PoMoGoLightly prompts me to Project 333

I have been considering Project 333 over at the Be More With Less blog. I'm a minimalist at heart. Truly I am. I followed Beverly on her blog and Twitter the past few months as she worked through the project. The basic principle of the project is to select 33 pieces of clothing (not including underwear or pajamas) and only wear those three pieces for three months. I loved watching her transform her wardrobe into very unique different outfits using these 33 pieces. She took pictures each day and her outfit along with a quick listing of what she wore. It was cool. And she also has ceased making me run over to the Fluevog website twenty times a week to see what cool shoes she's been drooling over.

Here are the problems I'm having with the Project 333:

1. My wardrobe sucks! Seriously sucks. I've been trying to buy more intentionally rather than "Oh, this is on sale and it fits so let's buy it." The problem with this is that when I do purchase intentionally it is very difficult to find exactly what I want and I get frustrated and buy three things that I don't like. This happened last year when I wanted cute lacy camis to wear under things like sweaters or as another layer under thinner shirts. I wanted this cute layering look that wasn't quite in style yet. So I ended up buying two camis that only sort of fit and weren't all that cute. Fortunately style has caught up with me and I now own a bright pink, a lime green, a grey, and a purple cami. This year's dilemma seems to be pants. I have a pair of jeans and a pair of dressier black and gray striped pants that are comfy. And one black skirt. I need at least one more nicer pair of pants, but haven't found the exact thing I'm looking for. Anyone seen some nice soft corduroy pants with just a little bit of pleating at the waist and pockets preferably in charcoal or rust in a size 20 petite?

2. My children already complain that I wear the same things over and over again. I think this is less about minimalism and more about being in a rut. It's just too easy to pull on a pair of jeans and a knit shirt and call it good with my art shirt and a pair of Crocs or Birkis. I want to look cute or artistic and come across looking dumpy and sloppy. Which means I'm not happy with my wardrobe no matter if it is minimalistic or full.

3. I have a hard time releasing things, even those things that don't fit, I don't like or are tired or out of fashion. It's that "I paid good money for this and I haven't gotten my money's worth so I am going to hold on to it until I do." That would be all well and good except I never will "get my money's worth" because it just hangs in my closet and collects dust on the shoulders.

4. I live in Florida. Today the high is only supposed to reach 42°F. This weekend it is supposed to get up to 70°F. We've been known to have 80°F days in February and by March our days are much warmer than in January. I'm thinking I will have to definitely use the additional rules of having clothes I need to rotate through just to keep up with our wonky weather.

5. A jewelry issue. As I have a fairly boring wardrobe, I also have a fairly boring jewelry collection. I wear the same two rings (both sterling, neither a wedding ring), the same two bracelets (both sterling bands that I've worn for 20 years) and the same two earrings (one sterling and one titanium both in the same ear) all the time. I never take them off. They are a part of me. So do these six pieces count as six items or just another layer of skin? I have maybe three pair of earrings that I rotate through if I actually remember to wear earrings.

6. I knit. And I love my knitwear. I probably have twenty pair of hand knit socks (are those underwear?) and four shawls. And you do not want to know about all the projects worth of yarn that I have in two three bins in my hobby room. I've actually been pretty good about being on a yarn diet since Stitches South in April and have been good about knitting from my stash. In fact the gifts I'm knitting for the kids all came from my stash. I have planned projects, I just don't have enough time to knit what I currently have and am trying not to get sidetracked by new patterns. This is very difficult to do when Interweave Knits keeps putting out such cool stuff and there are all these talented designers on Ravelry.

I am figuring that I have sixteen more days to decide if Project 33 would actually work for me or not. I like the idea. I want to be cute and fashionable. I think I had this same dilemma in the spring when I wanted to look cute and charming like one of my characters. Perhaps it is a seasonal thing. (I'm still looking for blue espadrilles.)