Hello again. I booted the virus out the door and spent the week catching up on things that were STILL on my to-do list at the end of 4 days in bed. Thank you for all your kind words, and to Bethany @ Journey to Ithaca for my lovely gift! :)
I am back, with more determination than ever. I think the break did me good. Breaks from things are generally rather useful. They make you think about things a little bit differently, and that’s awesome.
Onto today's post
I’ve been doing Project 333 for 3 consecutive seasons, a total of 9 months. Previously, I have just photographed my items, shown them here, and added a few lessons I’ve learnt in each season. You can see them here: season 1, season 2, season 3. And the random Season 3 Spring swap I did because I didn’t trust the English weather to improve!
This time, since not much decluttering has happened in the wardrobe department since I first started the project, I decided to take a full inventory of EVERYTHING I own, clothing wise. This includes shoes, jewellery, pyjamas, bags, workout gear. All of it. I categorised and counted my way through the weekend. It was way too hot here, so we hid indoors for most of it. (30C/86F)
This will be a picture laden post, as I have rather a lot of items in my total inventory. Don’t worry, there is always more than one item per photo! This is just the beginning. Then I have numbers. As I worked my way through Day 2 of the microcourse, I sorted all of it into piles, Love, Maybe and Toss. There will be numbers for those.
To make it easy, I just put little x's on the inventory photos to mark the items that are now on their way to the charity shop. I'd rather not repeat all the photos, that would just a get a little confusing.
Finally, the numbers that I have managed to declutter last weekend. I want this 4th season to be more than “box it up and forget about it” - because I’ve done that 3 times before, and it’s time for a (personal) challenge. By the way, it's freakin' awesome if you're taking on this project in any form, because it's amazing and I rave about it. I'm just 3 seasons into it, so I need to shake things up!
Here it goes!
Are you still there? Ready for numbers?
Total items in photos above: 182 (down from 220+ September 2012 - I only did a rough count back then)
I categorised and counted, and took photos. Then I realised that I don't need to be afraid of running out of clothing.
Next, I quickly sorted everything into LOVE, MAYBE, and TOSS piles.
LOVE pile total: 57 (-23 Sept '12)
MAYBE pile total: 41
TOSS: 5
At this point, I made the decisions quickly as to where to put each item. No more than 5 seconds. It's the first impression that counts. My criteria for the toss pile were poor fabric and worn clothing.
Then the hard part
Starting with the MAYBE pile, as per the instructions in Day 2 of the Microcourse, I asked each item (literally) whether it deserved a place in my overall wardrobe. I tried them all on too, for good measure.
Decisions to keep the item were based on:
- Colour (does it go with my existing pieces?)
- Versatility (can I mix and match this?)
- Is it useful (for interviews etc?)
- Comfort
- Fabric quality
- DO I LOVE IT??
Decisions to toss were based on:
- Crap quality
- Scratchy fabric
- Bad memories associated with it
- Not versatile
- Fit (does it fit me now? - will it ever fit?)
- Comfort (too tight, loose, big, small, short)
New totals:
LOVE: 55 (-2)
MAYBE: 26 (-15)
TOSS: 0 (they will become insides for a crafty project. Yep, zero-waste gal right here!)
Total items decluttered: 22
A breakdown by category, you say? Why not!
TANKS/STRAPPIES: 17 (-6)
T-SHIRTS: 7 (-4)
LONG SLEEVE: 9 (-1)
CARDIGANS: 5 (0)
JUMPERS/HOODIES: 10 (0)
TROUSERS/CAPRIS: 16 (-2)
SKIRTS: 7 (-1)
DRESSES: 8 (-1)
SHORTS: 5 (0)
SHOES: 11 (-1)
OUTERWEAR: 5 (0)
ACCESSORIES: 12 (-2)
BAGS: 5 (0)
JEWELLERY: 27 (-4)
WORKOUT: added 2 tees to this category, but got rid of 1. So 5 (+1)
PYJAMAS: 11 (0)
I have a mini-series lined up as there is lots to cover after 9 months of adopting Project 333. Next I will be sharing the selection process for Season 4, plus an analysis of the items I have worn, and those that have not made it into any seasonal selection so far. Feel free to comment on here, Facebook, Twitter, or G+ if you would like to see anything particular covered in these posts. I'm very open to suggestions :)
Coming up: My Project 333 Season 4 selection, plus my strategies for selection, extra rules, and various thought processes I’ve been through. Stay tuned!
This was a great post! Seeing what others have selected and understanding their decision making process is motivating and helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kandice and welcome!
ReplyDeleteSo good to see you here, and glad my post is helpful! I'm looking forward to going into more depth about my process.
I've been a follower of the Simple Year since you took over, brilliant! love your writing.
[…] I’m considering doing another term of Project 333 beginning in September. After reading about Linda’s progress from doing the challenge for three seasons, I believe continuing on that path will help me reach my wardrobe goals. I believe that we best […]
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