Making clothes work

I love my wrap skirts. :) I buy them in lots of 5-10 from Amazon, I have varying lengths, and they end up being like $5 per skirt. Works like a charm and I've been wearing the same skirts for over two years now :)

I haven't had surgery yet, but I was thinking about this. I'm totally going to frequent the thrift stores!!!

The clothing struggle seems never ending, doesn't it? When I absolutely couldn't wear my "old, regular clothes", I started a little browsing of Poshmark, a website where people sell their gently used or new clothing. I was fortunate to find my favorite brand of work pants (Worthington) and bought one pair 2 sizes smaller than what was now falling off me. When they arrived, I looked at them and thought, "Oh my, these will never fit". But when I tried them on, much to my surprise, they were comfortable and fit perfectly. I also have a friend who yoyo's, and she given me items as the scale has slid down. Back to Poshmark, I actually bought 2 pairs of pants in each size progressively down to where I am now, but only as needed. I'd much rather pay under $10 than $50 when I know this is not my final weight/size. I picked a few tops also, but except for the xl's that I can't wear any longer, I don't care if the top is a bit loose (although I love fitting nicely into mediums).

If you are in or close to a large urban area, maybe check out the Goodwill for just a pair or two of pants. You'll be able to try them on and decide on your 'comfort' fit level. Even if you don't purchase anything, you'll have fun and be amazed at what you can wear now........and it just keeps getting better.

Keep up the great work!!

Pat

I have done a little shopping at thrift shops, but I'm trying to restrain myself. I definitely am craving designer clothes, being able to fit into fashion I never thought I could wear. I'm trolling websites like therealreal, posh ark. Thredup, tradesy etc. so far I didn't buy anything. Came close a couple of times, but I thought, maybe what I buy will end up the wrong size in the end, and I have a closet full of things like that already! My pants are tough tho. Most of them simply don't work now...

Has anyone tried to sell their large clothes online? I have many beautiful things, and have donated a lot to Goodwill and our hospital thrift shop. Some items tho are high end, with tags etc. I have to do something with them soon, as there simply isn't room in the closet for small things and bigger ones too! We have local consignment shops but they are focused on standard sizes, rather than larger ones....

I did find one workaround for baggy clothes tho. Heavy starch and ironing makes even baggy things look like they were made deliberately in a baggy style. I put creases in the pants too. So once they have dried on high temp and starched up, they fall down but I think I can keep them for one more month with a good belt. After that, no tricks will keep them looking presentable!

I actually sell some of my nicer clothing on Poshmark. It's a bit time consuming to get each piece photo uploaded with accurate description, but well worth it.

Pat

Unless you can alter them yourself, it's going to cost more money to keep them altered than to just replace them, and trust me, you're worth some new clothes.

Keep your clothes in good shape so you can sell them! Find the thrift and consignment stores in the expensive parts of town. Bring your old clothes with you and see what they'll take at consignment stores. Some are more selective than others, so what one doesn't take, you bring to the other. You usually make 60% of what they sell for, which you can use to fund your next size of clothes. What the consignment stores don't take, you bring to the thrift store for your last stop of shopping. In Ohio, we called this "The Tightwad Trail". I was able to replace my entire wardrobe (work and casual) for less than $100 with this method. I only paid full retail for bras and panties, and don't let those go too long either, btw. A new bra that fits well does wonders for your appearance.

I would love to do the consignment trail, but people in my area are generally svelte. So consignment shops with limited space don't stock plus size clothes. I know because I was always looking for some!

I don't know if this works for the ladies, but I converted from a belt to suspenders. I always wore my pants lower than intended to stay in a smaller size. That and I suffer from noassatall disease. So now my pants sit where they were intended as as the get looser, and they won't fall down. They don't look as baggy, in high water mode.