I was motivated to start the Project 333 challenge because of my recent over spending on clothing. It was making me feel like I was slipping back into my old ways.

The ways where I spent far too much money on clothing and stuff.

And because I had recently completed a 10 day clothing challenge, I was interested in doing a longer challenge.

Both of these things led me to Project 333. I’m currently a week into the project but I wanted to share my outfits and some things that I’ve realized.

You can read more about it in this post.

A week of Project 333 Outfits

Day 1

This Jamie and the Jones T Top was my first purchase from an ethical brand. I had been eying it for a while, but I kept putting off purchasing it.

I ended up ordering a size xs and when it came, I loved the fabric and the cut. But the length was a little more cropped than I was expecting. This was only a problem because I didn’t feel like I owned any pants with a high rise. And I certainly didn’t want to wear it as a belly top.

Well, this led me down a rabbit hole of purchases, mostly secondhand, to find high wasted pants. And this led me to these cropped linen pants.

I dressed it up with my brass Soko choker, gold sting ray pendant and tan heels for a trip to an art museum. I felt very chic and comfortable which is always a winning combination.

It was a great day and a great outfit. Win win!

Day 2

This top kind of fell into my life.

My daughter had requested to go to a fun little shop in our downtown area and while we were in there, I had a look into their small vintage section. As soon as I saw the color of this top, I knew I had to try it on.

In the past, I would have steered clear of it but I have been stalking the Elizabeth Suzann online shop and she uses this color in her items so well, and I really wanted to try it.

A store employee had cut it as part of their “cropped top” series but I thought it worked well with these silk pants from Ozma of California.

We ended up having a laid back day at home with friends. It was awesome for lounging but I definitely felt more put together than when I wear actual lounge clothes!

Day 3

I bought this Banana Republic tank on sale a few years ago.

It had a chiffon-like ruffle around the bottom but I always disliked where it ended at my hips so I never ended up wearing it.

So, I got a pair of fabric scissors and chopped it off.

Now it’s perfect for tucking into pants. I knew that I wanted to have it in my Project 333 wardrobe!

I paired it with these Lululemon pants that I scored at a local consignment shop about a year ago. They are the only printed pants that I own and they are so sleek and comfortable. The fit is amazing and I always feel good when I wear them.

My kids got me these Eileen Fisher slides for Mother’s Day and I love the color and how simply stylish they are. I also like how they match the top pretty much perfectly!

Day 4

July 4th, Independence Day.

I always try to wear white and blue on the 4th. I don’t really own a good red top. But I did get my toes painted red the night before so that counts, right?!?.

I am not a lover of shorts but it was going to be very hot that day and we were going to sit outside and watch the parade (thankfully, our friends had set up a tent).

These old denim shorts seemed like the only logical bottoms for that particular day.

And I love a good off the shoulder top. But I didn’t own one so when I came across this top at a consignment shop, I really liked it. Initially I put it back but then continued to obsess about it all week. So I went back the following weekend and it was still there. I love when that happens!

Day 5

Another day, another (mostly) thrifted outfit. These pants are turning out to be very versatile. I do like wearing them with heels since they are wide legged and cropped and I am petite.

In the past, I would have steered away from the color of this top but I’m trying to step outside my comfort zone and try colors and fits that I wouldn’t have in the past.

This is a necklace that I made back in 2012 when I had a little Etsy store which was my creative space at the time.

Day 6

These pants. Also prompted by the Jamie + the Jones top.

I had mentioned my dilemma about not having any high wasted pants to go with this top on Instagram. I got some great feedback about ethical brands that make great high waisted pants.

One of these brands was Jesse Kamm. I had seen their pants around before and although they are beautifully made, they are quite expensive.

Not knowing how the wide legged pant would look on me, I decided to hold off on trying a pair of Kamm pants and I ordered these instead.

When they came, I was afraid that they were going to be a little too big and that they would be a little too heavy. Well, they weren’t and they aren’t. They are perfect!

Again, a little outside my comfort zone, but I’m enjoying these different silhouettes.

I am also finding that well made clothes that fit good require much less accessories!

Day 7

I may have saved the best Project 333 outfit for last. I had researched jumpsuits for quite some time and although I have a few American made ones on my wishlist, I decided that this Linenfox one would be my first one.

The first reason was the back, which you can view here.

The second was the turnaround time of one month.

And the third was the price, which was very reasonable.

Also, my daughter picked out a linen jumpsuit from another Etsy shop and she wanted us to be twins. This was the closest to the one that she picked out so how could I resist.

My takeaways from Week 1

1. Taking good outfit photos is hard.

I thought that I had a pretty good camera but once I started taking outfit photos, I started learning about all of the components that go into a high quality image and I realized that I have a lot to learn.

A little backstory (it’s a little tech heavy, but I want to outline my whole experience as I go).

The first 4 photos were taken with a Nikon D3100 camera body and an AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm lens, which I have had for a very long time.

After realizing that the picture quality was sub-par, I did some research and decided to upgrade the camera lens to an AF Nikkor 50mm lens.

But once I tried the new lens on the Nikon D3100 camera body, I quickly realized that the autofocus feature of the 50mm lens was not compatible with the D3100 body.

This led to me asking my husband to research new camera bodies that would be compatible with the lens, since he is much more technologically savvy than I am.

He figured out that a D7100 would be a great body for my lens and found me a great used one on eBay.

So, while I waited to receive the new camera body, I took the remaining 3 days of pictures with the new 50mm lens and D3100 camera body.

But what a pain that was! I would use an object (or have a kid stand against the wall) to try to manually focus the image. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t.

This whole taking outfit pictures and learning about focus and lighting has been a new challenge for me. But I want to document this process so I will try my best to get better as I go.

2. The first week of the challenge wasn’t too difficult.

I didn’t have any trouble picking out 7 different outfits from my Project 333 wardrobe. I only repeated 2 of the items more than once…the grey linen Flax pants and the Jamie and the Jones top.

Out of the 33 items that I have chosen for the challenge, I wore 11/24 clothing pieces, 4/4 pairs of shoes, and 4/5 of the accessories.

3. It is good to try clothing with different silhouettes.

The challenge has pushed me to choose outfits that I would not normally have chosen, like tops paired with wide legged, high waisted pants.

I find these outfits to be refreshing and a nice departure from my usual outfits of a flowy top and skinny pants.

4. Natural materials are great for the warmer weather.

This is probably a “duh” statement but before this summer, I had more polyester in my closet than natural fibers like linen and silk.

I have made a decision to only purchase clothing made from natural fibers. I do not enjoy hot weather, and I live in a place where the summers are very hot.

These clothes are keeping me cooler, a least a little.

5. I worry that 3 months of documenting 33 items of clothes is going to get boring.

So far, I haven’t found it to be too difficult to document my outfits but I worry that eventually, there won’t be enough variety.

I don’t know how I will deal with this of it happens.

Maybe replace a few items with things that are not currently included?

But then I worry that I’m not being true to the challenge? And this leads me to worry that maybe I am being too restrictive.

I guess time will tell.

Have you done a Project 333 capsule wardrobe? If so, did you get bored? How did you deal with the challenges?

Until next time,