Project 333: Summer Update

When I first posted about Project 333, it was mid-July, and my initial thought was to run my first three month trial starting then, which would bring me to the end of September on my summer wardrobe of 30 (ish) items.  It also meant that, going forward, my three month seasons were going to be somewhat arbitrary with regard to the weather changes that happen with the seasons here.  I know, for example, that even though we can get a lot of snow in March, I'm usually starting to transition my clothing toward my brighter "spring" wardrobe and away from the darker winter stuff, and that I'm fully into summer clothing after Memorial Day.  I decided to make the three month rotation to go along with the seasonal changes.  No point in doing this thing if it doesn't work for the season/head space I'm in, right?  

So my summer season is now going to end with Labor Day weekend (at least this year).  I've been wearing most of the clothes I detailed in my summer 333 post since the beginning of June anyway.  I'm quite ready to rotate into my fall clothes by now.  I'm craving darker colors, more neutrals, and am ready to start layering on those cardigans!  (If only the weather would cooperate; alas and alack, it is still fully summer here).  I did end up taking a few items out of rotation toward the end of July, as I realized they really worked better as spring pieces, and I made or bought a few items, but stayed around 30 total items in current rotation.

So here's where I ended my summer:

Top right:
Quilt back dress, blue knit dress, pink linen dress, Eshakti voile dress
Top middle:
Chambray dress, Medallion dress, Spotty dot dress, Melody challis dress
Top left:
Fa So La dress, Fade to Blue dress, Cool as a Cuke dress, Green Geometry dress

Bottom right:
Striped knit tunic top, green tshirt, orange-y striped linen tshirt, Breton shirt, crochet neck tshirt
Bottom middle:
White linen skirt, green linen Hollyburn, navy linen skirt, red twill skirt
Right middle:
Peachy-pink cardigan, green cardigan, cream cardigan
Bottom left:
Amanda jeans, Bunny blouse, Art Deco blouse, Chambray shorts

I'm trying to resist the urge to get rid of a few items that I really dislike right now, mostly because I'm not crazy about how they fit me--my bodice sloper has slowly grown too big all over and I'm realizing now that almost everything I've made since late spring is really too big on top and not the right bodice length--either too short or too long.  Almost everything is too big in the waist and looks sloppy as a result.

The clear winners from the season were the blue knit dress (an ancient maternity dress from Old Navy), the pink linen dress, the chambray dress, the Melody challis dress, the voile dress, and the Green Geometry dress.  The bunny blouse and the red and white skirts were good separates.  I liked my seersucker dresses, but struggled to find the right belts to wear with them as the wide brown leather belt that looks best didn't fit by summer's end.

I bought fabric this summer that I deliberately put away for next summer's sewing.  I kind of burned out on sewing by the beginning of August, and needed a bit of a break, especially with all the working out and the heat.  I really want to rework my bodice sloper for better fit, and I didn't want to waste the fabric on projects that I was going to be just so-so about. 

Some things I learned during this summer season: I'm still trying to sort out my personal style as I'm growing older and hot weather clothing is particularly challenging to me. As the summer wore on, I really craved simplicity in my wardrobe.  I wanted unfussy clothing, minimal accessories, easy hair styles, slip on sandals. I generally wear belts with my clothes, but got to dislike them in the extreme heat and humidity we've endured this year.  I added elastic waist casings to several dresses, which not only helped them fit better around the waist, but in some cases eliminated the need for a belt, which was nice.  

I found that 4 pairs of shoes was about enough to give me variety without overwhelming the shoe shelf.  I swapped out the navy Clarks for red Salt Water sandals after my birthday, so I'm ending the summer with two pairs of Salt Waters, my lace-up Danskos, and the taupe Naturalizers.  My lists also helped me to make some very focused purchases for fall, so I'm feeling very good about the next rotation of 30.  

I'll have my fall line up next week!