3.12.12

Minimalist Monday: A Simple Wardrobe

Image from here

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
Coco Chanel

I've set myself the challenge of joining in with Project 333 for the next month. Project 333 was started by Courtney Carver of Be more With Less in 2010. The rules are to choose 33 items - including clothing, accessories, jewellery, outerwear and shoes - and wear them for three months. Certain items such as underwear and sportswear are not included and some people make up their own rules such as counting several pieces of jewellery as one item.


I'm making it easy by trialling this project for just one month. However, I have set myself a challenge as it's one of the coldest month of the year here in the UK - and hence more clothes required, and it's also a month where I've got several evenings out. Oh well, there's never a right time and I feel ready to dip my toes in the water of a serious minimalist experiment. 


I've posted before about reducing my wardrobe here and developing signature style here. I have lost days of my life to clothes: shopping for clothes, researching new purchases, ordering clothes, trying on clothes, reading fashion articles, tidying my stuffed wardrobe, decluttering my clothes... 


No more a demanding, time consuming wardrobe for me; I've watched this project from afar for two years and I'm hoping that it will bring ease, order, calm and maybe even style to my wardrobe. Some of the benefits I'm hoping to achieve are:



  • Less clothes will mean less washing, ironing and putting away.
  • A less cluttered wardrobe space will be a daily pleasure.
  • Fashion SOS days will be a thing of the past as my outfits will be more thought out and ready to go.
  • For one month I will only wear clothes I love, clothes that are comfortable and clothes that suit me.
  • I may develop new outfits by trying out different combinations from my limited selection.
  • I will know where the gaps are in my wardrobe to help inform any new purchases.
  • In the future I will build a simple wardrobe of better quality clothes with less impulse buys.
  • I may spend the same amount of money on clothes in the future but my purchases will be more ethical.
  • I'll maybe miss some items but find it easier to let others go and therefore ultimately reduce the number of items in my wardrobe at the end of the project.
I have put together these items to cover work, home and evenings out. Several items have a non-iron crinkle effect for a fast turn around from wash to wardrobe.

The 33 items - in no particular order:


1. Skinny blue jeans

2. Skinny pink jeans
3. Boot cut jeans
4. Black leggings
5. Brown tweed effect trousers
6. Green crinkle silk skirt
7. Above knee denim skirt
8. Fine knit tunic dress
9. Blue and white check shirt
10. Black and white stripe 3/4 length top
11. Coral sequin 3/4 sleeved top
12.Teal cap sleeved top
13. Blue bird top with sheer back
14. Grey jumper
15. Brown polo neck
16. Stripe cotton cardigan
17. Black winter coat
18. Blue waterproof storm coat
19. Purple gilet
20. Suede camel ankle boots with small heel
21. Brown lace up boots
22. Black ballet pumps
23. Brown flower necklace
24. Teal earrings
25. Opal drop earrings
26. Chunky twisted silver necklace
27. Aqua bead necklace
28. Aqua bead bracelet
29. Teal scarf
30. Chunky taupe knitted scarf
31. Black leather gloves
32. Black handbag
33. Silver clutch bag

So my wardrobe is set until January 4th.

I will post photos of my garments soon. 
And I will definitely let you know how I get on. 




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5 comments

  1. This is great! All the benefits you presented are very refreshing and attractive :) I'm already dressing with less than I used to, and it's so much easy! But I'm still way above the 33 items...
    Well done! ;)

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  2. I'm looking forward to the photos and seeing how you do with this project. I'm slightly obsessed with minimalist wardrobes, my own included.
    I have 37 core pieces right now, but that doesn't include coats, shoes etc. It's taken me about 3 years years to get to this point and I'm only 3 items off my perfect wardrobe...but two of these items, trench and wool coat, are so expensive I'm saving for them.

    Good luck!

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  3. I love this idea. I'm going to try this in January.

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  4. Have fun! I did project 333 for some time and learnt a lot through it. (e.g. I don't wear jewelry as often as I thought, so I don't actually need as much of it; if you wear lots of dresses there simply is no need for many shirts and three may be plenty; etc.)
    I'm not doing it at the moment but try to thin my wardrobe to an ultimate 50 or so items - I think I should count once again, I sort of lost track.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Developing a wardrobe definitely takes some time. I started with my dresses that I wore on the boat, then added a few things as needed. Thrift store clothing can be great to use, but there is a natural selection process--things will either fall apart right away or last forever!

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Thanks for reading and leaving your comments. Keep in touch xo

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