Author: Courtney Carver
Publisher: Tarcherparigee (2020)
224 pages
Genre: Non-fiction
Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge created by Courtney Carver as a way to remove excess clutter from her wardrobe. She had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and determined that she needed to remove stress from her life. One area that caused stress was her closet. She had too many clothes and nothing to wear. She created this challenge for herself and started a blog to document her journey. That was ten years ago. Courtney still dresses with 33 items of clothing for three months and always has enough to wear.
To take the Project 333 challenge you agree to dress with 33 items or less for three months. The rules for the challenge can be found here: https://bemorewithless.com/therules/.
I discovered Courtney's blog about six years ago. At the time I was looking for direction with my wardrobe. I have never had an overstuffed closet, but I still had too much and didn't really like much of what I had. This project helped me discover what I liked and what I needed. When I began the project, I didn't follow the rules exactly. I live in Wisconsin where we have 4 definite seasons. Some months have temperatures from below zero to 80 degrees. I was afraid I wouldn't have what I needed if I followed the rules by adhering to the seasons as Courtney separated them. So I would just rotate things in when I wanted to wear them. A couple of years ago, I decided to follow the seasons exactly and see what happened. That was really helpful because I noticed what I really needed and realized that I always had enough. I have created a Project 333 wardrobe each season since and I continue to learn more about what I like and need. Much of the information in this book has been published on her blog over the years.
The things I found most interesting in the book were the chapters that gave examples of others' Project 333 lists and the chapter called "Questions". This chapter had lists of questions to ask yourself before starting the project, during the project and after the project. Some of the other chapters cover why you should do the project, some of the reasons you might think this project is not for you, what benefits you will discover and how minimizing your wardrobe can lead to other changes in your life.
One of the chapters does explain the project and give the rules, but that was chapter 11. I found this frustrating and disorderly. If I was not already familiar with Project 333, I would probably have stopped reading. I would have felt like I was missing something. She says in the chapter that she put this later in the book because the "why to" is just as important as the "how to". She assumed that readers who needed to see this first would flip ahead to that chapter. I am not one of those readers. I prefer to begin at the beginning and be led through chapter by chapter.
The book does a great job of collecting all the information in one spot. If you are interested in a minimalist lifestyle or are curious about Project 333, this is a great place to start.
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