Category: Project 333

This week I wore a pair of shoes not on my list.  Back in late September, I placed a box that contained my black sling-back kitten heels on the top shelf of my closet; that is the shelf where things that I did not want crammed into a box and things that I have purchased to wear post-P333 live.  I put the box up there in case of a funeral.  I did not have any black shoes on my list, and I didn't want them on my list, either, but if I had to go to a serious function, I wanted to be able to dress appropriately.

I did not go to a funeral, thankfully, but I did interview for my contract renewal (good thoughts, please.  I should know next week), and while the interview panel was made up of colleagues who see me sporting my Fluevogs all the time around campus, I felt the need to dress as conservatively as I was able. I debated this a bit, but as my fellow-P333-er, the sage Andrew Odom said, "…break from 333 if you have to. No financial security will have you at Project 00 forever!" 

Here, then are this week's outfits.  

If you'd like to see the cheater shoes or all of my Project 333 outfits, visit my Flickr set. See any other differences?

Before you head off, tell me something: when have you broken rules (your own or those imposed by others) in order to accomplish something in a more appropriate way?

I love having my picture taken.  When I'm comfortable with the photographer and feel good, I can be a real ham in front of the camera.  Self portraits are different, though.  I've felt some discomfort in doing them, although some days, when I really love my outfit and know the light is good and my hair came out looking not-a-mess, I have fun.  More often, though, I'm aware of my vanity, and I feel uncomfortable. 

I took on the daily Project 333 pictures after a colleague challenged me to stay honest and keep a visual record.  Sometimes I take thirty or more shots until I see one that, with a little cropping, will show the outfit–okay, let's be honest, me–to best advantage.  Is it insincere to not post the picture where I think my hips are too hippy or my nose looks too long?  These parts make up the whole of me, and I love them for working well, for serving me with little or no pain, pretty well over the decades.

But when the parts don't look they way I want them to in a picture, I often dismiss the picture and find one in which they do.

As I thought about what this reveals about my vanity, I realized something else.  That desire to present my image in a particular way, a way I'm overly fussy about, is exactly why I need Project 333 in my life.

I love clothes.  I love new clothes.  I love feeling that I have taken something classic and made it edgy.  I love looking like I pay attention.  Even if I no longer live a short train ride away from my beloved NYC, I love to imagine that I look like I do live there.  I enjoy being complimented on a well-styled outfit. 

All of this love, this vanity, is what packed my closet.  I have classic pieces, pieces I know flatter and will be wearable for as long as they fit me.  My vanity, though, would lead me to buy cheap trendy clothes to mix with the classics. Project 333 has made me realize that applying my core values to style moves me a little further away from the discomfort of vanity that results in spending money on cheap clothes that might have been made at a very, very high cost.  I have realized that I can be more authentically me by dressing with fewer clothes, with clothes that fit beautifully and work together.  I can share the excess that once burdened me.  I can use my vanity in a different way: I can strive to dress elegantly from a small, well-thought-out wardrobe.  The edginess comes not from the latest trend, in fact, but from my attitude.

I'll continue taking the self portraits.  I like keeping records.  I like learning to use my camera more effectively.  I like the community that is developing around the pictures taken by P333-ers.  A little vanity, harnessed for good, can, after all, be a virtue.

So I'm telling myself.

If you'd like to see all of my Project 333 outfits, visit them here.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

This week on Flickr, Christina asked me "Deep down, do you wish you had more items?  Different items? More or less of something?"  The answer, really, is yes, and, no.  I spent a lot of time putting together my original list.  I know my style, and I like to mix and match.  I don't necessarily wish for more items, but I sometimes do wish for some different ones.  

I miss my jewelry.  Most of it is sentimental, and I put the most sentimental (and pragmatic; my watch is a must have) on the list (a necklace Neal gave me when I lived in New Mexico; it was meant to look like a winter sky in the Northeast), and I put a synecdoche bracelet on the list (I usually like to stack 'em, and the one I kept out stands in for all the others).  I am glad I didn't put earrings on the list, but now that my hair is almost long enough to put up, I would like to have my favorite silver earrings to wear. I'll be passing on a lot of costume jewelry and sharing nicer pieces I no longer wear with family members.  

In embarking on Project 333, I was concerned that I would be unhappy with a limited shoe and purse wardrobe.  Again, I selected the shoes carefully for their versatility and considered what I was most likely to be doing during the three months.  Not once have I wished for any additional shoes.  I will be paring those back dramatically, too.  I only put one purse on the list, a black tote that I could use for work.  It isn't cutting it.  It's a great bag, but I hate carrying it when I'm not at work.  It's simply too big. So in the next round, while I plan to purge many of my beautiful bags, I will have a little more variety.

Want to see this week's outfits?

(Thanksgiving break meant lots of casual outfits!)

There's something exciting on its way (finally!) to my house…all day I've been stalking the tracking for my Uniform Project L.B.D.!  Starting tonight, I'll be playing P333 with 32 items instead of 31!

You can see all of my Project 333 outfits here, and if you'd like to see what fellow P333-er Drew (be sure to hop over to Drew's site.  He is doing cool, cool things!) and I have cooked up, check out our weekly photo game here.

Now that I've dished about what I miss, tell me, what piece of jewelry (remember, wedding rings don't count on P333) you could not do without for three months?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Week 8 already?!  Only one more month before Round 2 of Project 333 begins.  

I asked Neal if he would give his feedback on what he thinks about my Project 333.  He's a man of few words, and here are the ones he had to say:

• I like the reduction in laundry.  We're saving money and making a smaller carbon footprint.
• I like the way you've incorporated texture, shape, color to reflect the season.  Instead of wearing fall colors, there is a coolness to what you're putting together that speaks to the cooler weather.
• Less choices free up the mind for higher thoughts.  I think it was Edison who had the same clothes and wore them day after day.  There's something to be said for that.  You're channeling that creative energy into a different place.
• I'm fond of the daily pictures, not as a record of your day-to-day outfit, but as a way of seeing the subtle changes that you can miss when you live with someone.  I guess they are like a historical record.

He's done talking about me and my clothes  (you can see all of my outfits here).  We've got a lazy day ahead of us.  I'm hoping to do some crafting and get a jump start of Christmas gifts that I want to make.  

Hope you have a great day-after Thanksgiving!

Here are this week's pictures:

 
Lots of little corners of the house for you to see!

Time for my weekly musing about Project 333.  I've had a few laundry emergencies when I've realized that if I don't hop to, I'm going to be stuck wearing jeans to work.  Since I am drying everything on lines in the basement, I really do have to think ahead.  Other than that, caring for my clothes has become so easy.  There isn't much to fold or put away once the laundry is done, and there isn't much ironing, either. 

One of my students complimented me on my shoes recently (the pink and black Pearl Harts if you care).  We chatted about clothes, and I told her about the project.  She was in the camp of "I could never do that," but then she admitted that she probably doesn't wear most of what is in her closet. 

The ripple effect.  That's what I think I am liking about the project this week.  Lots of people (okay, women) have had a similar reaction as my student; it was MY reaction when I first read about the project.  Really, though, for three months, a person can do about anything.  It is all a matter of choice.  I know most people aren't interested in challenging themselves when it comes to their wardrobe, and that is fine, of course!  But if reading about Project 333 here or on any of the other blogs has made you think about joining, guess what?

Round two begins January 1, 2011. 

Learn more on the Project 333 Facebook page. If you'd like to see all my Project 333 outfits, check out my Flickr page.

In the meantime, tell me about your plans for the weekend.  I think I might go see a movie in the theater.  You know, about a kid with a curious scar on his forehead? That one.

In which I look like a dirty girl.  Seriously, I wore the same pair of jeans all week!  I usually put on my pj pants when I come home so I can fold up or wash clothes right away, so it isn't quite as gross as it seems (really!).  

(picture four on the top row gives you a sneak peek at the new dining room/deck door.  Sheet rock is all up and taped…soon there will be paint!)

Last week the dryer gave up the ghost.  I mean, not a puff of air to dry with is coming from it.  I've been hanging clothes in the basement, which is not nearly as nice as hanging them in the sunshine.  The hope is that I will find a really good sale over Veteran's Day.  Since the washer has been limping along for the last year, too, I'm going to go all out and buy a new one at the same time.  Any advice? 

Whew!  What a week!  I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning, even if that means 6:00 a.m. instead of 5:43.  The academic semester has a predictable cycle to it, and right now we're in the "am I ever going to catch up on grading" part of the cycle for professors and the "crap!  There's not much time left to get my grade higher" part of the cycle for students.  I'm getting lots of requests for extra credit, which I'm not inclined to entertain.  Show up and do the work the first time around.  Did I mention that bitterness sometimes creeps in at that point in the cycle?  Just a touch!

Week 4 of Project 333 ended yesterday, and here are my outfits.  Christina asked me via Flickr if I was starting to get bored by my clothes.  There are a few items I'd like to have back in the wardrobe–a shot of red would be cheerful about now–but for the most part, I'm still enjoying living out of my pared-down closet.  I finally replaced the ill-fitting gray turtleneck with a nice cozy one from L.L. Bean.  Languishing gift cards from last Christmas meant that the sweater didn't cost me a dime! You can see all of my outfits for Project 333 here.

It's pretty chilly and gray today, so I rounded out the mosaic with a picture to remind me of the heat of July.  Ahhh, yes!

I'm fortunate to live less than 30 minutes from Hartford, CT, which is the location for Stitches East again this year.  I am pretty shopped out, but I've been keeping my eyes on the Signature Needles circulars.  A pair might come home with me this weekend.

How about you?  What are your weekend plans?  Are you dressing up for Halloween?