On wardrobe plans and Project 333

I’ve been making wardrobe plans for as long as I can remember. This probably started back when I came across an image book as a teenager. As one book became a shelf-ful , and self color analysis yielded narrower color choices, I made plans to dress just so. Only, things didn’t always go as planned. As a teenager, I had a tiny budget. As an adult, I’ve often lacked time to make the clothes I planned.

The most recent plan to fall through was the one I made back in May last year. You can read about it here. For reference, this was my closet then (you can see I added some fabrics to make it look less… I don’t know… drab? empty?):

Well, my husband deployed shortly after that post and I had my hands full with the DIY renovation of our house we’d started (think gutted kitchen, replacing all doors and trims, etc) on top of a full-time job. And a few months later, while he was still in the desert, we got orders to Germany. That meant finishing up the reno, selling the house, supervising the move including moving into the inn on base when the house sold faster than we’d anticipated, and training my replacement at work. All this left me with no time or energy for sewing.

Fast forward to now. I have bought a few things to fill major holes and made a couple of sweaters to bring in lime green. Other than that, nothing. So now I’m in a different climate, with a more relaxed stay-home lifestyle. It’s time to plan the wardrobe again. Only this time, I’m doing it differently.

I’ve read a bit here and there about Project 333 over the last couple of years. It seemed to help people conquer their inner shopping addict and get a grip on their ever-expanding closets. This didn’t apply to me. If anything, I had the opposite problem – I would have had trouble coming up with 33 things for any given season.

Then sometime early last week, it occurred to me that I could use the P333 guidelines and daily photos to help me understand what I wear, how I combine garments, and what my preferences are. I think I know but I’m having a hard time putting it into words so maybe I don’t really know. I figure with a month’s worth of pictures, I may start coming up with some descriptive words.

Here’s my closet now:

It’s missing two gray cardigans which are waiting to be laundered and a skinny belt that is not visible here. Undergarments and running gear live in the dresser and shoes are downstairs. Summer clothes are in storage. I like it with the bright colors – it’s an improvement on the old picture, I think.

The point of the exercise is to figure out where I am aka point A. Because eventually I would like to get to point B, which is where I incorporate elements from my inspiration board:

What I’m picking up here is a vibe of “feminine glamour” or “understated glamour” or something like that. Or I may be totally off, feel free to chime in. At any rate, I don’t think this is what’s in my closet right now. Hence the need to find point A. I have a feeling it’s going to be something very classic.

It was fun to make the slides for my P333 wardrobe. It should be even more fun to plan a wardrobe that marries what I wear now with some glamorous pieces.

See you soon!