Weight Loss and Clothing.... What do you do??

So I'm 10lbs down (perhaps a little more. I only weigh in Friday's so I wont know how much more until tomorrow).

I'm also one pant size down. Which is great... But soon I'll have nothing to wear. And with another 20-30lbs to lose, surely I'll be throwing away my money in clothing??

My clothes aren't hopeless yet. They aren't falling off but they are very loose. But for those of you who have lost 2+ sizes, what do you do for clothes? Especially if you're poor like me?

Girls gotta have something to wear to work. Even if that means repeating dress pants or khakis a couple days a week. But even that will get expensive as the months go on!

I suppose it isn't the worst problem in the world... I'm happy about the loss but my pocket book sure isn't

I went from a tight 14 to a 6.  I didn't buy new close till I got down to an 8.  I got made fun of a bit at work for my baggy saggy clothes :-).  I'm hoping to drop down another size, and I'm putting off buying any clothing until I drop a few more pounds.  I currently wear mostly my 8's.  I have a few 6's, but I didn't want to spend too much money while I'm trying to lose still.

Haha. I suppose being made fun of for baggy clothes can definitly be a good thing. In a weird way I think it'd be a good motivator!

Thanks for sharing!!

I totally hear you. I've lost about 20 pounds since the beginning of 2008, when I started my career (and it was my first job). My pants. suits, and shirts are now quite baggy on me. I've never really used belts before, but I have been using them like crazy.

I actually visited thrift shops - such as Goodwill, Savers - and it takes awhile, but if you search through the racks of clothing, you can find some normally-would-be-otherwise-very-expensive, quality clothing for cheap. I've also been a fan of clearance racks at department stores. I mean, really - what's not to love? Cheap, and smaller size!

Anyway, it's kind of a bittersweet problem!

Good luck and congrats!

do you have a friend you could borrow a couple pairs of jeans from?  tops seem to be workable but pants falling off your ass is harder : ) i would definitely hit up your friends.  girls are always sharing clothes and especially if its only for a couple weeks - then youll need to find someone else!

Yeah I have a feeling I'll be spending a good deal of time at the Clearance rack (not that I dont do that anyways!).

Come to think of it, I bought a nice pea coat from Good Will last winter. So I'd imagine I could get some dress pants from them in the future.

Unfortunately my closest friends are way smaller than I am. I've gotta drop quite a bit more before I can start hitting them up for clothes.

But you guys are right. Definitly a bittersweet problem!

When I lost two sizes I freecycled them.
Then I went to thrift stores to buy some clothes because I wanted to lose some more weight.
You can also place an ad on freecycle for the clothing size that you want.  Sometimes you find some nice things and you just freecycle want you don't want.

Original Post by kd129:

So I'm 10lbs down (perhaps a little more. I only weigh in Friday's so I wont know how much more until tomorrow).

I'm also one pant size down. Which is great... But soon I'll have nothing to wear. And with another 20-30lbs to lose, surely I'll be throwing away my money in clothing??

My clothes aren't hopeless yet. They aren't falling off but they are very loose. But for those of you who have lost 2+ sizes, what do you do for clothes? Especially if you're poor like me?

Girls gotta have something to wear to work. Even if that means repeating dress pants or khakis a couple days a week. But even that will get expensive as the months go on!

I suppose it isn't the worst problem in the world... I'm happy about the loss but my pocket book sure isn't

LOL I went from size 42/44 pants to 28 the only suggestion I can give you is wear them while you can...but if you plan to continue to drop weight I recommend talking to friends who might help or go to a thrift store...I didnt and ended up spending monthly for belts, pants, and shirts...I guess it was bittersweet but still it was expensive and if I had thought about it I could have easily found something in a thrift store that would have met the bill till my weight leveled off to where I wasnted to be (which is today....from 210 lbs to my current weight of 140 lb).

 Edit:  FYI - I did have a rule (actually I still have it come to think about it)...I hold on to the heavy clothes for a year...if I dont go back then I give them to family or donate them...so far I have donated a ton of my clothes...

Shop smart and keep an eye out for good deals. I signed up for a rewards card from New York & Company and got a $30 off coupon in the mail. The pants I normally buy are $40, but were on sale. With the coupon, I got three new pairs of nice work pants for only $16 each.

That and...hold on to your skinny clothes.  If your weight fluctuates like mine, I just bust out clothes from a few years ago. 

Everyone's had good ideas - here's one more - avoid pants and buy a couple of stretchy skirts with an elastic waistband if you can - I have some that I have worn anywhere from 128 lbs to 150 lbs.

Congrats on your loss and may you reach your goal. 

 I'm down from a 14 to an 8 sometimes 6.  I didn't buy anything new until I was 5 pounds away from my goal. I saved my money in the mean time in anticipation of a little reward splurge. It also gave me time to define my style and decide if I wanted to invest in something expensive.

All great ideas previously listed but here's my input... Your friends are smaller but what about their friends, siblings, Moms? Maybe you can trade off with some wishful Moms who need a little update and are holding on to some pieces that have been resurrected in the current style trends. Also, Don't underestimate Walmart for basics. The clearance racks are sometimes surprising. They have unbelievably great fitting jeans by Faded Glory that IMO fit better than the $200 designer brands and are under 18 bucks. Good luck on your journey.

One word - thrift store! A few pre-loved-but-still-good pieces in your current size will go a long way towards stretching your wardrobe without breaking the bank. Then when they start to get loose you can get a few more. Sure you can keep on wearing the old baggy clothes until they literally fall off, but after a certain point it looks pretty terrible, and it doesn't make you feel good about yourself either.

For pants that are up to 2 sizes too big using a belt usually works quite well... I did that for a few months, but after losing 40lbs and dropping 4 sizes I eventually had to buy some new pants...Thank god I still had some older ones in the wardrobe, that used to be too small
Look for some cheap pants or pants that are on sale in regular (not expensive) stores - if you plan to lose more weight

If you're on a budget, I would look at ebay, charity shops, freecycle, cheap chainstores, ask friends and relatives, etc, and avoid buying good new clothes until you reach your target size. You don't need to worry about clothes lasting a long time if you're not going to be that size for long, so consider cheaper brands than usual if you're buying new.

A lot will depend on your proportions too. I have broad shoulders so I can usually get away with tops two or three sizes too big, but I don't have much in the way of hips so my jeans start falling down even before the next size down fits comfortably. The only thing I can do to avoid replacing my jeans every three or four weeks is wear a belt. I'd agree with noxie that you can wear up to two sizes bigger with a belt.

If its denim, wash it and hope it shrinks a little? I agree with the above poster that you should try skirts. Do you sew? If you do, simply size-down your own skirt when necessary. Or see a tailor to do it, once they get too large? It shouldn't be too expensive to get the item tailored.

I'm a seamstress, so I "restyle" my fat clothes.  You can only take some of them in so far, but it's kept my a** covered until I could buy more--at a thrift store.  I don't care if they're not new, I'm only going to be wearing them for a while anyhow, and when they get too big for me, I "restyle" them too.  I'm not going to spend money on new clothes that won't fit me properly in the next month anyways. 

my size 12s went to the thrift store, but my 10s fit great over long johns, so i'm holding onto them ;)

all my tops are too big.  i'll replace them when i'm out of grad school and working again.

if your clothes are still in good shape then i think you could bring them to plato's closet and get money back. Then shop for clothes you want there. 

I've been using a belt to hold my pants up.  But they sure are baggy.  I've lost 25 lbs and still have about 20 lbs still to go.  I know I can't wear some of my pants for much longer.  Though I get a lot of comments from people noticing my weight loss. :D  I went to Target and bought some exercise pants and I wear them a lot. lol  I don't work, so it doesn't really matter that I wear them several days a week.  I also had a girlfriend give me some jeans that she couldn't wear anymore.  And I saved one smaller sized pair of black pants.  So I have three pairs that fit for now :)

ya start with a belt. Buy stuff that is a size down but is stretchy. so you can grow down into them. It wont be the most attractive clothing but it depends on if you have money to go through clothing. Wearing the baggy stuff till you absolutely cant is fun IMO. People will notice how much weight you've lost all day long. It's a hugh encouragement. I'm lucky to be a guy t-shirts are good in almost any size can be bought for 6 bucks and all i need is 1 pair of jeans and i'm good to go for a week. LOL.

I currently wear a 50 pant (ugg) when i reach my goal i'll be wear 38/40. LOL. But i've been here so i have pants in every size between. Packrat FTW.

joe

I shop the sales and dig through my old "maybe I'll fit into this someday" clothes.  For me, fitting into smaller clothes is a huge motivation to keep going and if I just had to wear my baggy old things with a belt, I don't think I'd have made the progress I have.  I try to limit myself though.  So, every time I drop a size, I figure I've earned 2-3 new pairs of pants. Then I have a couple of pairs of the "right" size and a couple of pairs in the "a little too big" size and that's enough until I get to my goal weight.  Anything that's truly too big goes in my "to give away" drawer.

Given that I can typically find decent pants for about $15/pair if I look hard enough, I just consider it an investment in my health.  Fortunately, my top isn't shrinking as fast as my bottom so I can still wear tops/dresses from my heavier days - though I've bought a couple of more fitted shirts as rewards.  I've always been top-heavy, so I suspect they'll last all the way through 'till my goal weight.