clothes while losing weight
 

I'm hoping to drop a substantial amount of weight, and really drop in clothing size. But, this brings up the question of buying clothes while I'm losing weight. I really don't want to buy a brand-new wardrobe every time I drop a size or two, but at the same time, I'm thinking I'm going to need to buy at least a week's worth of clothes for each size I hit, and then, when I finally hit my goal, buying a new wardrobe.

So, suggestions on how to handle buying so many new clothes?

I dropped 3-4 sizes (where going from a 10 to an 8 is one size down) over the course of 7 or 8 months. I found that I was able to wear some of my old clothes, which granted were a little big. Tops are easier than bottoms.

I shop at Tablots pretty exclusively so buying a wardrobe is pricy. So what I would do is go in and buy a few pants on sale (try to couple a say with a coupon day and you can get $100 pants for $25) and get them a little small. Usually within 3 weeks they'd fit well. And I'd be able to wear them for a while before they got too big. Then I'd repeat the process. Right now I am wearing some pants that are a little big but I have pants that fit properly. Really I'm spanning 2 sizes right now although the smaller size is my proper size.

The other option is to have some of your clothes taken in. You can usually successfully have clothing tailored to one size smaller and then wear the taken in stuff until it is more than a size too big on you.

You'll find it's not as expensive as you think that it is. Last year I spent just over $1000 on clothing but the what I bought at the end of the year will likely be able to stay in my closet "forever." In other words, I only lost $300 or so in clothes that I can't reasonably wear now. I also know that I will gradually replace the stuff that is a little big on me over the next year or two since that's how I wear out clothes. I know that it is unlikely that I will get three years out of a shirt/pants before it shows it's age or gets stained.

I'm pretty lucky--we have several great outlets within about an hour of us, so I'll shop there first. About three or four months ago, I gave away many of my pants and jeans that were too small. I was tired of not having room in my dresser, and figured that at least right then, I wasn't going to fit into them, so there was no point in keeping them. Now, I'm kicking myself for that!

I didn't think about buying pants that are a bit small, figuring I'll be able to wear them within a few weeks and that I'll get more wear out of them.

When I changed my health and fitness lifestyle in August I was a solid 36 waist, and most of my pants were 36s or (my skinny clothes) 34s.

Today I am pretty much a 32. It's crazy how big the 36s look on me now. They went to Goodwill. So my 34s are the heart of my wardrobe, but they're a little loose I've started getting 32s on my regular clothes-buying cycle.

Jos. A Bank had a great sale last month so I got a couple of new suits in my new size. But I'm holding off on getting the rest of my suits tailored until I settle into my new size for a few more months.

Bottom line: for a guy at least it's no problem wearing a size up and cinching your belt tighter and tighter. It only starts to look odd when you are 2 sizes down.

Exactly. I waited when I first lost weight, not knowing if it would stick. Then people at work started asking me if I was OK, and finally a gal pulled me aside and suggested I buy some new clothing (especially pants). I finally got rid of the last of my biggest pants, and think all that I have now fit (heck I can now wear a pair of jeans I saved from over 15 years ago).

The difficult thing now is finding pants that fit. I went from a 34 to a 30 (possibly a 28 depending on brand), x 32, which are extremely difficult to find. I've found that Dillards has good quality clothing (all the big brands plus their house brand), and they have a couple big sales throughout the year--their biggest on Jan 1 (so long as you can deal with the crowds it is fantastic).

Shirts for me are very hit or miss, brand dependant. I can wear an XL in one and a M in another. The difficult thing there is getting one that fits in the chest while not coming untucked (wearing and tucking my undershirt into my underwear helps).

Buying suits for me is a complete nightmare. I asked the salesperson, "can I just take a jacket from one and pants from another?" If looks could kill... Eventually I was directed to their, "European cut," selection, which was a bit more realistic, but still needing major alterations. I had just gotten 2 suits before I lost weight, but a gal in my office tailored them for me--at work ^

I've been buying LOTS of knits... wrap dresses (which are wonderful when losing weight), structured pencil skirts, draped cardigans, heavy jersey pants. Much more forgiving as I am buying with no forgiveness at first (so it's "gain a pound, it won't fit") and then losing gives me give room.

A good tailor is great... many things can be minorly taken in.

The one thing that's been killing me has been jeans... but I've found a style at The Gap that I like. I buy them in the size I am at the moment where they are almost too tight to button - jeans today have stretch so that's actually the right size once you've worn them an hour or so - and when the start to get loose, I buy the next smallest size... the bigger ones become more of a "boyfriend jean" (which is stylish right now) while the tighter ones have the skinny fit.

I've also got a couple of great friends who will grab me when my clothes look too big and say "don't wear that again"... I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff out of my closet recently. :D

I'll have to try that with the jeans. I have a few pair still that are a bit too tight (I can button them, but they're not comfortable), so I'll feel like I'm making progress when I can fit into those more comfortably. :)

I'll also have to look at wrap dresses.

I guess I'll depend on Mr. Kipper to tell me when something is too big. :)

My "too big" became fairly obvious.

I've always been a bit "pear-shaped" even when thin... but in the past few years, I've become a bit more top heavy than I used to be so I'm ending up more hourglass now.

For whatever reason, I'm losing all my weight "bottom first" for a change... and my butt is shrinking faster than anything else (possibly all the time on the elliptical?!) and so it becomes pretty obvious when my pants/jeans are too big as they start sagging in the arse.

It's a very unflattering look so I'm not inclined to keep wearing anything past it's prime. ;)

What do you do with your too big clothes? Donate them to Goodwill? Freecycle them? I've been Freecycling them, and my too big suits (when I get there) will go to Dress for Success, but I'm thinking that it might be better for me, in regards to taxes, to donate my clothes to Goodwill or something similar, rather than Freecycle them.

How does everyone else handle this?

I donate mine to Goodwill since there is a manned donation station on Main St which I can walk to (which is actually true of everything in town!).

There's a Goodwill not too far from where I work, so I can always swing past there when I have a bag of clothes.

I like the Freecycle option, because once I have a bag together, someone comes to pick up the bag. :)

At least once a month (usually 2-3x a month), there's groups that come through my neighborhood collecting clothes. They send a postcard about 2-3 weeks prior, I staple the postcard to a bag, and they know to take it. Plus they leave a tax receipt on the door.

LOL, yes, but I live in a rather rural area, where I don't think they'd pick up enough donations to make it worth their while. :)

I have a couple of friends who have also made lifestyle changes leading to weight loss... so I've been passing my business clothes on to them since they are both a couple of sizes behind me.

What I've asked in return is that when they get to the point that they no longer need the items in that size, I'd like them brought back to me so I can have them cleaned and donated to a local women's shelter group here who functions much like Dress for Success with their distribution program for abused women who go through their job training program. That same group also parcels out more casual items as well as often these women leave violent/abusive relationships with only the clothes on their backs.

I got two new pairs of jeans when I went down a pants size, and I won't have to get new jeans when I go down another pants size because that's what size most of my clothes are. When I shrink from there, I'll have to buy new pants. My top is so large that most of my shirts are still currently too small.