Tag Archives: Project 333

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Purge’d!

I took a ton of clothes out of my closet and my drawers. I have room again!

But I don’t have pictures of that. I have pictures of the clothes that I love that I kept. Here they are!

I love my dresses! I realized when I was taking pictures that they are all v-neck. Hey, I know what I like! (There are two black dresses on the left there.) (7)

I have seven shirts too. They’re so pretty! (14)

And long-sleeve shirts, too. Five of these bad boys. (19)

Here are my three cardigans. (22)

And last but not least for tops – two blazers! (24)

Now for bottoms. Here are my skirts! So pretty! (That one on the left is navy, not black.) (28)

And I have two pairs of pants and one pair of shorts. Almost done! (31)

Finally, my outer wear. Here is my rain jacket and my delicious cognac satchel. Done! 33 items!!

As you can see, I was serious when I said two weeks ago that “my style” is dresses and skirts. They make up a large percentage of what I’m keeping here.

I want to show everyone who is putting together a minimalist wardrobe that you don’t need to wear all black! If you are smart and stick to a concise palette, you can curate a beautiful, colorful, minimalist wardrobe.

I am loving navy blue right now, so there is a lot of the in my wardrobe. I think of that as my first neutral color, along with white/cream, brown, and a little bit of black. For legit colors, I have pink, purple, and green. My wardrobe is bright and bold for spring and definitely not boring!

Finally, here are some pictures of my closet. The first one is the “before”, from a couple of weeks ago.

I can finally push things around and find what I want! There is definitely less hassle. I’m so happy!

 

Whew! That was a lot of work, but I love the result!

Did you purge your closet this weekend too? Share!

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Minimalist Challenge: Closet Purge

Hey, remember when I said I had done a spring closet purge?

Yea, just kidding. I pretty much just got out all of my spring clothes.

You know what? I still have too many clothes!

So I have decided that this weekend is going to be the real deal, seriously serious closet purge. In fact, I have decided to go back to my favorite fashion challenge: Project 333.

I am digging out the worksheet, writing down my plan ahead of time, and taking everything else out of my closet. Adios, things I don’t love!

On Monday, I will post my list along with pictures of the 33 items of clothing that made the cut.

Feel free to play along at home. I would love to have people join me and share their experiences living with less! Trust me – it’s better.

So what are you up to this weekend? Any fun challenges in store for you?

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Minimalist Wardrobe Links for You!

I had so many great comments from you all about starting your minimalist wardrobes. I am excited for you all! You can do it!

Since I wrote that post last week, I found posts from other bloggers. I want to share them with you because you will find them helpful, too.

First, Missus Smarty Pants talks about the power of basics. Trust me people – they are so important! She has pictures of how she styles two dresses four ways each. She’s so beautiful and stylish. You’ll want to copy every look!

Next, Jess over at Makeunder My Life/Jess LC is sharing step by step how she is planning her fall minimalist wardrobe. It’s a great resource for process and sources of inspiration. Check it out!

And last but not least, we are two days away from the beginning of the next phase of Project 333. So if you need some encouragement and accountability, join up! Use their resources and insight to get you started. Even if you’re not ready to commit, check out their latest blog post about creating a fashionable minimalist wardrobe. I agree with every single one of their “How to”s.

Hope that those links will help you wherever you are on your minimalist wardrobe journey!

Do you have any other words of wisdom to share? I would love to hear!

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Three Big Reasons for a Small Wardrobe

I have been participating in Project 333 since last fall, and I look forward to the beginning of each new cycle. It is starting to feel like one more indicator that the seasons are changing and a great reminder that I need to re-evaluate my life. 

I have edited my closet again for the cycle that started on July 1, but rather than list those items here (boring), I want to explain why I love Project 333 and my minimalist wardrobe.

1) My wardrobe costs less money.

I have been buying higher quality clothes lately, but I buy less items now. I love my clothes that I already own. They coordinate with each other. I feel that I have enough clothes, and I don’t need that many more. Usually the things that I decide to buy are based on the seasons For example,  only had one pair of shorts when the summer started, so I bought another pair of shorts and a pair of capris. I recently bought a rain jacket. For the fall, I will buy a pair of boots.

But the days of running to the mall to entertain myself on a Saturday – ostensibly because I ”needed” a pair of coral pumps – are over. 

2) I know where everything is.

I misplaced my denim skirt last week. I knew it wasn’t there and was able to find it pretty quickly in my relatively clean closet. Before Project 333, I wouldn’t even have known that something was missing.

I also know when something is in the laundry, or if I took it off and didn’t put it away properly. It is surprisingly liberating to know where things are. I don’t spend nearly as much time thinking about and digging for my clothes; it’s usually a five second process of “Hey where did that go?” – “Oh, right. It’s in the laundry” rather than a panicked fit leading to the closet being dumped on the bed.  

3) I have more to wear.

It seems counter-intuitive, but designing an intentional wardrobe really has improved the way I dress. Owning the proper amount of basics is key to any wardrobe, really, but it’s essential in the minimalist wardrobe. Probably 70% of my clothes are “basics”. However, that means that I can wear them through multiple seasons. And they all complement each other, as well as many of my fun, trendy items.

I stick to a basic color palette (browns, creams, purple, dark pink, green & navy blue). I am constantly amazed at the new combinations that I can put together, usually just when I am getting sick of all my clothes and want to replace them all.

Bonus: You know what you need.

As summer is coming to a close, I know that I am going to need a new blazer or cardigan for the fall as well as a new pair of boots. That’s it. Since I know exactly what I have, I know what is lacking and how I can fill in the gaps. Pretty awesome, huh? Also, I can keep an eye out for any great specials or sales and focus my shopping (and $$$) on the things that I am missing.

Do you have any great tips and tricks for designing an amazing wardrobe? Don’t keep them to yourself. Share!

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Project 333 Printable Guide

I ran across this Project 333 guide yesterday from yourway.net. I am impressed! I will definitely be using it the next time around to weed through my clothes. I usually just scrawl my list onto a piece of scrap paper, but this has Lines and Advice. über helpful! 

Since I am going to be using it, I thought it would be helpful for other people, especially first-timers. It adds some direction and thought to the sorting/elimination process.

Are any of you participating in Project 333? Any tips or advice to share?

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Links I Love 6/27/2011

1) I love easy beauty tricks. Here’s an amazing homemade body scrub I can’t wait to try.

2) Wil Wheaton: If you build it, they will come. (And by “they”, I mean “me”. I would totally come to your 80s arcade. Do it!)

3) I love this question from Project 333: “How has this project impacted your personal style?” My response is that since I can only have a few things in my wardrobe, I only wear clothes that I love. I am very willing to get rid of clothes that I don’t like. Before I would have hung onto them for “someday”. Now, if I’m not wearing it, it’s going to Goodwill. That means that I wear a lot of dresses, skirts, and fun colors. My personal style is stronger and more obvious because of Project 333.

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Project 333: Phase 3

Whew! That’s a lot of threes. Sort of a coincidence, though. anyway, I started participating in the project last fall. However, I have only posted on list of my 33 items. Just to keep my honest, here is my spring Project 333 list (only 27 days late…):

Items with an * were bought second-hand.

Items in italics were made by me.

Tops:

1. Green t-shirt*

2. Chambray shirt*

3. Purple polka dot shirt*

4. Green striped shirt*

5. V-neck green floral shirt*

6. Purple floral shirt

7. Grey camisole

8. Chocolate brown shell*

Sweaters:

9. Tan bolero

10. Black cardigan

11. Brown cropped cardigan*

Dresses:

12. Orchid floral print dress*

13. Navy modern floral print dress*

14. Little black dress

Skirts:

15. Grey skirt

16. Black striped skirt

17. Green skirt*

18. Denim skirt

Jeans:

19. Shorts*

20. Bell bottoms*

21. Skinnies*

Outerwear:

22. Black jacket

23. Trench coat

24. Grey blazer

Shoes:

25. Black heels

26. Nude heels

27. Gold flip flops

28. Grey flats

Accessories:

29. Braided belt*

30. Sunglasses

31. Orchid scarf

32. Hyacinth scarf*

33. Cognac Satchel*

Who else loves Project 333? Cause I do.

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Wardrobe cornerstone

I would like you to meet my new baby. Her name is Cognac Satchel. I snagged her at Buffalo Exchange in Boston for a mere 1/8th of her original selling price.

I love this bag.

I love that I found her at a thrift store.

Her quality is beyond compare. The craftsmanship. The color. The metal. I am smitten.

I am so smitten that I am going to re-design my spring and summer wardrobes around this bag, like Jill did with her red patent-leather shoes. I wear a lot of black right now, and I am sick of it. I am trying to incorporate more brown into my wardrobe, and this satchel is my inspiration. I will still keep at least 50% of my current wardrobe for the summer, but many of my somber clothes are going into storage for next winter.

I plan on hitting a few thrift stores in my area this weekend (ISO skirts and tops). Hopefully I will be able to list my Project 333 list next week.

What is the cornerstone of your wardrobe? What inspires you on a daily basis?