As promised! The plaid skirts and cardigans were a specific request from a reader; I think they give a very youthful and “New England-y” feel to this wardrobe…
Grey blazer -Theory, purple swing
cardigan – L.L.Bean,
navy cardigan – L.L.Bean,
grey cardigan – L.L.Bean,
mulberry
cabled cardigan – L.L.Bean, navy blazer – A.P.C., blue shirt –
D&G, purple henley – L.L.Bean,
navy dress – A.P.C., navy
v-neck – J.
Crew, striped top – Rag & Bone, white shirt – Theory, grey dress – J. Crew, Navy
shirt – J. Crew, Color
blocked sweater – Acne, purple tee
shirt – L.L.Bean, grey
sweater – L.L.Bean, grey sleeveless top – L.L.Bean,
Denim bow
shirt – A.P.C., blue striped shirt – Golden Goose, purple turtleneck
– L.L.Bean,
tweed sweater – Peter Jensen, purple
plaid
skirt – J. Crew, plaid pants – Thom Dolan, pleated skirt – Comme Des Garcons, grey pants – Theory, navy
skirt –
A.P.C., jeans – MiH, tweed
skirt – Dolce & Gabbana, navy narrow pants – A.P.C., blue plaid
skirt – L.L.Bean,
pinstriped pants – J. Crew, grey skirt – J. Crew
cardigan – L.L.Bean,
navy cardigan – L.L.Bean,
grey cardigan – L.L.Bean,
mulberry
cabled cardigan – L.L.Bean, navy blazer – A.P.C., blue shirt –
D&G, purple henley – L.L.Bean,
navy dress – A.P.C., navy
v-neck – J.
Crew, striped top – Rag & Bone, white shirt – Theory, grey dress – J. Crew, Navy
shirt – J. Crew, Color
blocked sweater – Acne, purple tee
shirt – L.L.Bean, grey
sweater – L.L.Bean, grey sleeveless top – L.L.Bean,
Denim bow
shirt – A.P.C., blue striped shirt – Golden Goose, purple turtleneck
– L.L.Bean,
tweed sweater – Peter Jensen, purple
plaid
skirt – J. Crew, plaid pants – Thom Dolan, pleated skirt – Comme Des Garcons, grey pants – Theory, navy
skirt –
A.P.C., jeans – MiH, tweed
skirt – Dolce & Gabbana, navy narrow pants – A.P.C., blue plaid
skirt – L.L.Bean,
pinstriped pants – J. Crew, grey skirt – J. Crew
All clothes – A.P.C.
Grey blazer & pants -Theory,
dress
& skirt – J. Crew
dress
& skirt – J. Crew
All clothes – L.L.Bean
Color
blocked sweater – Acne, striped top – Rag & Bone,
plaid pants – Thom Dolan,
pinstriped pants – J. Crew
blocked sweater – Acne, striped top – Rag & Bone,
plaid pants – Thom Dolan,
pinstriped pants – J. Crew
Navy shirt – J. Crew, blue striped shirt – Golden Goose,
blue shirt – D & G, white shirt – Theory
blue shirt – D & G, white shirt – Theory
All clothes – L.L.Bean
Denim bow shirt – A.P.C., grey sweater – L.L.Bean,
tweed skirt – Dolce & Gabbana, tweed sweater – Peter Jensen
tweed skirt – Dolce & Gabbana, tweed sweater – Peter Jensen
Grey sweaters – L.L.Bean, navy v-neck – J. Crew,
pleated
skirt – Comme Des Garcons, jeans – MiH
pleated
skirt – Comme Des Garcons, jeans – MiH
Tomorrow, I’ll toss in some accessories, and build a couple of week’s worth of outfits! 
Janice, I just couldn't wait to see this post this morning! I've been eagerly awaiting it and once again you do not disappoint. I love your vision and appreciate how you've detailed your thought process. It's very helpful. THANK YOU!!!
Another fabulous wardrobe! Now that I'm done with Midterms, I'm going to use this and previous as a guide for my 333 project. I'm hoping (planning) to get to down to 33 — will mean some hard choices, given I'm spending January in France). Am on a shopping moratorium, too. Planning for one or two items to round things out at the January soldes (IF — IF — I can find the perfect thing. Am tempted by the shop where you found your absolutely gorgeous shawl and the potential of a Hermes scarf). Thank you! Susan
If only there was an "Add to Cart" button. I know the idea is to buy less, but my pared-down closet has huge gaps and is not coherent at all (except for the fact that I can wear everything with jeans). I'm so impressed with how you curate these Project 333 wardrobes. This is my color scheme, basically (or the one I have picked going forward), but I am so lost as to how to actually get there! I appreciate the ideas. 🙂
Janice, I can't thank you enough!! I'm the reader who requested the suits and plaid skirts based on what I already have. You must have been in my closet this weekend, for I have lots of purple/mulberry edging to burgundy clothes. It probably could be considered my signature color! I never thought that I would be able to pull the eggplant plaid skirt in with the blue and gray but it looks fabulous here. Using this, I can easily see the gaps, which are mostly the plain tops. Now, I am so excited to create my shopping list for my upcoming trip to visit my friend in Minneapolis. I plan to go to the Mall of America with a very specific list of items I need and this post is the key! Wonderful job! I love your blog and really appreciate your efforts to help me with my closet!!
This was a lot of work and I really appreciate it! You do excellent work…thanks for helping all of us!
Thank you so much – I love it. Like eveningreader, this too is my color scheme and mulberry is one of my favorite colors. Also, I love all the pattern in the skirts – I have always loved floral skirts and I see that I don't have to give them up to have a well coordinated wardrobe, just switch them out for some of the plaids.
I've looked at (and admired) capsule concepts for years (I have the same Janet Wallach book you refer to in an earlier post), but none ever rang a bell for me like this one.
Thanks again for all your many hours of work.
LeNora
Thank you so much! These are my colors, and although these choices are a little more business/professional than what I wear, I can easily adapt. I am both on a new eating plan (and releasing pounds as I go) and on a shopping moratorium, but I am using your concepts to plan my new wardrobe when I celebrate hitting my goal. Thank you for helping us to see that a few well-chosen pieces actually result in more choices than a huge closet of unrelated pieces.
I love greys and charcoals as they are my newest crush.
I have recently ordered a charcoal ponte dress from Lands End and am so eager for it to arrive…
your creative expertise is influencing me yet again Janice!
As mentioned up-thread, I appreciate you disecting on how you arrive at workable wardrobe containing merely 33 pieces.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is my wardrobe color palette with the addition of a jade green and a slate blue as accent colors. This is so helpful. I have quite a few of these pieces already and can now make a gaps list to fill in what I don't. My complete wardrobe including outerwear will be about 45 – 50 items total. This does exclude workout clothes/swimsuits and underpinnings. But it will carry me through the seasons we have here in Northern California. I cannot tell you how much easier it is now to get dressed in the morning, care for my wardrobe and feel great about how I look. I will continue curating my clothing because I have a few pieces that will be replaced by better quality garments as I can find them.
So glad you mentioned Pendleton! Talbots often has a number of suiting pieces in all-season wool, too. Buying everything at once seems extravagant, but it makes SO much sense in the long rung.
Ack having trouble posting today! Just wanted to say I love this one, and also to recommend Pendleton for buying matching coordinates as you mention in step two. NAYY, just a satisfied customer. Next step for me is my closet to explore possibilities of matching this example. Then back to the sewing machine.
Love this! I am working toward a curated wardrobe and just had an *ah-ha* moment last week about layering. I had ordered and received the cotton/modal Lands End Tees you often showcase and realized I finally have Tees that layer well. They fit snugly (not tight, but no bunchy fabric), they are a silky fabric and go so well under cardies, pullover sweaters or other shirts as well as on their own. I guess I just had not realized how important the fit/fabric of that first layer is! Thanks Janice for all your hard work. It is so helpful to me!
I have a lot of navy, grey and black. Now to tie them together with the mulberry, which I love. Pull it into a great look of separates.
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
2012 Artists Series
I've been lurking for awhile, in love with capsules based on painting or scarf, but never felt anything was ME until today. Thank you for your creativity and encouragement to all of us. You ROCK!
I love this cool colors wardrobe. I'm wondering what other accent colors, in addition to mulberry, you think would be equally great with navy and gray. Looking forward to seeing how you accessorize this wardrobe!
Chris, how about red? That's what's working for me.
I adore red and love it with gray, but somehow I wonder if mixing it with navy looks too patriotic unless it's intentional. How do you make it look modern and not reminiscent of a patriotic holiday?
Wear a scarf with red, blue, green, and yellow in it? Or a plaid or paisley shirt with several colors? Or just go ahead and look patriotic, LOL? Just some ideas. I'm sure Jance has more. Depending on the red, how about a navy skirt, pale pink blouse, and red sweater? Or switch the blouse for a pale blue shirt.
I use jewel tones for my accent pieces. I love red, white, and blue but unfortunately, they do tend to look a little too patriotic. Multi-colored scarves are a great way to tie them together.
Thanks for the ideas! I like jewel tones and the mixed color scarf sounds like a good way to avoid that 4th of July feeling!
Whoops – I deleted that accidentally. Thank goodness that didn't happen with this wonderful, well-researched and beautifully presented version of a Project 333, Janice!
I learn something new from you every post: particularly thrilled by the ones that feature cool colours. Long ago, you taught me that navy goes with grey….seems so obvious now. Today, your Step 3 moved me on: not every garment has to go with every other garment – lightbulb moment!
Like evening reader, I'm in some ways regretful that there isn't a Buy It Now button. Whilst it might threaten to hijack my credit card, it would save me from the perils of shooting the rapids on the internet trying to find similar pieces in the UK to suit my lifestyle and budget.
I must be at the very earliest stage of SA (Shoppers Anonymous) as I am too ill-disciplined to cope with the plethora of all kinds of everything out there and end up either getting something I don't really really need or nothing at all! The BIN button would thus have saved time, money and focus, sigh!
I would start at Marks and Spencer, which incidentally, also ship free to all of North America now. I am thinking their basics are perfect. They have a large selection of cashmere, I noticed.
These posts are inspiring me to try for a coherent set of 33 (or thereabouts). I think I can achieve it through subtraction, rather than addition.
You are amazing. Period. 🙂
Frncesca
I adore this grouping. I plan to tear apart my closet tonight to see what holes I have for this one!