Here’s what I wore in December (annual total in parentheses):

1. Long-Sleeve Tee / A New Day / Orange Fleck x3 (26)
2. Long-Sleeve Tee / Sonoma / Olive x1 (18)
3. Long-Sleeve Tee / Serra / Red x4 (19)
4. Long-Sleeve Tee / Serra / Plum Tie-Dye x6 (23)
5. Long-Sleeve Shirt / Universal Thread / Buffalo Plaid Pink x1 (12)
6. Long-Sleeve Shirt / Mossimo / Red, Blue Plaid x1 (4)
7. Short-Sleeve Tee / Amazon Basic / Cream Crew Tee x5 (39)
8. Short-Sleeve Tee / For Days / Brown Crew Tee x4 (26)
9. Short-Sleeve Tee / A New Day / Plum U-Neck Tee x1 (11)
10. Short-Sleeve Tee / Universal Thread / Mustard V-Neck Tee x1 (12)
11. Tank / Amazon Basic / Cream Tank Top(s) x 1 (12)
12. Misc / Heritage St. Croix / Brown Turtleneck x2 (10)
13. Misc / Everlane / Tan Dotty Turtleneck x1 (5)
14. Cardigan / Market & Spruce / Mustard Braid Sweater x1 (15)
15. Cardigan / H&M / Blush Loose Knit Sweater x1 (4)
16. Cardigan / Alpaca Shop / Cream Sweater x1 (10)
17. Cardigan / Love Ellie / Rust Confetti Sweater x1 (5)
18. Light Knit / Eileen Fisher / Blush Sweater x2 (20)
19. Light Knit / RD Style / Cream Rib Crew Sweater x4 (19)
20. Light Knit / Pam + Gela / Stripe Alpaca Crew x1 (5)
21. Light Knit / Love by Design / Orange Dotty Sweater x1 (6)
22. Medium Knit / Trovata / Tan Cable Crew x1 (3)
23. Medium Knit / United by Blue / Tan V-neck Boxy Sweater x2 (12)
24. Medium Knit / Universal Thread / Mustard Boxy V-neck Sweater x1 (3)
25. Heavy Knit / Trovata / Marine Rib Crew x1 (3)
26. Heavy Knit / Banana Republic Factory / Camel Crew Sweater x 1 (16)
27. Casual Knit / Russell / Navy Washburn Sweatshirt x5 (25)
28. Casual Knit / Techstyles / Teal Funnelneck Frankfort Sweatshirt x4 (7)
29. Jacket / Eileen Fisher / Green Coatigan x1 (3)
30. Jacket / J. Jill / Blue Quilted Jacket x2 (5)
31. Winter / J. Crew / Tan Funnel-Neck Coat x6 (14)
32. Winter / Lands End / Olive Down Coat x15 (96)
33. Denim / Talbots / Dark Blue Skinny Midrise x1 (8)
34. Denim / Levi / Mid-Blue Wedgie 26″ Patched Knee x7 (35)
35. Denim / Levi / Mid-Blue Ribcage 27″ Wide Leg Ankle x12 (14)
36. Denim / Levi / Plum 501 Raw-Hem Jean x1 (12)
37. Denim / NYDJ / Dark Blue Bootcut 29″ x2 (3)
38. Pant / Lands End / Olive Wide Leg Crop x1 (13)
39. Pant / Everlane / Acorn Corduroy Crop x1 (7)
40. Pant / Democracy / Plum Skinny Corduroy x1 (15)
41. Pant / Serra / Dark Green Jegging x1 (2)
42. Pant / Amazon Basic / Camouflage Sweatpant x2 (8)
43. Skirt / Briggs NY / Brown Circle Skirt x1 (3)
44. Dress / Lularoe / Brown Nicole Dress x1 (4)
45. Shoe / LL Bean / Bean Boot x3 (16)
46. Shoe / Doc Marten / 1460 8-eye boot x1 (10)
47. Shoe / Ollio / Mustard Velvet Mary Jane Flat x1 (2)
48. Shoe / Aurora Shoe Co. / Middle Earth Brown Flat x3 (38)
49. Shoe / Libby Edelman / Leopard Block Pump x1 (3)
50. Shoe / Everlane / Oxblood Block Pump x1 (4)
51. Shoe / Nisolo / Camel Chelsea Boot x4 (19)
52. Shoe / New Balance / Orange 574 Sneaker x5 (27)
53. Shoe / Frye / Tall Brown Boot x2 (7)
54. Shoe / Birkenstock / Boston Clog x2 (18)
55. Shoe / Dankso / Tan Professional Clog x1 (18)
56. Shoe / Salewa / Gray Hiking Boot x2 (7)
57. Shoe / Ariat / Red Cowboy Boot x1 (1)
58. PURGATORY / Studioworks / Lime Sweater x1 (3)
59. PURGATORY / Veja / White and Green V-12 Sneaker x1 (19)
60. PURGATORY / Pataugas / Orange Leather Plimsoll x1 (9)
61. ARCHIVE / Ben Folds / Peach Concert Tee x1 (1)
62. SEASONAL / Everlane / Cream Jeans x1 (8)
63. SEASONAL / J. Jill / Mustard Blouse x1 (7)
64. NEW / Old Navy / Camel Long Cardigan x4 (4)
65. SEASONAL / Everlane / Tan Lightweight Wide-Leg Crop x1 (10)
66. PURGATORY / LOFT / Dark Green Cardigan x1 (4)
67. PURGATORY / Gentle Souls / Dark Brown Bootie x1 (3)
68. NEW / Nanowrimo / Teal “Writer” Tee x 1 (1)
69. NEW / Orvis / “Spice” (Red) Packable Jacket x 5 (5)
70. PURGATORY / No Boundaries / Hooded Multi Cardigan x1 (2)
71. BLACK / Merona / Trouser-Jogger x1 (10)
72. BLACK / Priscilla / Cashmere Vest x1 (1)
73. BLACK / Merona / Sparkle Cardigan x1 (1)
74. BLACK / Talbot’s / Suede Block Heel x1 (2)
75. ATHLETIC / Danksin / Olive Leggings x1 (18)
76. PURGATORY / One5One / Olive Twill Jogger x1 (24)
77. PURGATORY / No Brand / Plum Linen-blend sweater x1 (4)
78. NEW / Gap Factory / Gray and Pink Blended Stripe x1 (1)
79. NEW / Gap Factory / Gray crew tee x1 (2)
80. NEW / Gap Factory / Lilac long-sleeve V-neck tee x1 (1)
81. NEW / Gap Factory / Gray long-sleeve V-neck tee x1 (1)
82. NEW / Gap Factory / Gray Sweats x2 (2)
83. PURGATORY / On / Green Cloud Sneakers x1 (10)

What I didn’t Wear in December That Was In the Short List:

1. Long-Sleeve Button-Up / J. Crew / Chambray (17)
2. Office / Judith Hart Leopard (0)
3. Office / Judith Hart Shell (0)
4. Office / Tory Burch Cardigan (0)
5. Misc / Joseph A. / Orange Turtleneck (2)
6. Misc / Old Navy / Rust Poncho Sweater (0)
7. Misc / LOFT / Purple Plaid Cape (2)
8. Light Knit / Knyt&Lynk / Burgundy Sweater (5)
9. Light Knit / Zenana / Teal V-neck Sweater (1)
10. Medium Knit / Divided by H&M / Gold Thread Sweater (2)
11. Heavy Knit / Icebreaker / Navy Wool Turtleneck (3)
12. Heavy Knit / Norlender / Camel Fair Isle Sweater (1)
13. Heavy Knit / Gap / Burgundy Heavy-Knit Cable Sweater (4)
14. Casual Knit / Buffalo by David Bitton / Olive Sweatshirt (27)
15. Casual Knit / A New Day / Rust 1/4 Zip Sweatshirt (4)
16. Casual Knit / Everlane / Blush-Tan Crew Sweatshirt (25)
17. Jacket / Black Rivet / Camel Faux Leather Jacket (3)
18. Jacket / Gap / Blue Denim Jacket (14)
19. Jacket / Penguin-Munsinger / Waxed Cotton Jacket (2)
20. Winter / Columbia / Teal-Purple Reversible Puffer Coat (2)
21. Winter / H&M / Black Puffer Vest (1)
22. Winter / Nautica / Olive Barn Coat (19)
23. Fall-Spring / North Face / Teal 1/4 Zip Fleece (1)
24. Fall-Spring / Abercrombie & Fitch / Olive 1/4 Zip Fleece (15)
25. Fall-Spring / Mia Melon / Yellow Rain Parka (28)
26. Fall-Spring / Blank NYC / Burgundy Suede Moto Jacket (2)
27. Fall-Spring / Outback Trading Co. / Teal Multi Windbreaker (6)
28. Denim / Levi / Dark-Blue Wedgie 28″ Straight Leg
29. Denim / Levi / Dark Blue Men’s 513 29″ Jean (6)
30. Denim / Everlane / Tan Utility Jean (6)
31. Denim / Everlane / Dark Blue E2 Wide-Leg Jean (4)
32. Pant / Everlane / Red 24″ Straight-Leg Crop (14)
33. Pant / Everlane / Rust 26″ Straight-Leg Crop (15)
34. Pant / J. Crew / Teal Kick Crop (3)
35. Skirt / Kelly & Diane / Leopart Stretch Pencil Skirt (4)
36. Skirt / LOFT / Brown Wool Crewel A-Line Skirt (0)
37. Skirt / Fashion Union / Camel Pleat Skirt (1)
38. Dress / Jones NY / Zebra Dress (0)
39. Dress / Bibi / Red Velvet V-neck Midi Dress (0)
40. Misc. / No Brand / Dark Blue Overalls (11)
41. Shoe / Lotta from Stockholm / Tan Classic Clog (6)
42. NEW / Savannah / Checkered multi blazer (0)
43. NEW / Gap Factory / Gray Cardigan (0)

Project 333 Planning.
I am planning to do Project 333 for January-March 2023. This is a project started by Courtney Carver of Be More with Less years ago — I learned about it and started exploring versions of it (with my own twists) back in 2013 (see more here about how I set it up, through closing observations here, here, here for my first round). Biggest takeaway, going back to this post? I wish I could get that mustard gingham-check shirt again in a larger size. I loved it so, but there’s no way it would fit me now – I am probably 15 pounds heavier in this season than I was back then! And a lot of that is in my boobs, which were causing gapping even back then. Has it really been ALMOST TEN YEARS since my first P333, by the way? Youch.

OK. So when I put together that first capsule (which was my favorite, because I was also trying to wear all my things across six P333s over a year and ended up picking things I liked less and less in the name of “forcing” myself to wear them over time), I considered that I needed suits for court, appropriate dress clothes, clothes for going out, and a few casual clothes. I allowed myself a couple of deviations (mini capsule swaps) for the specific purposes of a trip to Austin, Texas, and Miami/The Keys in Florida. A lot of these guidelines are helpful to remember right now, but I tell you, I don’t have a lot of these factors in this season at all…

WORK: I am returning to work on January 6th. I will not be going to court, and meetings with clients should be minimal. I can wear jeans, and I don’t need to dress up in any meaningful way, except that I do prefer to wear a more tailored/pulled-together look for work than I do in my “momming” life. For me that means no ripped denim, no graphic tees, no sweats or leggings, etc.

FIVE ITEMS I’D LIKE TO INCLUDE FOR WORK (focus: dark neutrals)
1. My new Savannah blazer
2. Everlane Oxblood pumps
3. Briggs NY brown circle skirt
4. Loft green button-up cardigan
5. Merona Black trouser

CHURCH: I dress up a little for church, too, and think that combining church and workwear will give me a lot of good options for both venues.

FIVE ITEMS I’D LIKE TO INCLUDE FOR CHURCH (focus: flow)
1. Gap Factory light gray button-up cardigan
2. Lularoe Nicole brown dress
3. Frye tall boots
4. Everlane tan lightweight wide-leg crops
5. Knyt+Lynk burgundy cashmere sweater

MOST-WORN TEN (not included above): next, I want to honor what gets used a LOT in my wardrobe, because I’ll probably want to reach for those over and over again!
1. Lands End down parka (98 wears)
2. Aurora Shoe Co Middle Earth shoe (42 wears)
3. Amazon Basic cream crewneck tee (39 wears)
4. Mia Melon yellow rain parka (28 wears)
5. New Balance orange 574 sneaker (27 wears)
6. Buffalo by David Bitton olive sweatshirt (27 wears)
7. A New Day orange fleck long-sleeve tee (26 wears)
8. For Days brown crewneck short-sleeve tee (26 wears)
9. Russell Washburn sweatshirt (25 wears)
10. Everlane blush/tan sweatshirt (25 wears).

From here, I think it serves me well to consider the primary color-way of the items I’ve picked for work and church and look for pattern. I see:
BURGUNDY
BROWN
DARK GREEN
TAN
GRAY

It makes sense to look at my top-ten and remove anything that doesn’t work with this palette, because it’ll be too difficult to put these items together. In particular, the orange items need to go, so that’s out with the New Balance 574s and orange-fleck Target long-sleeved tee. I will replace those with more appropriate-colored items, e.g., my olive-green long-sleeve tee (which is a little thicker and better than the plummy one) and my green On sneakers, which are the most analogous to the New Balance ones (which I adore, but orange and burgundy is not my jam, except for cranberry sauce).

Next, I want to look for balance. I see a lot of sweatshirt action in my top ten, which is lovely, but not super helpful when I only have 33 items to work with. I’ll relegate the Washburn sweatshirt to lounge (which is excluded from the 33 as long as I don’t wear it out of the house, and I rarely do, but wear it a LOT at home, and counted it when I did to keep track of what I was wearing earlier this year). I’d prefer to replace it with an actual sweater, so I’ll pick my cream RD style ribbed sweater for that purpose. So the “top ten” becomes this:

1. Lands End down parka (98 wears)
2. Aurora Shoe Co Middle Earth shoe (42 wears)
3. Amazon Basic cream crewneck tee (39 wears)
4. Mia Melon yellow rain parka (28 wears)
5. New Balance orange 574 sneaker (27 wears) ON CLOUD GREEN SNEAKER
6. Buffalo by David Bitton olive sweatshirt (27 wears)
7. A New Day orange fleck long-sleeve tee (26 wears) SONOMA L/S OLIVE TEE
8. For Days brown crewneck short-sleeve tee (26 wears)
9. Russell Washburn sweatshirt (25 wears) RD STYLE CREAM RIBBED SWEATER
10. Everlane blush/tan sweatshirt (25 wears).

Since that’s nearly 2/3 of the capsule, I think we need to take a step back and see what we have and what’s missing:

Coat: 1
Jacket: 1
Blazer: 1
Sweater: 2
Cardigan: 2
Sweatshirt: 2
LS Tee: 1
SS Tee: 2
Skirt: 1
Dress: 1
Pants: 2
Denim: 0
Sneakers: 1
Boots: 1
Flats: 0
Pumps: 1
Casual shoes: 1
(Subtotal: 20)

January-March is winter, so I think I need some appropriate snow shoes, so I’ll include my LL Bean boots (21). I need some denim, so I’ll include my ribcage and patched Levis (22-23). I’d like the option of a turtleneck or two for really cold days, so I’ll include my Heritage St. Croix brown turtleneck, my Icebreaker Navy turtleneck, and my Everlane dotty/textured taupe turtleneck (24, 25, 26). I’d like a second pair of non-denim pants that could work for church, casual, or home, so I’ll add my Democracy cords (27). I’d also like a second pair of boots to keep my ankles warm, so that means the Nisolo tan Chelsea boots (28). Finally, I think I need a second long-sleeve tee to make a warm layering/base piece: that is the Serra plum long-sleeve tee (29).

At this point, we have four spots left, and adding “flavor” makes the most sense to try to avoid boredom. I’ll fill in those spots, and then I’ll talk about what’s not counted, what the rules are for my challenge, and then tomorrow, I’ll film the process and post it here and on YouTube by Tuesday.

1. Flavor: a flannel – my pink buffalo-check button up.
2. Longer cardigan option: Old Navy ribbed camel long cardigan.
3. Flavor: plum raw-hem Levi 501 jeans.
4. Flavor: pale lilac vneck tee.

And with that, we’re at 33 items. Not included are intimates, hosiery, loungewear, several favorites that will be packed away, accessories (hats, gloves, bags, scarves, eyewear), athletic, lounge (what isn’t worn out of the home):

1. My new Savannah blazer
2. Everlane Oxblood pumps
3. Briggs NY brown circle skirt
4. Loft green button-up cardigan
5. Merona Black trouser
6. Gap Factory light gray button-up cardigan
7. Lularoe Nicole brown dress
8. Frye tall boots
9. Everlane tan lightweight wide-leg crops
10. Knyt+Lynk burgundy cashmere sweater
11. Lands End down parka
12. Aurora Shoe Co Middle Earth shoe
13. Amazon Basic cream crewneck tee
14. Mia Melon yellow rain parka
15. On Cloud Runner Green Sneaker
16. Buffalo by David Bitton olive sweatshirt
17. Sonoma Long-sleeved olive tshirt
18. For Days brown crewneck short-sleeved tshirt
19. RD Style Cream Ribbed sweater
20. Everlane blush/tan sweatshirt
21. LL Bean Boots
22. Levi Ribcage 27″ jeans
23. Levi Wedgie (patched) 26″ jeans
24. Heritage St. Croix brown turtleneck
25. Icebreaker navy merino wool turtleneck
26. Everlane taupe dotty wool turtleneck
27. Democracy plum corduroy skinny pants
28. Nisolo tan Chesea boots
29. Serra plum long-sleeve tie-dye tee
30. Universal Thread pink buffalo-check flannel shirt
31. Old Navy ribbed camel long cardigan
32. Levi 501 plum raw-hem jeans
33. Gap Factory pale lilac long-sleeve vneck tee

I’ll get everything laid out and walked through and we’ll see how that looks! I am excited! A lot of things I love will be packed away, but I’m excited to see what I miss and what I don’t miss.

Stay tuned…

xo/Roo