PoMo Golightly

Project 333, Phase 2: the first month

January is already scampering away!  Earlier in the month, I posted about my Phase 2 choices for Project 333, and though I'm not doing weekly picture reviews for this round, I've still been thinking about the project a lot.

Most of what I discovered in Phase 1 still holds true, and the adjustments I made reflect that:

• In Week 9, I lamented my jewelry.  I now have three of my rings, a pair of earrings, my stack of bracelets, and six necklaces in rotation.  I have not worn the earrings more than once, and until my hair is long enough to wear up, I doubt I will wear them too often.  After the three-month ring fast, wearing anything on my right hand feels clumsy.  I'm not sure if I'm going to truly re-integrate my rings.  In contrast, wearing my bracelets makes me feel right with the world, and I've enjoyed having more choice in necklaces, especially this new one.  Funny, though.  Some mornings, getting dressed has become a more cluttered affair as I debate which necklace works best with my outfit.
• I decided to increase the number of handbags in my closet to three.  I use my Moop bag almost every day, but I am happy to switch to the small black bag when I go out for dinner or to see a play.  I now have definite opinions about what I want in my "perfect" bag!
• A particularly snowy January has made me glad that I lumped my handknits together.  I've been getting a lot of use out of my shawls and scarves, but poor Clapotis is still resting from her three-month solo engagement!
• I appreciate the ease of getting dressed every day.  Keeping my clothes washed and ironed is much easier, and everything in my closet mixes and matches with everything else.  Lots of permutations.
• My most worn item this round is my pair of Ugg boots.  Again, a testament to the snowy month.

I've had a lot of fun gifting many of the beautiful clothes that once crowded my closet; I sold some things, and I even bartered one fabulous purse for a massage.  It is freeing to know that these objects are finding new homes where they will be worn, and that I have more space.  

What is one thing taking up space in your life that you're ready to see move on?

Project 333, Phase 2

On Project 333

Three months.  Thirty-three items. 

Project 333 was a fantastic experience for me.  I was able to pare down my wardrobe significantly.  I learned that I could style the heck out of 33 items, rarely feeling bored.  I committed to quality and fit. I began the journey to dressing authentically. 

Phase two has commenced, and after thinking hard about what I wanted to gain from this round, after chatting with Drew and Cheryl about the rules I was planning to break (Cheryl decided to break some of the very same rules! Great minds and all that.), I decided that the best approach for this round for me is to lump some categories together.  

Phase 2 List

1. Gray print jersey dress
2. Pink and black print jersey dress (new item from those I'd boxed)
3. U.P. LBD dress (we’ll see how it fits post letting-down-the-hem)
4. Orange pullover
5. Gray cardigan 
6. Mint green cardigan
7. Black fair isle cardigan (new! Christmas gift from Neal & so cozy)
8. White blouse
9. Gray turtleneck
10. Black cap-sleeved knit shirt
11. Black long-sleeved shirt (might replace as I really prefer a v-neck)
12. Jeans (replaced the "casual" pair with a darker wash I had boxed up)
13. Jeans (dark jeans from last round)
14. Khakis
15. Black slacks
16. Gray slacks (Need to be hemmed.  Great for work or dressy casual situations)
17. Gray a-line skirt (it's big now, but I love it so & next size down is not available currently)
18. Blue a-line skirt (Christmas gift from Neal)
19. Slim skirt (newly added from items I boxed up for Phase 1)
20. Chinoa boots
21. BBC boots
22. Pearl Harts
23. Malibrans
24. Danskos
25. Uggs (newly added from items boxed up for Phase 1)
26. Yellow shoes
27. Moop bag (testing out as replacement for black leather tote.  Phase 1 was rough on tote!)
28. Orange bag
29. Small black leather bag
30. Alpaca wrap
31. Belts
32. Outerwear
33. Jewelry

I'm not making many adjustments to the last round; I have added more accessories, perhaps over doing it with the shoes.  In Phase 1, I learned that I did not like being limited to one handbag, especially a large one.  There are times when a smaller bag is better.  

Now for my reasoning in deciding to break a few rules.

Jewelry: I got used to wearing very little, but I missed my jewelry.  I've culled out a huge pile of costume jewelry I know I don't want to hang on to, and I'm boxing up all but the most sentimental of pieces: my bracelets, which I like to stack; a few necklaces; a pair of thick silver hoops bought to celebrate my undergraduate graduation; my mother/daughter ring, my turquoise ring, and my 13 ring.

Belts: I'm also lumping together the two belts I like to wear.  Would one do the trick? Of course, but I am unwilling to part with either, again for sentimental and style reasons.  I have no plans to donate or sell either, and rather than having them (wastefully) languishing in a box in the basement, I'll use them to hold up the jeans that are a little loose.

Outerwear: Like many parts of the country, New England's weather is fickle.  I know from Phase 1 that I would get a lot of use out of a 3/4 season raincoat or trench, so I'm keeping an eye out for one with a removable lining.  I have two vests and two winter coats.  Depending on Mother Nature's mood, any one of these items might be the most appropriate.  I hope by the end of this phase to see which I get the most use from and donate the rest.

Handknits: I am not a prolific knitter, but I have a couple of sweaters on the needles. If I don't even have a chance at wearing them this season, they won't get finished.  I know myself.  I have a few lace shawls that I like to wear, and let's face it: Clapotis could use some company! 

I eliminated a t-shirt this round, as well as the ill-fitting jean skirt (I found another, better fitting skirt among the boxed up items, but I'll save it for spring), and the floral blouse.  I think I'll miss the option of a second blouse, but it didn't fit, and I don't have another I like enough to put into my closet.  Since at least two months of Phase 2 are bound to be chilly, I will depend more on sweaters.

On Minimalism

I would venture to say that everyone participating in Project 333 has his or her own reasons for embarking on dressing with less, and the project is wildly celebrated among minimalist bloggers.  In the last three months, I've learned that minimalism is a blog topic that is almost as popular as knitting.  

I am not a minimalist.

I applaud those striving for a minimalist lifestyle, for whatever reason, but I do not identify myself as a minimalist. Life's circumstances have at times required minimalism and simplicity from me.  I do not like clutter. I do not like waste.  I do not like owning too much.  Sometimes I get caught up in excitement of new projects, new possibilities, and I have clutter; I am wasteful; I own too much.

I want to have exactly what I need and no more.  If that makes me a minimalist in the eyes of some, so it goes.  More important to me, though, is that I reach an understanding about the things in my life: how they make my life better, how they nurture my creativity, how they fit, how they are part of the complete picture of me.  

That said, what is one thing you own that speaks to the "complete" you?

 

Happy New Year and Project 333, Phase 1

Today I returned to an annual event that I have loved since the early 1990s and missed since 2004: the New Year's Day hike.  Early in my time in New York, my pal Cheryl invited me to join a group that did the hike for years and years.  I think it was well over 20 years by the time they stopped doing it.  When I moved away, I stopped going on the hike, and I never found a satisfactory replacement for New Year's Day.  There really is no better way to start off a freshly-baked year than to find a place with a view, gather some friends and some tasty treats and have at.  For the first time in far too long, the hike was back.  Do I look just a little excited about it?

Yesterday marked not only the end of 2010, a year that treated me well enough, but also the end of Phase 1 of Project 333.  I'm participating in Phase 2, but I don't think I'll snap the daily pictures again.  Tomorrow I'll share my new list and my final thoughts on Phase 1.  For now, though, you can take a look at 92 days of me and my clothes!

Happy 2011!!

Project 333, Week 10

This week I wore a pair of shoes not on my list.  Back in late September, I placed a box that contained my black sling-back kitten heels on the top shelf of my closet; that is the shelf where things that I did not want crammed into a box and things that I have purchased to wear post-P333 live.  I put the box up there in case of a funeral.  I did not have any black shoes on my list, and I didn't want them on my list, either, but if I had to go to a serious function, I wanted to be able to dress appropriately.

I did not go to a funeral, thankfully, but I did interview for my contract renewal (good thoughts, please.  I should know next week), and while the interview panel was made up of colleagues who see me sporting my Fluevogs all the time around campus, I felt the need to dress as conservatively as I was able. I debated this a bit, but as my fellow-P333-er, the sage Andrew Odom said, "...break from 333 if you have to. No financial security will have you at Project 00 forever!" 

Here, then are this week's outfits.  

If you'd like to see the cheater shoes or all of my Project 333 outfits, visit my Flickr set. See any other differences?

Before you head off, tell me something: when have you broken rules (your own or those imposed by others) in order to accomplish something in a more appropriate way?

Project 333, Week 10

I love having my picture taken.  When I'm comfortable with the photographer and feel good, I can be a real ham in front of the camera.  Self portraits are different, though.  I've felt some discomfort in doing them, although some days, when I really love my outfit and know the light is good and my hair came out looking not-a-mess, I have fun.  More often, though, I'm aware of my vanity, and I feel uncomfortable. 

I took on the daily Project 333 pictures after a colleague challenged me to stay honest and keep a visual record.  Sometimes I take thirty or more shots until I see one that, with a little cropping, will show the outfit--okay, let's be honest, me--to best advantage.  Is it insincere to not post the picture where I think my hips are too hippy or my nose looks too long?  These parts make up the whole of me, and I love them for working well, for serving me with little or no pain, pretty well over the decades.

But when the parts don't look they way I want them to in a picture, I often dismiss the picture and find one in which they do.

As I thought about what this reveals about my vanity, I realized something else.  That desire to present my image in a particular way, a way I'm overly fussy about, is exactly why I need Project 333 in my life.

I love clothes.  I love new clothes.  I love feeling that I have taken something classic and made it edgy.  I love looking like I pay attention.  Even if I no longer live a short train ride away from my beloved NYC, I love to imagine that I look like I do live there.  I enjoy being complimented on a well-styled outfit. 

All of this love, this vanity, is what packed my closet.  I have classic pieces, pieces I know flatter and will be wearable for as long as they fit me.  My vanity, though, would lead me to buy cheap trendy clothes to mix with the classics. Project 333 has made me realize that applying my core values to style moves me a little further away from the discomfort of vanity that results in spending money on cheap clothes that might have been made at a very, very high cost.  I have realized that I can be more authentically me by dressing with fewer clothes, with clothes that fit beautifully and work together.  I can share the excess that once burdened me.  I can use my vanity in a different way: I can strive to dress elegantly from a small, well-thought-out wardrobe.  The edginess comes not from the latest trend, in fact, but from my attitude.

I'll continue taking the self portraits.  I like keeping records.  I like learning to use my camera more effectively.  I like the community that is developing around the pictures taken by P333-ers.  A little vanity, harnessed for good, can, after all, be a virtue.

So I'm telling myself.

If you'd like to see all of my Project 333 outfits, visit them here.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Project 333, Week 9

This week on Flickr, Christina asked me "Deep down, do you wish you had more items?  Different items? More or less of something?"  The answer, really, is yes, and, no.  I spent a lot of time putting together my original list.  I know my style, and I like to mix and match.  I don't necessarily wish for more items, but I sometimes do wish for some different ones.  

I miss my jewelry.  Most of it is sentimental, and I put the most sentimental (and pragmatic; my watch is a must have) on the list (a necklace Neal gave me when I lived in New Mexico; it was meant to look like a winter sky in the Northeast), and I put a synecdoche bracelet on the list (I usually like to stack 'em, and the one I kept out stands in for all the others).  I am glad I didn't put earrings on the list, but now that my hair is almost long enough to put up, I would like to have my favorite silver earrings to wear. I'll be passing on a lot of costume jewelry and sharing nicer pieces I no longer wear with family members.  

In embarking on Project 333, I was concerned that I would be unhappy with a limited shoe and purse wardrobe.  Again, I selected the shoes carefully for their versatility and considered what I was most likely to be doing during the three months.  Not once have I wished for any additional shoes.  I will be paring those back dramatically, too.  I only put one purse on the list, a black tote that I could use for work.  It isn't cutting it.  It's a great bag, but I hate carrying it when I'm not at work.  It's simply too big. So in the next round, while I plan to purge many of my beautiful bags, I will have a little more variety.

Want to see this week's outfits?

(Thanksgiving break meant lots of casual outfits!)

There's something exciting on its way (finally!) to my house...all day I've been stalking the tracking for my Uniform Project L.B.D.!  Starting tonight, I'll be playing P333 with 32 items instead of 31!

You can see all of my Project 333 outfits here, and if you'd like to see what fellow P333-er Drew (be sure to hop over to Drew's site.  He is doing cool, cool things!) and I have cooked up, check out our weekly photo game here.

Now that I've dished about what I miss, tell me, what piece of jewelry (remember, wedding rings don't count on P333) you could not do without for three months?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Project 333, Week 8

Week 8 already?!  Only one more month before Round 2 of Project 333 begins.  

I asked Neal if he would give his feedback on what he thinks about my Project 333.  He's a man of few words, and here are the ones he had to say:

• I like the reduction in laundry.  We're saving money and making a smaller carbon footprint.
• I like the way you've incorporated texture, shape, color to reflect the season.  Instead of wearing fall colors, there is a coolness to what you're putting together that speaks to the cooler weather.
• Less choices free up the mind for higher thoughts.  I think it was Edison who had the same clothes and wore them day after day.  There's something to be said for that.  You're channeling that creative energy into a different place.
• I'm fond of the daily pictures, not as a record of your day-to-day outfit, but as a way of seeing the subtle changes that you can miss when you live with someone.  I guess they are like a historical record.

He's done talking about me and my clothes  (you can see all of my outfits here).  We've got a lazy day ahead of us.  I'm hoping to do some crafting and get a jump start of Christmas gifts that I want to make.  

Hope you have a great day-after Thanksgiving!

Project 333, Week 7

Here are this week's pictures:

 
Lots of little corners of the house for you to see!

Time for my weekly musing about Project 333.  I've had a few laundry emergencies when I've realized that if I don't hop to, I'm going to be stuck wearing jeans to work.  Since I am drying everything on lines in the basement, I really do have to think ahead.  Other than that, caring for my clothes has become so easy.  There isn't much to fold or put away once the laundry is done, and there isn't much ironing, either. 

One of my students complimented me on my shoes recently (the pink and black Pearl Harts if you care).  We chatted about clothes, and I told her about the project.  She was in the camp of "I could never do that," but then she admitted that she probably doesn't wear most of what is in her closet. 

The ripple effect.  That's what I think I am liking about the project this week.  Lots of people (okay, women) have had a similar reaction as my student; it was MY reaction when I first read about the project.  Really, though, for three months, a person can do about anything.  It is all a matter of choice.  I know most people aren't interested in challenging themselves when it comes to their wardrobe, and that is fine, of course!  But if reading about Project 333 here or on any of the other blogs has made you think about joining, guess what?

Round two begins January 1, 2011. 

Learn more on the Project 333 Facebook page. If you'd like to see all my Project 333 outfits, check out my Flickr page.

In the meantime, tell me about your plans for the weekend.  I think I might go see a movie in the theater.  You know, about a kid with a curious scar on his forehead? That one.

Project 333, Week 6

This past week marked not only Week 6 of Project 333, but also the two-year anniversary of Coco Chanel's arrival.  She is one funny little puppy (even at two, she's still the puppy to me).

Anyway, want to hear more about P333?  Check out Cheryl's 30-day post, Suzanne's status report, Monica's Day One Report, and Meg's recent report.

And here is my status update in the form of confession.  I have worn my rain boots to campus two times (I change into P333 shoes as soon as I get inside...but there are some deep waters on campus when it rains!), and I wore an old rain jacket to work this week.  It was torrential out there, people, and I could not face a soaked jean jacket.  What does this tell me?  That a good transitional coat is necessary.  I'm thinking that I should admit that Tim Gunn knows of what he speaks and start the search for a fabulous trench.

Another confession: I wear a little clip in my bang sometimes.  I'm growing the fringe out, and there are days I just can not take it flopping in my face.  I suppose I ought to call it an accessory, but I'm not going to.  

One more confession: I tried on those khakis in order to pin them so I could hem them and finally wear them.  To my delight (I've been working hard at this), they were too big*. Into the "out" pile they went, and I replaced them with a pair in my "fighting weight" size.

I'm excited that my L.B.D. is slated to arrive by mid-November (although there have been a few delays, I have faith that I'll be able to wear it for Thanksgiving).  I'm also working hard on a sweater (I left a space on the list for one hand-knit sweater) that I want to wear on Thanksgiving.  Both will re-charge my wardrobe!

I'm getting closer and closer to understanding what I want and need to make a simple, fun and elegant wardrobe that will keep my closet as empty as it is now while giving me lots of good-fitting options.  Can you tell I'm crazy for Project 333?

See all of my Project 333 outfits on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about my clothes!

*this is a post for another day, when I decide whether or not it is polite to discuss my weight and fitness issues.

Project 333, Week 5

In which I look like a dirty girl.  Seriously, I wore the same pair of jeans all week!  I usually put on my pj pants when I come home so I can fold up or wash clothes right away, so it isn't quite as gross as it seems (really!).  

(picture four on the top row gives you a sneak peek at the new dining room/deck door.  Sheet rock is all up and taped...soon there will be paint!)

Last week the dryer gave up the ghost.  I mean, not a puff of air to dry with is coming from it.  I've been hanging clothes in the basement, which is not nearly as nice as hanging them in the sunshine.  The hope is that I will find a really good sale over Veteran's Day.  Since the washer has been limping along for the last year, too, I'm going to go all out and buy a new one at the same time.  Any advice?