Project 3X33 Thoughts

Fellow librarian Andrea over at Five Starred Life recently wrote about her fall 3×33 wardrobe, and I was immediately intrigued. I’d actually never heard about the 3×33 wardrobe concept, and while Andrea goes into more detail over on her blog, the gist seems to be that you challenge yourself to wear only 33 items of clothing over the course of a season (3 months). The spirit of the challenge is to encourage participants to get creative with their clothes and create new outfits by playing with different combinations of items. It’s all about shopping your own stash, rather than shopping in stores.

I’ve been drawn to a more minimalist lifestyle, and have been trying to be more sustainable in my shopping habits, so this seemed like an ideal project for me to tackle.

Apparently there are different levels of intensity when it comes to the 33×3 project, with some participants including every item of clothing they will be wearing, including undergarments and jewelry, in their 33 items. Inspired by Andrea, I won’t be included undergarments, pajamas and hosiery, but I will be including outerwear and shoes. In other words, every item of clothing that I’ll be wearing outside, and that other people can be. Not that my intimate item collection would add too many items to my tally, but I really can’t be bothered to count my socks!

The first step in creating a curated wardrobe is to take stock of what we have to begin with. And so, a rundown of every item of clothing currently living in my closet:

DRESSES (13)

1. Black and white stripe midi-length T-shirt dress
2. Black and white stripe midi-length T-shirt dress with elastic waist
3. Black and white stripe knee-length long-sleeve dress
4. Red and white stripe knee-length long-sleeve dress
5. Blue sweatshirt dress
6. Black floral knee-length T-shirt dress
7. Red floral knee-length T-shirt dress
8. Blue empire-waist knee-length short-sleeve dress
9. Blue button-front knee-length short-sleeve dress
10. Denim pinafore dress

TOPS (10)

1. Rainbow stripe t-shirt
2. Orange, blue and white stripe t-shirt
3. Black long-sleeve t-shirt
4. Grey and white stripe long-sleeve t-shirt
5. Blue floral t-shirt
6. Blue knit sweater
7. Blue sweatshirt
8. Green sweatshirt
9. Grey logo sweatshirt (Fraser Valley Cider Company, woohoo!!)

CARDIGANS (5)

1. Orange
2. Green
3. Dark Green
4. Grey
5. Mustard yellow

SHOES

1. Slide on sandals
2. Walking sandals
3. Blundstone boots
4. Rubber rainboots
5. Polka dot ballet flats
6. Grey ballet flats

OUTERWARE

1. Red rain jacket
2. Puffy winter coat
3. Grey zip up hoodie

Apparently my entire wardrobe falls almost perfectly into the 3×33 project parameters, assuming again that you don’t include undergarments and hosiery. Realistically, once summer ends, I will be living in my beloved Blundstone boots until summer rolls around once again, which narrows the wardrobe down even more. It seems that my entire life is a 3×33 challenge!

I do have a single pair of jeans in my closet, but I’m not including them in this list because I only really wear them when I have to do something messy like moving furniture or cleaning the balcony. Otherwise they languish away in my closet.

Living in dresses really does help when trying to create a more minimal wardrobe, as you need so few pieces to create a full outfit. Dress + hosiery (optional) + cardigan (optional) + shoes = complete look! I do like having a few different cardigans on hand, so I can swap them around to create slightly different looks. You can also play around with hosiery to create different looks, though I admit I live in black leggings and tights most of the time.

Doing this closet inventory was certainly a bit of an eye-opener – my goodness, how many striped items does a single person need in their closet? Four striped dresses? I know what not to buy any time soon. The same goes for blue dresses – time to step away from the blue and branch out a bit when it comes to wearing colour.

Now, before we leave, I should make very clear that the size of your wardrobe doesn’t mean a ding dang thing. Wear the same black pants and black shirt every day? Wonderful! Have a full wardrobe of pretty things that bring you joy? Delightful! I find that having too many things around me really aggravates my anxiety, and having more open space and fewer belongings soothes my weary soul. While I’m certainly no minimalist, I am actively trying to streamline my life as best as I can. If fashion brings you joy and clothes make you happy and picking out your outfits is a highlight of your day, that’s great! If owning next to nothing brings you inner peace, I totally get that. And if you stare at the size of my wardrobe with disgust, well, that’s not very nice, now is it?

Friends – have you ever tried to make a capsule wardrobe, take on project 33×3 or do a 10×10 challenge? Are you a minimalist, or is more really more? Let me know your thoughts!