair and skin care products.

My obligatory "no makeup selfie". 

 

It's my nightmare to be staring down 40 all made up and dyed and starched looking like I'm trying to be 25 and desperate to be liked. I'm 35, the clock is only running one way, this is my face and my figure. On to other things.