In today’s post, I share some excellent audio resources on the topics of compulsive shopping, fashion ethics, and wardrobe minimalism. Most of these resources can be easily downloaded and listened to while you are driving, exercising, or doing other activities.
Podcasts and teleseminars can be fun and relaxing ways to learn!
I have listened to all of the recommended resources and found them interesting, informative, and enlightening. I hope you will feel the same!
Those who have been reading “Recovering Shopaholic” for a while know that I took on the Project 333 challenge during the months of April through June. I posted weekly updates and monthly recaps of my Project 333 experience and later summarized my top 8 lessons learned from completing this minimalist fashion challenge.
As the end of June approached, I contemplated taking on another term of Project 333 but ultimately decided to do something a bit different. A member of the Project 333 Facebook group wrote that instead of selecting her 33 items at the beginning of the challenge, she instead selected her garments each day and tracked them as she went along. Intrigued by this concept, I decided to do the same, at least for the month of July.
Each day when I got dressed, I simply wore what I felt like wearing and wrote everything down on a piece of paper. I allowed myself to select from my April through June Project 333 capsule, as well as from the other garments I had stored while doing the challenge. New garments were only added back to my closet after they were worn. Thus, I avoided the packed closet that overwhelmed me in the months before starting Project 333.
This post is part two of my “debrief” on my Project 333 experience. On Monday, I shared all of my Project 333 numbers, including how often I wore the various pieces of my wardrobe capsule, how many shoes and accessories I wore (I didn’t include these items in my 33), and my favorite outfits worn during the challenge. Today I’m highlighting the top lessons I learned from my minimalist fashion experience.
This was my April through June wardrobe – just 33 garments!
A little over a week ago, I completed a full stint of Project 333, the minimalist fashion project which challenges participants to wear only 33 items for three months. Although purists of the challenge include shoes and accessories within their 33, I opted to only count articles of clothing. I reasoned that taking on Project 333 was scary enough for this longtime “clothing maximalist,” and I wanted to have a higher chance of success.
Succeed I did – and Project 333 wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be! Being the tracking geek that I am, I kept a full accounting of everything I wore during April, May, and June. In today’s post, I share my June numbers (see the April and May numbers here and here) as well as my final numbers for the full project. I also share my favorite outfits worn over the course of Project 333.
Before I delve into my Project 333 debrief, I have to warn you that there are a lot of numbers! If you’re at all like me, you’ll love my level of detail, but others might find themselves thinking, “This woman is nuts!” Don’t worry, though. I’ve included lots of photos for my more visually inclined readers.
I did it! I completed Project 333!
This is it – my final Project 333 update! Well, it may not be my final update forever more, but it’s the last one for now. I have completed thirteen weeks of dressing with only 33 garments, which was something I never thought I’d be able to do. When I first heard about Project 333 about a year ago, I was intrigued but I didn’t even think of taking on the challenge myself. Then in March, Courtney Carver (creator of Project 333) challenged me to do it, and you know the rest of the story!
If you’re new to my blog and my journey, you may be interested in reading “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,” my guest post on the Project 333 site in which I voiced my four big fears about doing the challenge and the ways I planned to overcome them. Since that time, I’ve been posting weekly Project 333 updates on my blog, including photos of all of the outfits I’ve worn along the way.
I’ve experienced many ups and downs as the weeks progressed, but I’m very glad I decided to do Project 333. I’ve learned a great deal about my wardrobe, my evolving sense of style, and myself. It was definitely a good thing for me to do!
Recovering Shopaholic 