I recently turned 48. It didn’t impact me in a negative way because I really love this stage of life – the “give zero fucks” aspect of midlife is pretty darned awesome. But what I have been coming to terms with is the fact that I have spent 48 years of my life accumulating a bunch of STUFF. With that said stuff, comes a lot of mental and physical energy to take care of it.
The awakening of “holy crap I have too much stuff” started with my closet. It was BUSTING at the seams and yet I would always open it, get overwhelmed, grab the same 3 outfits regularly and then complain that I had nothing else to wear. This would inevitably lead me to think that I needed to go shopping for those “few pieces” that would magically make the rest of the wardrobe “work”. I would then go shopping, get the quick dopamine high from my purchase that would “save my closet” and then the cycle would continue because those magical pieces wouldn’t really fix ANYTHING. They just added to the madness that inevitably came when I needed to get dressed.
We wear 20% of our closet, 80% of the time.
-Pareto Principle
Does that resonate with you too? Are you violently shaking your head in agreement? For me, the Pareto Principle made complete sense. In times of curiosity when I feel like I need to fix my life, I head to YouTube and look for answers. That is what I did…. and that is when MINIMALISM entered the chat.
Okay, I am just kidding – I am not going to go all out minimalist but I have to say that there are some aspects of minimalism that I can really get down with. For example, do you walk into a hotel room with a really simple, minimalist vibe and breathe a sigh of relief? You open your suitcase joyfully knowing that you have just the essentials that you need? ME TOO! So, why am I not seeking that feeling out in my daily life? That is what I needed to come to terms with.
Being a midlife mom comes with juggling so many responsibilities. Our closet shouldn’t add to the burden.
There were 3 reasons that I feel that my closet was busting at the seams:
- I was constantly wearing a different size due to losing and gaining weight. So, I felt that I needed to have a bunch of different sizes to meet my ever-changing body needs.
- We were going through a global pandemic, and I needed more work from home clothing options even though I was ALSO buying office-appropriate clothes to satisfy the fantasy of who I wanted to be when we “reentered the world” – powerful, sophisticated, and pulled together.
- I felt insanely guilty about having to give up all the stuff that I had paid a lot of money for.
Although it was tempting, I knew that the answer was not to scrap everything and start over with a curated capsule wardrobe from Pinterest. When I heard about Project 333, it felt like something that could really help me to simplify wardrobe and also free up some mental headspace.
Project 333
Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge created by Courtney Carver. The idea behind it is to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue by narrowing down your clothing options to 33 items for a period of 3 months. The goal is to create a capsule wardrobe that consists of versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched to create various outfits.
What is included in the 33 items?
The challenge includes clothing, shoes, outerwear, and accessories, but excludes sentimental jewelry, sleepwear, and workout attire (but your workout attire HAS to ACTUALLY WORKOUT). Typically people start the challenge quarterly, which helps to plan seasonally (for example, here on the east coast, October means the start of wearing a coat for the next few months) so the addition of a coat and hat could be important to factor into your 33 items.
How is my Project 333 going?
Overall, the challenge is awesome. It has really made me breathe a sigh of relief every time I open my closet door. Here are some very real takeaways from this experience:
- All of the mental effort to decide what to wear (decision fatigue) has been taken away thanks to a smaller number of options
- I take note of what I am not drawn to wear and will not include these pieces in my next Project 333 closet
- I miss certain pieces that I didn’t choose and will make a note to include them next time
- I started in September and did not include a coat. Soooo, I technically “cheated” by adding my winter coat and hat… Do I give a shit? Not in the least. I hate being cold. So, now I am doing project 353. I’m not mad about it.
- I don’t miss accessories, but you might. I feel like this challenge is a baseline. Do what makes you happy and add in a little more of what brings you joy.
- Sticking to a neutral palette has really helped. I got my colors done a few years ago (I am a winter!) so black, gray, navy, white and super bright colors suit me best. I picked a few navy and black suits as my mix and match basics and then peppered in some bright jackets and tops. I’ll do a post soon on exactly what I chose.
Do you struggle with overwhelm in midlife too? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Let me know if you would ever take on a Project 333!
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