Today is 1st October and the perfect opportunity to simplify & start a capsule wardrobe with Project 333.
What is Project 333?
Project 333 is the minimalist fashion challenge by Courtney Carver, that invites you to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months.
Why and what are the benefits?
Simplifying your wardrobe is one of the best ways to create more time & space, allowing you to focus on the important things.
I found that by streamlining and spending less time & energy deciding what to wear, I had more bandwidth available for making more important decisions.
Often, too much time is spent seeking the best option – you spend all the time choosing and not actually taking action.
The time & space gained can be used to plan and prepare. This helped me to prioritise a healthier lifestyle, which snowballed from start running, to better eating habits, more sleep, rest and recovery.
A simple capsule wardrobe is an approach adopted by many successful people, including Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Joshua Fields Millburn, Joshua Becker and Andrew Odom, to name but a few.
How Project 333 works?
- When: Every three months (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)
- What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewellery, outerwear and shoes.
- What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewellery that you never take off, underwear, sleep wear, in-home lounge wear and workout clothing (but your workout clothes have to workout).
- How: Choose your 33 items, box up the remainder of the wardrobe items, seal it with tape and put it out of sight.
- What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. Remember that this is not a project in suffering. If your clothes don’t fit or are in poor condition, replace them.
How Project 333 has helped me
After adopting minimalism, one of the biggest changes was to my wardrobe. Whilst losing weight and improving my health & fitness, over the course of a year, I slimmed down from wearing an XL to a medium.
I used Project 333 to become more intentional with the clothes I wore and purchased. This meant donating the clothes that no longer fit me. My body was changing at pace so it didn’t make sense to replace the clothes quickly.
I now own less than 33 items of clothing, which are mostly dark, neutral, keeping things simple and avoiding colours requiring additional items to match. Investing in quality over quantity.
Eventually, I replaced the full size wardrobe and draws with a simple clothes rail.
My selected items
As an example, these are my selected capsule wardrobe items for the next three months (October – December 2019):
- Parka (Dark Green)
- Nike Hoodie (Grey)
- Jeans (Dark Grey)
- Farah TShirt (Grey)
- Adidas Bermuda suede trainers (Grey)
- Ray-Ban Prescription Sunglasses (Black)
- Manchester Marathon TShirt (Black)
- Redcar Half Marathon TShirt (Black)
- Run Dem Crew TShirt (Black)
- Great North Run 2019 TShirt (Teal)
- York 10K 2019 TShirt (Red)
- MIDA TShirt (Charcoal)
- Converse (White)
- Myles Everyday Short (Charcoal)
- Myles Everyday Short (Smoke)
- Dress Shirt (White)
- Blue Farah Shirt (Dark Blue)
- Oofos Flip Flops (Black)
- Suit Jacket (Black)
- Suit trousers (Black)
- Shoes (Black)
- Belt (Brown)
- Fishing Hat (Navy)
Items for Running
As mentioned above, workout items are not included in your list of 33. However, you can still be intentional with these items.
I am in no doubt that keeping things simple has significantly helped my running progress.
All of my running items are black. I wear the same tshirt and shorts when I run. I have duplicate set of the same running clothes as a backup, available to wear whilst the other is in the wash.
- Nike Pegasus Turbo X Running Shoes (Black) – for races & fast interval workouts
- Brooks Ghost 12 Running Shoes (Black) – for long runs & marathon training
- Puma Nightcat Running TShirt M (Black)
- Puma Nightcat Running Shorts M (Black)
- Puma Nightcat Running TShirt M (Black)
- Puma Nightcat Running Shorts M (Black)
- Karrimor Xlite MX Shield Jacket (Black)
- Nike Running Tights (Black)
- Garmin sports watch (Black)
- Odlo Base Layer M (Black)
- FlipBelt (Black)
- Buff (Black)
- Woolly Hat (Black)
That is what I wear when I run and that decision has been made. I no longer need to search for the specific tshirt that matches those colour shorts or the socks that go with that other pair of running shoes. I can just step out of the door and start running.
Reminder: It is not about clothes
The purpose of this challenge is not about clothes or obsessing over the number of items. It is an exercise to simplify, streamline and make your life easier, so that you can focus on the important things.
Simply #RunWithLess
