Recently, I’ve been trying to simplify my life in areas where I can, in an attempt to minimize anxiety and stress while encouraging clarity and creativity. One simplification project has been to minimize my wardrobe. I’ve been working on this for at least 6 months. I now have it down to a core wardrobe of 15 pieces that I change out twice per year, when the weather changes, plus a set of 15 investment pieces that I use all year long. I am easily meeting the Project 33 requirements of wearing only 33 pieces for 3 months (although I don’t count jewelry toward the total because all my jewelry are either gifts or sentimental).

The nice thing about having fewer clothes is that you can buy a higher quality of clothing, so it looks better and will actually last longer, saving money in the long run. But you have to make sure that everything goes together and that you really like everything you own or it gets tiresome. The key is to wear mostly a limited set of neutral colors, with a small number of accent colors that you really love; I selected colors from my jewelry. It also helps to reserve a few pieces outside the core wardrobe just for fun or special occasions.

Read more about getting started | Project 333.