Project 333: Spring

It’s time to apply for The Simple Year 6! Click HERE for details, or check out “The Handoff” link above. Hey, fun fact: I’m extending the deadline. 

It’s been a long, weird, cold, terrible, very non-Pacific Northwest kind of winter this year (the kids missed 10 days of school — they haven’t missed that much in the last five years combined!), and I am very, very ready to say good-bye to my winter capsule of boots and sweaters and say hello to sandals and t-shirts.

Um, except this is what’s currently outside my window:

Details. So boring.

Although I also saw this when I took out the compost:

YESSSSSS. We’re getting there!

My spring/summer capsule is my favorite. This will be my third year with several of these items and I still love them — they’re colorful (well, more colorful than I usually wear) and pretty and fun. I will wear most of these pieces into autumn, but technically “spring term” goes from April 1 to July 31.

Hey, whatever, I didn’t make the rules. (HERE they are if you’re a stickler for that kind of thing.) This is my fourth time waxing poetic about why I love P333 on this blog, so I won’t go into all that again, except to say that as far as minimalism goes, this whole ordeal really taught me a lot — and I continue to love the freedom that a 33-piece wardrobe gives me.

Going through my closet and wardrobe (in case you missed the last three times, I like to empty everything out on my bed and go through it piece by piece — it helps me remember what I have), I decided there are a few things I can get rid of, including that vintage corduroy jacket I was fretting about all winter and a maxi skirt. I’m trying to decide if I want to post them to the local Buy Nothing group — we’re up to 175 members now! — or just save them for the annual church rummage sale, which is in two months.

I’m probably courting disaster (or maybe just pneumonia), but I’m feeling oddly optimistic about this, outside view be damned. I’m just so excited to put away all the black and gray.

What a terrible artistic photo! Hey, can you see all the cat hair on everything? Pearl’s a shedder.

In my wardrobe:

Shoes (3): Brown Birkenstocks, black maryjanes, black loafers

Sweaters and jackets (8): Gray, black and navy cardigans, grayish-blue pullover, beige jacket, denim jacket, black turtleneck, navy vest

Dresses and skirts (3): Black t-shirt dress, beige/black skirt, brown/white skirt

Pants and capris (5): Jeans, black jeans, black capris, beige capris, denim capris (um, for weekends only)

Shirts (11): I have a variety of nicer work shirts, peasant-style pullover blouses, tank tops and t-shirts in navy, black, gray, black/gray, beige/orange, orange, black/white and teal

Other (2): Navy and white messenger bag (it’s less navy and white and more navy and brown the more I use it), orange/beige scarf

Those of you counting will see that’s 32 items. Eh, close enough.

P.S. I should probably mention that I don’t keep separate wardrobes for the different seasons — I just don’t see the point. I have some very summery clothes and some very wintery clothes, but a lot of my stuff gets used year-round (hello, beige and denim jackets, black t-shirt dress, and jeans!). If you compare photos from all my capsules, you’ll see that is true.

Speaking of all my capsules, you can read about them HERE (summer), HERE (fall) and HERE (winter).

Next up: I’ve got a bit of this and that to report.


4 Responses to Project 333: Spring

  1. I love your wardrobe posts. I haven’t done P333 yet, but I keep thinking about it. Maybe next week? What do you do about special occasions? I usually have a dress hanging in the closet for weddings, funerals, etc. Do you have that sort of thing, and does it count?

    • Oh good, I was afraid they were kind of boring. I have a couple of nice dresses in the back of the closet that I do not count. I used to when I first started P333, but I wear them infrequently and I finally decided that taking one day off, so to speak, wasn’t a failure. (I am big on rules, so that was hard for me.) I also don’t count things like tanks or t-shirts that I wear underneath other clothing items. P333 is a great minimalism exercise, and hey, if you hate it, it’s only 3 months. (Or 3 weeks if you REALLY hate it, LOL.)

  2. Great post! I’m curious about not keeping separate wardrobes for separate seasons. This is probably my biggest struggle with P333. I live in Alaska for 9 months out of the year, which requires heavy duty winter clothing, and then I spend my summers in Michigan, which requires swimsuits and light, airy clothing. There really isn’t much overlap in what I wear in the two places.

    • Hannah! It sounds to me like you need two separate wardrobes because of the differences in the climates you’re experiencing. There might be a few things that could overlap — jeans? A long-sleeved shirt? — although I’ve never been to Alaska OR Michigan, so what do I know?

      Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it — P333 isn’t really so much about the “rules” as it is about what it teaches you about your shopping habits, personal style, how much you “need,” etc. The rules can be bent to suit your needs.

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