June 29, 2022
Today’s my birthday – I’m 62!!! The only certain treat today is a yellow cake with maple frosting, from Sweet Mandy B’s…
Sadly, I will NOT be able to have a blog post ready for Friday; between my birthday and other utterly unrelated errands I have to run on Thursday, it’s just not possible! I will of course be back on Monday…
But on to more practical things – clearing out a wardrobe that’s just plain and simply too full. More clothing than you need is confusing, distracting clutter, and clothing that you can donate could be a wonderful gift to a total stranger…
Here’s our starting point:
all clothes – L.L.Bean
I’m working (gradually and haltingly!) toward Project 333 for myself, and I’m trying to be sensible, by keeping clothing in the 33 that I wear a lot. That only makes sense, right?
So these are my guidelines for this version. I’m using all of these L.L.Bean clothes to standing in for my (much more monochromatic) wardrobe:
For our heroine, this project started out REALLY easy – her favorite handful of clothing is always in the laundry, and then in the front of her closet:
For her next half-dozen garments, she finds that she chooses one 3-piece outfit, 1 2-piece outfit, and her favorite dress:
And here is where she lost focus, and much momentum!
Our heroine tends to wear the same pants or shorts with a whole range of tops – trying to put together outfits of 3 pieces doesn’t reflect the way she actually WEAR my clothes…
One way to work yourself out of a wardrobe impasse is to sort things by color. This doesn’t work all that well for me – I’m more likely to sort by fabric – but for our heroine, this could be useful…
all clothes – L.L.Bean
My first insight is that she has almost a balance between cool and warm colors, but the clothes that she wears most often are shades of blue.
- Is she really committed to wearing blue? (one could, legitimately and beautifully, wear blue every day), or
- Does she just wander into blue clothing because they’re easy to find and easy to wear?
So our mythical heroine makes the decision that she’s committed to blue – it’s where her eye is always drawn when she shops, and she always feel beautiful and more like herself in blue…
Wearing mostly blue for 3 months should give her a really clear insight into her feelings about blue clothes – a signature that she adores, or an easy fall-back position that needs a 2nd neutral?
She adds some more tops to her Project 333 Wardrobe, as well as another dress:
This is her first 18 garments; with the addition of a navy cardigan, navy pants and a pair of white shorts, she could probably manage for the entire summer!
Here’s where our heroine runs into a snag, which can teach her something important. She’s always been hesitant to buy simple, timeless navy (or white) shorts, capris or pants. So now, when she wants to pull together 3-piece ensembles, she finds that she really doesn’t have the bottoms to make it work!
She decides to include most of the rest of her blue clothes – everything that’s suitable for warm weather – and see where that takes her:
striped dress, light blue hoodie, striped shirt, blue linen shirt, navy print top, chambray dress, navy elastic-ankle joggers, navy terry shorts, navy print top
She now has chosen 27 garments for her Project 333 i.e. she can select six more garments…
Olive green is tempting, but she’s already indicated through her earlier choices that she prefers a cooler green – mint or “faded jade”…
And so her only other option for shorts and pants is khaki! I might suggest to this heroine that she branch out from 100% L.L.Bean, eh?
But in the interest of being able to go for a good long time without laundry, she chooses six final garments:
Coral shirt, pink seersucker shirt, mint sleeveless top, sienna brick tank top, beige shorts, tan hiking pants
With that decision, she’s finished choosing her Project 333 Wardrobe to last her ’til the end of September:
Looking at this wardrobe, I can see 2 clear directions that the heroine could go with her wardrobe plan:
- stick with blue, and invest in a handful of classic navy garments, like chinos, cropped pants, twill shorts… Also, if she’s inclined toward white in warm weather, a couple of white garments wouldn’t go amiss. Or
- she could choose a 2nd neutral – khaki, olive, white, stone – anything that you can wear with blue. Once she has committed to a 2nd neutral, she will be able to donate anything that doesn’t fit into her plan, and invest in a couple of things in her new 2nd neutral.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this wardrobe, really! Let’s look at a few of her options for dressing, in the hot weather:
If you have 2 neutrals in your wardrobe, how do you balance them? I’ve only ever had black (lots and LOTS of black…) so I’ve never had to do this. Yet.
love,
Janice
p.s. Eight years ago, we paused in the building of a Wardrobe from Scratch, to clarify our preferences. This is an exercise worth thinking about every few years; your tastes may change!
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Happy Birthday, Janice! Thank you for all you do. The cake sounds delicious. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday! I share your affinity for all things black, even though I know navy-based outfits work better for my complexion. Also, your last 333 post inspired me to pare down my working wardrobe to my 33 favorite items. I have learned three things from this:
1. My “uniform” consists of a dress and cardigan or a trouser, knit top and cardigan;
2. It’s hard for me to create an outfit that doesn’t include a black cardigan or black pants year-round; and
3. Without the default black pieces, my favorite clothing seems to be a mishmash of unrelated items.
I am going to try to get to fall with what I have selected, to see if I can either figure out a non-black missing link item or two that will transform my disparate pieces into a unified wardrobe or to discern whether some of my loved-but-rarely-worn pieces need to find love at another home. We’ll see.
Thank you for all of the wonderful outfit inspiration!
Happy Birthday !🎂! 🎈🎈🎉🎉🎁🎁🎂🎂
Sometimes those two neutrals have a seasonal bias – grey comes out a lot in Winter, whereas the beige comes out in the summer. You may still wear both, but I’ve found different shades have different ways of working and some colours are more readily available in certain types of clothing than others – it was.easy to find jogger style shorts in beige and light green, but not in a dark grey.
Happy Birthday to you!
I use black for dressier moments and outfits, and blue for everyday wear (I am retired and do not dress up often). I have 37 articles of clothing for all seasons–and we do have winter, spring and summer here–and follow the Project 333 guidelines which include shoes, bags, accessories, coats, hats, scarves, but not gym clothes and underwear, pajamas or wedding rings and other permanently worn jewelry.
So I wear a black dress coat and shoes and navy sweatshirt and shoes when casual. I do have some white and light khaki to wear with my ubiquitous black and navy pants. I have given up dresses as I am 75 and feel entitled to comfort!
When I do dress up, pulling on my good black things feels special, but I do love my blues.
This is what I do, too! Two neutrals, black for dressy and navy for everyday. There’s a lot of crossover with accent colors that go with both.
Thank you for teaching me how to THINK about this process. Today I bought a green linen blouse I have been eyeing and a green pull over sweater. I know the accent color that makes me happy! The blouse works for regular wear and the sweater travels well and both work with my neutrals. Enjoy your yellow cake.
Happy Birthday!
The question I have when I see these wardrobes is how to balance professional vs. casual wardrobes. I dress drastically different for work than I do on weekends with only a small amount of overlap. So how many garments should I have (according to the Project 333 principals – which I find helpful but also annoying to be given a number in this manner). I probably have around 20 items of casual clothing which is too much for a regular weekend but there are times I’m on vacation and need more. Not to mention the temps swinging wildly between 65 – 100 so far this summer. In a perfect world, I would be able to build a wardrobe with more crossover between work and time off but so far I haven’t been able to make that work.
Meant to say, my work wardrobe is 25 pieces which is a good number for me.
Perhaps your number could be 45 instead of 33. It sounds very reasonable to me to have 20 garments for casual and 25 for work. In the past, Janice has written about having different capsules for different activities. This sounds like what you have done.
Happy, Happy Birthday!!
I do hope you have an amazing day. ENJOY!!
You just gave me the perfect unbirthday present! Have a great day!
Happy birthday, Janice!! Best wishes for a weekend of well-deserved celebrations!
Love this series as I attempt to keep my clothing consumption under control… I’m getting better….
My wardrobe is mainly neutrals: navy, gray, olive and black because there are limits to styles offered in tall plus. I have some pretty tees, a couple of jeans jackets and *BOOM* I’m done.
My issue is when I find something that fits I feel obligated to buy….
But I remind myself that I have enough.
Happy birthday! Enjoy your special day. Thanks for the ever-inspiring and thoughtful wardrobe advice!
Happy Birthday Janice! and I’ll miss you on Friday! Love all the blues – or maybe that’s because it’s something I’ve been adding to my own wardrobe. I may never be a minimalist, but am constantly going through my closet as I don’t see the point of storing things I never (or hardly ever) wear. I’m not sure I’m targeting 33 garments, but I don’t even have that many for summer wear as that’s a short season here. I like the idea of keeping track of what you wear and going from there. I am fortunate in that my workplace is fairly casual and I am able to have my work and weekend wardrobes somewhat overlap. Think Venn diagram. I also liked the look back. It seems as if my wardrobe preferences are always evolving. Hair went gray, seem to have developed some skin sensitivities, comfort becoming more important, work requirements changing. Next year I will be in a classroom not strictly the library, so I may need to up my game just a little. I’m looking forward to seeing all the other comments today – and probably for the next couple of days as these posts always seem to generate a longer discussion. Happy Birthday again and thank you!
Happy birthday, and thank you for all you do for us! Hoping you spend your day doing something fun and lovely!
Happy Birthday, Janice!! Enjoy some free time!
Happy birthday. I hope you enjoy the celebrations.
I find birthdays and season change a good time to evaluate what’s actually working , actually fits and what’s always coming out of the laundry.
I don’t closely follow the wardrobe 333 rules, but they inspired my organization years ago.
I divide my closet into 5 sections: active, farm work, special occasion, casual and coats. Casual and active wear that becomes worn or stained, moves over to the farm side for chores until ready for the rag bag. Sorting by use makes sense to me since the demands on my clothing are so clearly defined, I’m not sure how I would arrange my closet if the line between casual and work was more blurred.
Thank you for your work.
Yes – by season & use or audience.
A drawer of tees that are your farm use, are my around the house/pajamas.
Another drawer of tees and shorts and gym clothes fit for public.
Slightly up from there, hanging in my closet are shirts without logos or texts, for seeing friends and loved ones, stylish denim and slacks and skirts
Then work clothes that are dressier and more formal and structured. These overlap with the more casual clothes too.
A few special occasion outfits – suits, formal dresses, that kind of thing
Definitely more than 33/season but eliminating what isn’t worn really helps
And I try to buy secondhand whenever possible!
Happy birthday, Janice. Warmest wishes for a great year and great cake. (Yours sounds delicious.) You’ve been a gift to us with your wisdom, warmth and strategic advice.
Happy birthday Janice and thanks for all your hard work and great ideas.
Happy Birthday Janice! Wishing all good things in the year ahead and that all your wishes come true!
I’ll be sliding into 62 soon too!
Happy Birthday! Age is just a number and you can pick any number that you want! Love your blog!
Happy Birthday, Janice. Hope you are thoroughly spoilt. Your cake sounds delicious 🥳🎂🍾🥂💐
This post is so useful. My every day choices are in a pile on the ottoman at the end of my bed or in the wash!
My priority is fit. With fluctuating weight due to various medical conditions, I have duplicates of trousers in different sizes. I don’t have duplicates of tops, skirts or dresses, just lots of variables in different sizes. Sometimes, I get frustrated because a garment that I wear one day might feel too tight or loose a few days later.
Next is colour. As a Soft Summer, I have a lot of different shades of colours to choose from. I don’t really differentiate between neutrals and accents and I often go for blended outfits.
The other huge variable is the Great British Weather which gets more unpredictable and extreme with every year. Not only do I have to be prepared for every eventuality, I also find it difficult to regulate my temperature so I can be wearing several layers when everyone else is in t-shirts.
I might never reach a magic number.
My aim is to have most garments wearable for 6-9 months. These are a combination between the Common Wardrobe, the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Then I put my own twist with pattern and texture. There will be some things that I wear in high summer or the depths of winter.
If anything, I like to create mini capsules starting with a patterned blouse or top between 5-16 garments. Sometimes two capsules will merge as I experiment with different colour combinations. This can create a wearable six month group for all weathers. However, I don’t rigidly put them in my wardrobe and drawers like that. I store items in colour groups. Satisfaction comes from knowing that I can take any garment and create an outfit depending on fit, colour combinations, the weather and my mood. Inspiration is drawn from Start with… blogs, Six Scarves, 12 months and the new Japanese wardrobe scheme is proving interesting.
I also don’t count accessories and jewellery as they deserve their own separate collection scheme.
Perhaps, I should go and count my everyday items…
oh Beth T – I had to laugh, and I so identify with your statement: ” I also find it difficult to regulate my temperature so I can be wearing several layers when everyone else is in t-shirts. ” I spend a large part of my day taking sweaters off and on, opening/closing windows. We used to make fun of my grandmother for the same thing… oh no! I’ve turned into my grandmother!!!!!
I counted my every day things at the bottom of my bed. Seven trousers – blue, plum, grey and taupe, one skirt and two maxi dresses. That’s ten items. Then I had 14 long/three-quarter and short sleeve tees and a check shirt. A similar number of jumpers and cardigans of different weights and sleeve lengths. So about 40 items. However, I probably have the same again twice over in my wardrobe and drawers. 😅 Variety is the spice of life!
Happy birthday Janice! 🥳
Enjoy your day, and thank you for your wonderful blog. I refer so many people to it!
❤️ From a June birthday sister (my birthday was Sunday)
Happy Birthday! Love this website. Your color combinations are inspiring. Have a lovely day.
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Janice! Your cake sounds so delicious and I hope you enjoy every single bite. At last count, my entire wardrobe was around 150 items, including shoes and bags. I’m retired and live in a 4 season climate, though winter has been much warmer the last few years. My jewelry collection is minimal. I don’t really need much for my lifestyle.
Happy Birthday!
I am glad that today’s post approached this wardrobe by sorting by color first.
I think the final 33 piece wardrobe is more versatile and cohesive than the previous approach.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday Janice🎂. Wow! Thanks for all your hard work and thought that went into this post. You may definitely be excused on Friday:). Since reading your posts I have done a lot of purging and given a lot of thought into my own since of style, quality versus quantity and where and how my clothing is manufactured. My impulse shopping has been curtailed and everything I now purchase must be able to be worn with several items in my wardrobe. I have also learned to use scarves and jewelry to add colour and interest to my preferred style of “column” dressing. Project 333 makes so much sense on so many levels, thanks for further inspiring me 💗
Happy birthday!🎉🎂🎈
I would have guessed 52 not 62!
Enjoy your cake and celebration!
Thanks for all your help with our wardrobes
Have a very happy birthday! The cake sounds wonderful.
I am 62 as well and get so much from your blog. Happy Birthday!!
This post is me totally. My wardrobe is 95% blue. I have a small stack of coral items in a bag ready for donation. I do have a handful of red I wear in winter, a couple of medium pink tops for summer and one pair ok khaki shorts and pants that I usually wear with one of my few white tops. I wear navy or denim bottoms all year. Limiting my wardrobe colors makes dressing a breeze!
When I first started following the Vivienne Files, I wore mostly black (because black goes with everything, right?) But as I got older I found non-stop black to be a bit depressing and found I wanted more color in my life. This is where your accent colors found me. First I leaned toward lavendar, then berry.
Years later, I find have two 4×4 wardrobes–mostly black and gray in the cold months and gray and navy in the warmer months. I tend to lean toward the blues as accents in all wardrobe incarnations with a touch of pink, purple or berry.
The neutrals keep my wardrobe grounded and the accent colors and combined prints please my soul.
Thank for helping me (and others) figure this out.
P.S. Happy birthday! The sixth decade can be very fulfilling.
Happy birthday Janice. Hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for all the inspiration I find on your blog.
Happy birthday, Janice! I hope your Belovedest thoroughly spoils and celebrates you today. 🥳
May you have a very blessed and extremely fun birthday!!! I can’t believe it’s been eight years ago that you did the post on the bottom!! I remember this very well!!!
This is a great wardrobe for a casual lifestyle, say a retiree, and none the worse for being all Bean. My opinion is she should stick with blues with green accents. Stop at 27 and add a nice pair of navy pants, a navy cardigan and a pair of jeans. Then a variety of situations would be covered. The challenge of two neutrals is having the accent colors work with both.
Happy birthday! Hope you enjoy your day. I’m on vacation with the hubs and kids in Cape Cod. We took a day trip to Nantucket yesterday and saw a little shop that made think of you. The owner repurposes Hermes scarves and makes them into adorable shoes! He also has a location in Provincetown. The shoes were out of my price range and not a suitable style for my lifestyle, but a girl can dream.
In case your looking for a travel adventure, here’s the link:
https://respoke.com/
Oh my…. birthday presents….
hugs,
Janice
Happy 62, Janice! As my 103 y.o. neighbor told me, “Its just a number!”
I recently purchased, and sent back, the navy striped linen pants featured in this post. Made me look like an AMTRAC train engineer. Great quality though.
Related to your question, I feel fortunate that my two neutrals are dark blue and cool grey. They work together or with the few cool accent colors in my closet. I have true purple, aqua, and some peach accents at this time. Always looking to branch out though.
Also sending you heart-felt thanks for TVF. You have brighted many dark mornings. I recently survived a vertebral fracture and you gave me a reason to turn on the lamp in the morning on MWF, and have something to smile about.
Happy birthday to you! You are too young .I could be your mother.😀
I enjoy all your post.Living in my country who has the same weather around the year I don’t have problems with my season’clothes.But I began to be more minimalist every day.My favorite colour is blue (navy or light)with accents of white,beige,black,pink,and monochromatic generally. Love your kind of mix clothes.
Thanks a lot . Enjoy your cake and the company.
Happy Birthday! The cake sounds delish. Cake. Just yum. Well, now that I’ve stopped dreaming of cake, I have to say that organizing by colour hit a chord for me. I think along colour as that is how I finally have my spring/summer tops organized. I finally counted those. 61 clean with another 5 in the wash. Those are dressy at work, normal at work, grungy home projects, casual at home, nicer weekend, & going out. 6 levels of use, so not a huge number when split along those terms. Haven’t counted anything else yet…but need to do so. Once main numbers are tallied up, then comes the how many in each use question. Today’s post felt cohesive in terms of the final analysis. Thank you for a wonderful treat that isn’t going to go on my hips. We will miss you on Friday, Janice, but will be that much happier to see you back on Monday.
Happy Birthday! and thank you for all your insight. I recently returned home from three months away, and feel overwhelmed by how many clothes I have. But, I’ve already done a pretty good job of getting rid of the items I don’t like or use. So it’s hard to pare down more. One of the issues I run into is that a very favorite garment, that has some special attributes (like a dressy skirt that doesn’t crease or show dirt!) needs accompanying pieces that don’t fit well with the colors of the rest of my wardrobe. But I can’t find a replacement item that fits better … so I end up with a bunch of separate little groupings.
Since I started reading The Vivienne Files, my 333 formula is to start with WTW for the season (13 well-chosen basics) and add just enough coordinating garments to make it 3-4 days past laundry day. For my casual lifestyle, that still leaves me enough choices to include most of my accessories in the 33! Thank you, Janice, for giving me another tool. And Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday Janice.i hope you enjoyed your cake. I am forever trying to sort out my wardrobe as it has to house all 4 seasons clothes. I am gradually coming away from black and I am mostly keeping it for formal occasions with the exception of a black blazer I wear with jeans. I am not a fan of casual clothes and am probably overdressed for the small town I live in. Jeans are the nearest I get to casual and I wear them with nice tops and jackets. I love all blues from navy to baby blue but they have to be clear blues with no grey undertones. I also have a lot of white for summer wear and much prefer jackets to cardigans as top layers. Winter has a few bits of red and bright blue to cheer up the cold grey days. BTW at 78yo I am also old enough to be your mum but as it has already been said age is just a number. Thank you for all you do.
Happy Birthday! Wahoo!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANICE!
Love the blues, and the suggestion of adding navy/white pants. Shorts do not figure in my wardrobe(or in short they don’t suit my figure), but cropped pants and midi skirts do. Thank you for the ideas on where to begin the ‘cull’. The hard part is letting go of items you like, but seldom actually wear…or that don’t quite fit …at the moment, but might some time in the future .
I appreciate your witty word banter! made me chuckle :)
Have a wonderful birthday and enjoy your more than well derserved day off – You bring a lot of joy to my life, your blog is my first read on Mo, Wed, Fr. Thank you and all the Best Tina from Berlin/Germany
Happy birthday Janice! I am tickled I was able to get cell reception on our camping trip so I could wish you a happy birthday. My whatever’s clean 13 is serving me well on this trip.
Happy birthday, Janice! I have been tracking what I wear for the last year, but have had difficulty committing to a seasonal capsule of 33 items—so I’m focusing more on maximizing cost per wear. I have lost 18 pounds (intentionally) since last August, so I’m enjoying reclaiming items I bought five or six years ago and plan to sell or donate most of the bigger clothes I bought the last couple years. Over a year, I wore 113 items, but the number of different items per month ranged from 20 (when I couldn’t go anywhere, or very little fit me) to 39 (in a month of big temperature changes). As of today, I am at 31 items for June, but expect the mix to be a little different for July—and I’m OK with that!
wow, so after reading this I had to check. I am at 15 items for June. Clearly I wear the same things over and over….
Cost per wear is a metric I track and prioritize as well. This makes more sense for my situation than focusing on the number of items (though I am committed for the moment to not adding to my wardrobe).
I lost a lot of weight three years ago, bought new clothes in smaller sizes and ditched the large sizes to give me confidence. That was an entirely reasonable and logical step BUT a big mistake. I should have put the large sizes into store for at least a year because I regained all.the weight during the UK Covid lockdowns and had to buy new garments in larger sizes. What a waste of money? 😕🤦♀️ So my advice would be to keep a small selection just in case something happens to trigger weight gain.
People are so quick to get rid of the larger size after weight loss, thinking that it will somehow “motivate” them to maintain their weight, but are reluctant to get rid of the small size after weight gain. It’s like we want to think that weight loss is permanent but weight gain is temporary, and I don’t think there’s much validity to those assumptions. I agree with Beth T that keeping a few pieces in the old size (in storage) is just a practical decision. I really doubt that ditching the larger size helps with weight maintenance at all. Instead it just sets people up when they gain any weight back to either continue wearing their too small clothes (which would make anyone feel terrible) or to be forced to rebuy (which is wasteful).
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Janice.
Happy birthday to you.
And many more …
Hi Janice and Everyone! Happy Birthday to you ! And many more happy and healthy ones!
I am one of those people who groups items by color. I can then see if I have an overabundance (or worse, duplucates) of a garment.
I liked the look back post about considering clothing. I would add another factor: is it (easily) washable??
In considering all the places where I have my wardrobe, I know I have way more than I would need for 3 months. This is partly because of temperature swings, or function. But mostly it’s because I love color🎨! As I mentioned previously, I did not have a lot of different clothes growing up, so I guess I am making up for that now (believe me, I am thankful and aware of the circumstances that I can do this).
Still, it’s been awhile since I had a good closet clean-out, so that can be a project this summer.
*duplicates
Correction: I think I meant “minimizing” cost per wear! Oh well.
Happy Birthday!!!! I am thoroughly enjoying my 60s – hope yours go as well. :)
My primary color is navy, but I do have a few black bottoms as they work better with my “library” tops. I ventured into shorts last year, but tossed them this year. I love my skorts, but shorts? not so much. I also eliminated most of my skirts. Not sure – they just don’t strike me this year. I have aimed to donate 22 items a month in 2022, and I am well into August. At least I am decluttering items that are still in season and wearable now.
I am sorting my clothes into modules. Project 333 is intriguing, but I will never (willingly) be a minimalist. I love variety and I love colors. A lot of colors. I am a walking box of crayons, lol.
Thank you for all you do for us. I hope you’re having a fabulous birthday and a great holiday weekend!
Happy birthday, Janice!
Your posts always inspire me and often lead me in directions I’ve never considered.
Enjoy your birthday and may today and every day be filled with health and happiness.
Happy Birthday Janice!
Hope your day is truly wonderful!
Have a fabulous birthday, Janice!
Enjoy that cake!
Happy, happy birthday! To say I enjoy your blog posts would be an understatement – you constantly make me think about my wardrobe as a whole, not just an outfit. TY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANICE!
I am very interested in our heroine’s reluctance to buy simple navy or white bottom pieces.
Has she mistakenly thought of them as “boring” rather than “the basis for many wonderful outfits”? If so, time for a re-think about the value of shoring up the building block pieces in her wardrobe.
Does she end up with olive and tan because she gravitates toward shorts and pants that have a “hiking” vibe to them and those are the colors most available? If she really likes that style but prefers blue, time to branch out in her search for blue options that work for her stylistically. (Concurring with the idea that 100% LL Bean is not the absolute best route forward.)
Or does she avoid buying navy and white pants because at the end of the day, when she tries them on, they are just too stark and bright? (This seems plausible because one unifying theme in her original wardrobe is a high proportion of medium value, soft/muted colors.) Time to look for more of navy’s lighter/more muted cousin colors and fabric/prints/textures that tend to “soften” something’s look. She already has several bottom pieces like that, but could easily find more to round out her capsule.
I suspect she just really likes those soft navy alternatives…chambray, denim, muted indigo, small dark blue prints that look like soft textured solids at a distance…and ends up with the other colors of pants because she doesn’t like stark navy or white but thinks she’s “supposed” to have multiple color options. In a day-to-day wardrobe as casual as this one, she really could EASILY get by with a wardrobe consisting solely of pants in various muted-blues-that-read-like-neutrals. If she’s got a couple favorite pieces that end up in the wash first, she could even just straight up duplicate them.
Sally, you have just given me an Aha moment, and I thank you. I have chosen navy as a neutral and I struggle with it. I buy the pants and then I don’t wear the pants. I have navy tops, and I wear them but I am finding them dreary after all this time. I wear the heck out of softer, muted navy such as denim, chambray and mid blue. And tops of a lighter color as well. I like your idea of muted blues that read like neutrals. And duplicating items that work. This is a project that just might work! Thanks!
That’s great, Sandy B. I wish you luck as you continue to explore your softer blues!
Sally, you’ve just described the questions I asked myself on my journey from navy to a range of softer mid to dark blues. I found since making this move that it has opened up a wider range of colour combinations. Who knew that salmon pink looks amazing with teal blue? It’s now one of my favourite combinations. I can also add in slate blue which looks good as well with a geranium pink. Somehow the softer shades of blue act as a foil for various shades of pink and lilac where straight navy dominates. Perhaps its the soft blending and melding of the colours I like. Nothing dominates, it all harmonises
Wishing you a VERY happy birthday! Thank you so much for your wonderful, helpful blog!
Happiest of Birthdays, Janice! The cake sounds delicious! Thank you for helping me THINK about my clothing!
Happy Birthday!! I hope you have a wonderful day and an amazing year!
This is more or less my actual wardrobe, including the navy and white twill shorts and navy (wide leg linen) pants. Today’s post resonated with me in a way that the last one referencing these clothes didn’t, and I’m still processing why. It’s really thrown me, but, more importantly, helped me to find my 33 out of the 64 summer pieces I own, and why.
I’m so grateful for your insights and work. Many hugs!!
Happiest of birthdays to you, Janice.
While my clothes, too, are monochromatic ( black, with a few grays and whites, solids and strips) — I organize by fabric, type and style. Warm months: linen, cotton, gauze, jersey; cold months: heavier cotton knits, wool and silk ( with a smattering of cashmere).
I like your idea to track what one wears, to develop not only a basic capsule but those extras, that add flair.
How do you count scarves?
Happy Birthday to you! I wish you a wonderful year and may you be happy and healthy.
One more happy birthday wish to you Janice!!
I’m enjoying my temporary wardrobe built for a long vacation, today’s post and the discussion as usual :)
I think a blank follow-up post could be done for ocasions like this so we can split comments, because I tend to come back during the long weekend!
Blessings and cheers to all, double for the birthday girl!!
Janice,
I wish you to have had the happiest of birthdays from one of your favorite fans !! You have so inspired my wardrobe selections and have solved the packing dilemma of taking waaay too much , by reading your posts for the past how many years now ?
Thinking of my own closet, even though I am a warmie, blue plays a strong role in my wardrobe all year round, but mostly in stay at home clothes , alternated with beige combinations for Summer . The blue in hot weather is a light denim color and in the form of culottes or capris, and then the color deepens as well as the pants length becomes full length in the colder seasons. Brown is my dress up neutral color year round, again, alternated with beige. Olive green is thrown into the mix in Autumn. I like to then select accent colors that represent the season with which we associate those colors.
I was just thinking too that although navy is generally my nuetral, I’m enjoying lighter shades of it in the summer, chambray and the like.
Thanks for the look back. Whilst we can categorise clothes by colour, function or use, it is important to wear things that suit no matter what the occasion. Paying attention to fit, materials, texture, pattern, shape, adornment, fastenings etc go a long way to making us look and feel good whether we are digging in the garden or dancing at a party.
I have a lot of blouses and shirts that have small fiddly buttons which I’m finding more difficult to fasten or uneaten. I’m loath to get rid of them because I like the patterns, shape, fit, materials. I also don’t like larger buttons on blouses/shirts but I’m OK with larger buttons on cardigans. Yes I could replace with full-on tops and tees but often they are a body shape rather than fitted. Also the materials of pull-on tops tends to be knitted stretch jersey rather than soft drapey. Suggestions?
Beth T, about those shirts with tiny buttons…depending on your sewing/DIY skills and interest level (or willingness to pay for alterations) and your style preferences, I have a couple immediate thoughts. It’s actually not difficult to remove front buttons and add a long zipper to the front, converting the shirt from a button up to a zip up. If the front zipper is not appealing, adding a hidden side zipper while leaving the front buttons untouched is an option. (This is a trick beloved by larger busted women who will even sew down or otherwise permanently close down the button front so that they don’t have the gaping button problem.) You can also buy shirts with the side zipper, though they tend to be of a fitted silhouette, so that may or may not be what you’re looking for.
Oh, also, you can purchase a little tool to help with small buttons! Try googling for “button hook” or “button aid” and there are great inexpensive options. They help with both buttoning and unbuttoning. (I have not tried any myself but for $9, it might be worth trying!)
Thamks for your ideas. I thought that button hooks were museum pieces. I’ll keep a look out at the next antique fair I go to.
There are modern button hook tools on Amazon, for example, but an antique one would be very cool. :)
Happy Birthday, Janice! 29 June is also my grandson’s birthday…..his 13th! I love this post as I always gravitate to blue even though my colours supposedly say I am an Autumn. I can’t wear dark navy near my face these days (age) but love a light grey, khaki and light sea green…maybe even a creamy white. I am going to revisit this post a few times and attempt to declutter my wardrobe also. Thank you so much for all your inspiration.
Beth T, I don’t know if there is a way to add a placquet of material so that you can make the buttons permanently applied and hide snaps or hook/eye fastening instead, but maybe a really great seamstress could answer that? Or…maybe you could create a false button and loop where you slide a button in the hole pre dressing, but the button has a loop of elastic attached that you could slide over the real button once dressed? Again, a seamstress is your best bet for ideas on how best to alter something. I do know that flat buttons are more difficult than rounded shank buttons, but the worst would be fabric covered ones because they grab at the edges of the buttonhole at the midway point. Wish I had better ideas for you, but can relate because of some health issues that can make some days a challenge to find anything to wear that doesn’t make my skin feel like I’m rubbing a brillo pad on a fresh burn. Good luck with the buttons.
With al the news lately, the number of pieces in my wardrobe is the least of my concerns.
I hear you Lily— believe me I do. But don’t lose hope. The more we simplify our lives (and that includes our closets) the more energy we free up to create a better world. It all helps and it is working.
Hugs,
Laura
Happiest of birthday! The cake sounds divine. Hope you have a perfectly wonderful weekend.
A heartfelt happy birthday to you Janice!
Happy Birthday! Enjoy your young age! Well, from my 70-year-old perspective, you’re young for sure!
A few weeks ago, coincidentally (?), I committed to a blue wardrobe! And I included a few beige/white and sienna/coral/salmony-pink items because a couple of tops with blue based prints included those accents. (The accent colors do give a bit more variety, . . . and why spend money on more blue pieces if I didn’t have to? I’m losing weight very slowly and by next year they will all have to be donated out.)
I had been going through your recent articles, especially with blue in them, and have looked for what could fill in gaps in the wardrobe. It was a work in progress when you started the Project 333 posts, and I have been absolutely gleeful going through to finish my blue wardrobe to last through the Southern California Summer/Fall warm and very, very hot months.
Thank you so much, Janice! You are wonderfully gifted, and share your gifts so generously with your posts that do take time and work to produce.
Now, it’s time for me to hit the order button with your very convenient links at LLBean – because I will now have the perfect wardrobe ready to go!
And a note to Lily . . . I think along the same lines with you. Thank you for your post . . . It gives me the opportunity to properly thank Janice. And on what better day than Janice’s birthday?
I serve on a couple of nonprofit boards, in addition to having my own small business, and relying on Janice’s blogs to put together a coherent and functional wardrobe (often with pieces on sale) saves time and money. It’s wonderful to follow the formulas with an eye on artistic inspirations that Janice provides. I find that when I look intelligently put together, the optics (like it or not) help with credibility when you are a single 70 year old (or young) woman, who never had children, as I am. Also, I will admit to having a not-so-great figure since our beloved creator gave me more brains than beauty, so any help looking and feeling as polished, professional, and comfortable as possible is so very appreciated.
One final note . . . I did 20 years of unpaid family caregiving and so do not have extra money for luxuries now, and Janice’s blogs help me be wise in effective clothing selections while I work hard to build back up in the face of a looming recession, etc.! I don’t actually have the 33 pieces in my wardrobe – more like a blessed 24 including outerwear – but I think I have the right wardrobe that supports me thanks to Janice, and I am grateful. (I had read wardrobe advice books in the past, but they just weren’t all that helpful.) And now, even if I had only 5 pieces in my wardrobe, at least I know they would work together well, and I could carry on with confidence.
And yes, I’m uniquely competent with stuff like economic development (and I worry about current issues a lot) but wardrobe development absolutely mystifies me. Thank you, again, Janice! Happy Birthday.
Helen, I thank you for your insights. You have given me food for thought.
I am late to the party but want to wish you the happiest of birthdays! Hope you enjoyed your cake and got lots of lovely gifts lol. Thank you for all you do. Your posts have given me hours of enjoyment. Hugs, Cheryl :)
Happy birthday Janice!
I really enjoy your creative and practical idea. Hope to have wonderful time.
Irene
This is the method I used to choose my Project 333 items when I tried it (I went with the original idea and included accessories & outerwear!). It worked quite well I remember that the first couple of outfits were no-brainers (I had to wear SOMETHING, after all). After that, choosing what to add was harder for a while. Then weather changed and necessitated new additions…then a semi-regular special occassion happened. I think that I had free slots available for two months, and only spent the last month recombining what I had. The only major problem occurred in the very end of the season when weather took a sudden turn to unusually cold -which I hadn’t prepared for.
If I did P333 again, I would flex the dates and change the season when weather turns into next season. I would also change season start dates to align better with seasons where I live -for instance Summer would be Jun-Aug and Fall Sep-Nov.