Clothes Shopping Tips for as the Weight Goes Down

Kathy's post made me realize it would be a good idea to start a thread for that.

1. Goodwill is your friend.

2. Cato carries large sizes and when things go on clearance, prices are good.

3. I didn't want to end up with 46 different sizes, so I made the rule I could only keep clothes 1 size up.  When I bought a smaller size, all clothes 2 sizes up and higher had to GO.  This way, I didn't accumulate, but I didn't panic thinking I had nothing to wear. Ok, the truth is, at some point you are probably going to have a very small wardrobe because it's hard to afford  entire new wardrobes each size-but by staggering, you only have to, in theory, by 1/2 a wardrobe each size.  In practice, I wear t-shirts and they don't vary in size, so I mostly bought new pants and picked out a nice shirt as a reward.

4.I wore a lot of sweat pants in the winter and now I be bop around in yoga pants and capris a lot.

5. Do NOT go nuts when you think you've hit goal.  I celebrated by buying a pair of cargos (I love them for dog training) in every color academy had-and I'm glad I enjoyed wearing them right away, cause now they fall off.  Your body is going to shift a bit even when the weight stops coming off.

6. Until I got to where I think I wanted to be, I lived in 3 pair of jeans at a time.  Every now and then I'd buy a pair of khaki's or something for variety.

7. If you are self conscious, as I was, about people "watching" you lose weight, buy the same cut and style, just in different sizes....sort of a uniform.  It's a hoo****ching the  nosey co-workers try to figure out exactly what is going on.... 

Thanks for your post Debra.  Last year at this time I found some awesome buys on dress pants that I would wear to work.  I bought several sizes and black, brown and navy in each size.  I cringed when I did it but they were awesome buys and I found them at Ross.  I'm not in the last size of that bunch of pants but...they were all the same style, cut and colors but different sizes.  I also bought a pair of capris at Kohl's (my first purchase in a "regular" store) that I enjoyed last summer.  I found the same capris yesterday at Ross in Edmond only they were....$5.99 each so I bought my current size and the next size down!!!!  I'm a digger when it comes to shopping and refuse to pay much for clothes that aren't going to fit long.  As soon as something becomes too big it goes to another closet and then to a consignment store or someone that I know who can wear them.  I've been handing down some things to my sister who has ALWAYS been smaller than me..... but now I'm smaller!!!!  Not that I'm bragging or anything...but I AM SO HAPPY about it!  I was ALWAYS the "big" sister in so many ways so it does feel good for now.

Great post, Debra!  There's nothing like talk of shopping to take my mind off things haha~  Now I'm at goal and have been for quite a while, so I will admit to spending way too much on clothes from time to time (hence my Buckle shopping sprees lol).  However, as I was losing, I didn't want to wear the same clothes too often so I found clearance racks (Ross, Wal Mart, Kmart, Cato, stores in the Mall, wherever there was a great deal!) to be my best friends.  I also utilized Goodwill and the Salvation Army.  I now give back to both charities with the clothes I've "outgrown".  I found that I went through sizes super fast so I also invested in some good belts.  I was not at all self-conscious of people noticing I was losing weight and enjoyed telling them all about it when they asked LoL. 

Before hitting goal, I'll say that my wardrobe shrunk in size (well, amount and size haha, pardon the pun) for quite a while, but now that I'm there, it's quite staggering in the amount again.  You guys and gals who aren't there yet will see what I'm talking about real soon!  *hugs*

~ Renae

I am loving being in jeans again and while yes I want to ignore the stretch panst i was forced to wear before I have found they are much much more forgiving as you lose weight. Meaning they fit longer than the jeans. I do know a couple of thrift stores on southside that do quarter days on Sundays where they pick a color tag and they are 25 cents of 5 for a dollar.  I am so thankful my mom saved me some stuff as she shrank when sick last year and for the clothing exchange OWLO does every 3 months. I have pants all the way down to 20Ws.

anyone who knows me ....KNOWS i am a confirmed shopoholic , and I admit when i first started losing I went crazy ,,its just so exciting , and the clothes ,, oh my....but I quickly learned how expensive it could get .  mind you i have always been a bargain shopper .  i am careful now to buy key pieces and things with drwstrings , belts etc.. that can be cinched up !!!!  Target puts things on good clearance nad I am also a big Ross fan ,,,I have also been known to haunt a few consignment shops ...I love clothes and lots of them , I am a single gal so I have to be a bargain hunter and "digger"  Good Luck and ENJOY!!!

I wanted to say , it pays to invest in some good under garments :) just sayin :)

Do they have to match?  My favorite drawers has little sheep on them and my favorite bra (if there can be such a thing) is blue....

My feeling is wear what makes you comfy ,,,,unless of course someone is gonna see it besides you wink wink