The first anniversary - the inventory re-visited

Exactly a year ago, on 2 November 2014, I published my first ever blog post. The desire to write had been bubbling away for some time, but as a consequence of childhood scorn and disapproval I had been reluctant to ‘put myself out there’ fearing what people might think. I really wanted a blog for my editing business website (and that blog is due to be launched before the end of this year), but I had no experience of  website or blog design so I decided to set up a personal blog, as part of the learning process, to record my Project 333 exploits.

 

I started Project 333 in order to deal with the amalgamation of my wardrobes from two separate countries and a complete change in lifestyle. I’ve since started to apply the Project’s principles to various other aspects of life. The first year anniversary seemed an appropriate opportunity to review the progress that I have made over the past year. The initial count of clothing numbered 180 items, ranging from work suits to a collection of mostly charity shop Per Una and Monsoon linen, which I christened ‘Hampstead clothing’.

I soon realised that the style of clothing that I liked, that suited me and fortunately was appropriate for our lifestyle, especially once we got another campervan, was technical, outdoor, adventure style clothing. I’ve bought a few new Rohan pieces during the year, backed up by cheaper Quechua (Decathlon) items and recently discovered the German label Jack Wolfskin. From the initial count of 180 items the spreadsheet now total 77 items, out of which 8 are non-technical – just over 10%. I have never been unable to choose what to wear and the capsules have taken me to ten different European countries, two funerals, meals out, classical music concerts, and normal everyday life.

Getting rid of stuff (*I prefer to call it recycling) because the colours do not ‘match’ may seem extravagant, but I reason that it is better that someone else has use of an item rather than it languish unworn in the wardrobe, or that it sparks a spree of buying a whole new range of unnecessary clothes just to complete an outfit. I remember times in the past when the purchase of a new pair of shoes or a handbag in a different colour would spark the purchase of a whole new outfit and accessories. Whilst I have added to the capsules, all of the purchases have been planned and colour matched to integrate with existing items – one of the secrets of dressing with a 33 piece capsule wardrobe. I don’t regret recycling any one of the more than one hundred pieces of clothing I have shed this year. Even the Aquascutum coat, one of my charity shop trophies, has gone.