One week into the Project 333 (read about it here), I have a revised clothing list and plan to stick to it for the duration. Despite my goal (and resolve) not to purchase new clothing items during this six months, I fell in love with a little turquoise top at a garage sale and for $1 added it to my arsenal, replacing the cabernet red tee from Stylemint, which was just too difficult to incorporate into my wardrobe.

Also, let me apologize if the photos appear stretched out on your computer. They look distorted on my laptop, but fine on my desktop, so go figure.

I included the close up of my outfit (above) even though I have a goofy look on my face!!!!

So here is one of my favorite outfits from my 33 items. I am wearing a brown top I bought at the garage sale where I found these super comfy Adriano Goldschmeid velvet jeans. My garage sale outfit cost about $7. I am also wearing my non-garage sale Madden Girl sandals and toting my Army bag, which is still stamped with the name of the guy who used it during Vietnam. I have a real love for this bag, which I picked up at the local Army Navy surplus store and brings me back to Los Angeles in the 1990s when my super, uber chic Danish friend and I both used these types of bags while attending L.A. City College and taking Spanish classes even though we both already had college degrees.

To me, participating in Project 333 means a few different things. It means a shopping moratorium on clothes for three months. I’m not a big shopper, so it also means cutting out making dream lists of items I need or want and knowing that for three months I will be making do.

In addition, Project 333 means a more intensive and reflective analysis of what works in my wardrobe and what doesn’t. It has only been a few short days and I’ve already learned some lessons that I will share below.

One exercise I encourage everyone to do is to really analyze how an outfit makes you feel. That can be as simple as saying, “This makes me feel good.” Or as thoughtful as saying, “This makes me feel dark, brooding, and sexy.” Or maybe it is “I feel drab” in this outfit.

Here are some conclusions I’ve already come to:
* I adore chocolate brown clothes.
* My new white tee is unwearable. It is so large that it falls off my shoulders and swoops beneath my bra!
* My straight leg black jeans are too tight right now and therefore, not flattering, so I won’t be wearing them.
* My new red tee is really tough to pull off. I dislike a red tee and black pants. I also realized I don’t like it with my brown velvet pants, either. Basically, it works somewhat with my blue jeans, but I’m realizing a red top doesn’t really go with my other clothes in a way I find aesthetically pleasing.
* My dolman sleeve tops I loved last winter only work with my black jeans tucked into my Frye boots. As I’m not wearing my black jeans for awhile, they are really useless. When they are worn with my other pants, they make me feel dowdy.

I’ll try to post some outfit photos. Meanwhile, the temperatures soared to nearly the 90s here, nearly foiling my 333 wardrobe plans. Velvet pants are not good on a hot day. I decided to wear one of my LBD and dug out my summer flip flops and my husband’s cowboy hat.
I never bought my navy converse tennis shoes, so the flip flops will replace that item and the cowboy hat will replace my white tee.
Voila!

PS. Check out The Closet Therapist. She is also undertaking the project for the same time period!