Help with new clothes!
jhellwig828
Posts: 109 Member
I figure since everyone here (or for the most part) is in maintenance then at some point you have had to buy new clothes. I am down 4 sizes from where I started and I'm basically buying a whole new wardrobe. Yeah for weight loss! Boo for being broke! It's 80 here this week and I am in desperate need of shorts. I don't ming buying new, since I plan to stay where I am size-wise. Where did you find the best deals getting new clothes??
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Online is my personal favourite, such goooood deals.0
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I go to our local thrift store, especially for shorts. Though to be fair, today's high will be 55 deg F. No shorts until July!0
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TjMaxx is my go to- occasionally Target (hate what they are coming out with these days)
I tap Forever 21 occasionally ( really hit or miss) Penny's has good reliable stuff (I need work clothes)
Burlington Coat Factory is my go to source for dresses!!!0 -
I have become a discerning thrift shopper - which is helpful given that I had to build a new wardrobe from scratch, since the "skinny clothes" I had kept around were too big once I hit my goal weight!
I've gotten incredible deals, almost always mall-brand (BR, Gap, Ann Taylor) and sometimes designer brand. Often new with tags for a fraction of the price. Thift and consignment make up most of my closet. I do have to buy jeans/pants new, usually, because talls are harder to come by.0 -
usually, because talls are harder to come by.
RIGHT?!?0 -
Thrift stores.
I have a credit card I put everything (groceries etc.) on that gives me coupons for LL Bean. I get all my new clothes there for, essentially free.
I bought a sewing machine and took in all my clothes - yes, 4 sizes.0 -
Oh man I wish I could sew! I have a lot of clothes that I love and am sad they don't fit anymore. I mean I'm happy with the weight loss...you know what I mean!! I'd love to be able to tailor stuff myself!
ETA: I can't type.0 -
I went to Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic outlet stores, during a sale, with bonus bucks back. I use my ON credit card, earn the bucks back, use them at those stores. Sometimes you can find good stuff at the Thrift stores, it just takes some time to sift through everything. I also like Danskin stuff from Walmart. I dress pretty casually, though. I have no advice for business or dressy clothes.0
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Oh man I wish I could sew! I have a lot of clothes that I love and am sad they don't fit anymore. I mean I'm happy with the weight loss...you know what I mean!! I'd love to be able to tailor stuff myself!
ETA: I can't type.
Start with stuff you love and do the easy things that are pretty but loose. With pants, practice with a pair of something with an elastic waist. Take it in at the back seam. Then just slim the outer seams. See how it works. If it doesn't fit now, you haven't lost anything.
I did a lot of my nice tunic shirts by taking little tucks in the back to make a nice bloused pleat at the back. Sometimes princess seamed. Sometimes just pinching together at the back waist and sewing it together. They look like they're made that way.
You can take in sleeveless shirts by taking in the side seams pretty easily. Surprisingly, it's under the armpit that needs the most fitting.
It is hardest to take in pants with waistbands, but there are some good youtube videos on how to do it. To do it right, you unsew the waist, take in the seat, then sew the waistband back in. But often you can just tuck and sew and no one is the wiser.
Dresses mostly need to be taken in with princess seams and at the armpit. Skirts are like pants.
Play with it. I learned to sew making Barbie dresses by hand out of old scraps of fabric - just pinch and tuck until it looks right and sew in place. It works the same with big girl dresses.0 -
I had no summer clothes since I was a size 14/16 last summer and now a 6/8. I have slowly built up a new (to me) summer wardrobe from Savers, Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores. Great stuff, fabulous prices and I got a 30% off coupon for donating my too big clothes. I love thrifting!!0
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Sometimes you can find good stuff at the Thrift stores, it just takes some time to sift through everything.
The sifting can be hard, but one of our local thrift stores offers a FREE personal shopping service. It's amazing - you give her your size and style information and show up to a rack full of outfits and single pieces, accessories and all, chosen for you. You get a private dressing room, try things on, get the stylist's opinion, and buy what you want. I've had two of these appointments and they filled my closet with great stuff.
Twin Cities people - this is Arc's Value Village. Find the personal shopper on FB, where she posts all open appointments. You're welcome
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thrift store. ross. marshalls.0
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Old Navy online. I'm super duper tall, so have to buy everything online anyway, but if you sign up for Old Navy's emails they send 20-30% off codes all the time.0
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Sometimes you can find good stuff at the Thrift stores, it just takes some time to sift through everything.
The sifting can be hard, but one of our local thrift stores offers a FREE personal shopping service. It's amazing - you give her your size and style information and show up to a rack full of outfits and single pieces, accessories and all, chosen for you. You get a private dressing room, try things on, get the stylist's opinion, and buy what you want. I've had two of these appointments and they filled my closet with great stuff.
Twin Cities people - this is Arc's Value Village. Find the personal shopper on FB, where she posts all open appointments. You're welcome
You are amazing for sharing this knowledge. Thank you!0 -
OP.... There are some things you'll want to buy new , but go to the thrift stores and restock a few basics like shorts and jeans.
Burlington Coat Factory is another good store ...0 -
I like Amazon.com. I'm still losing weight so what I do is put clothes that are like 10% off in the Save For Later section (you add it to your cart then go to your cart and click Save For Later). Then everytime you go to your cart, it will tell you if the price changed. You can also see if there are only a few left in your size. Amazon must cycle through clothes really quickly because I have gotten dresses for over $90 off. I got one dress for $15. I think the full retail on it was $75 or $85.
You won't be able to get shorts today using that method but it's good to know to slowly restock your closet. Congrats on your weight loss!
ETA: The prices on sale items on Amazon change almost daily. Sometimes they go up but they almost always go down. Somethings you might watch for a month or so before they drop but other things you may only watch for a few days before the price drops by half!0 -
I buy a bunch of stuff at once online from favorite retailers that have a brick and mortar near by. New York and Company is one of my favorites. There are always great coupons to be found and always sales going on, which can be combined in many cases. I'll use a coupon and order when they have free shipping, try it on at home and take back what doesn't work to the store. There is usually a better selection of sizes, etc. online and often styles that are only available online.0
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Old Navy is my favorite. Their bases prices are pretty reasonable, but I normally shop on clearance, have rewards from using their credit card, and/or have some other kind of coupon/promotion (or ideally all 3!). The last time I went shopping there... I bought 2 dresses, 2 tank tops, and a pair of shoes and only had to pay $2 out of my pocket. That $2 outing is definitely on the very extreme end, but I do generally find some great deals there. 0
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Burlington, Marshall's, JC Penney, TJ Maxx, Macy's (If you have their credit card you can score great deals). I have never bee a big thrift shopper I hate "sifting" but I am sure you can find excellent deals if you don't mind going through stuff.0
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Consignment shops (hitting on this weekend for shorts - like you mine from last summer don't fit anymore)
Wal-Mart for necessities such as underwear/socks/clearance tees
I like Old Navy and Target Clearance racks myself.
And my gracious co-workers have given me a lot of stuff too! So that's been a blessing as well!0 -
do you Old Navy lovers find their qualitly is low? I never have luck with their clothing lasting more than 1-2 seasons. Not the best quality, but cute stuff at times.0
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do you Old Navy lovers find their qualitly is low? I never have luck with their clothing lasting more than 1-2 seasons. Not the best quality, but cute stuff at times.
I haven't really had any issues with quality. I wear their active wear very frequently and haven't noticed any wear and tear.
As far as the regular clothes - also haven't really noticed any issues. I have a fairly large wardrobe (I prefer quantity over quality which may not be the case for everyone!) so I tend to maybe wear a given shirt once every couple or three weeks or something like that. I do wear my jeans more frequently and they have held up well for me.
I also find that I sometimes get sick of clothes after a couple of years anyway and end up donating them to Good Will at that point (when they are still in OK shape)... so I really can't comment on very long-term wear.0 -
If you have clothes you really love, and you can't sew, having them altered may be an option. Where I live there is a woman in town who does alterations out of her home.....it's not that expensive, definitely cheaper than buying new clothes.0
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I feel ya! I have been through this quite a bit. I started out at size 22, and lost about 35-40 lb and then a tornado hit and I lost every item of clothing (except like 4 pairs of undies, a bra, and 2 dresses I found in my yard afterward). So I had to buy everything new even though my size hadn't really changed. I found GREAT stuff in thrift stores in size 22 and 2X. Truly excellent finds and very cheap.
When I joined MFP a couple of years later, when started I was going from size 22 down to an 18, and still I found tons of great clothes. But then...once I hit size 16 last fall, it seemed like it was next to impossible to find higher quality cute clothes secondhand. I guess it must vary by place, or something, but I often hit the women's clothing racks and there's a ton of sizes 3-10 and then a ton of sizes 18+ and nothing in 12-16! Maybe because soooo many women wear 12-16? I don't know!! But it was a very weird shock to me.
Since then I have bought a lot of clothing from clearance racks at stores like Target, Macy's, JC Penney, Kohl's, etc. I love Target especially some of their juniors XL and XXL. Last fall/winter I loved Target's Fit 4 skinnies in a 16 but now that those are too big, I'm a big fan of Wallflowers juniors "Luscious Curvy" skinnies which I buy on Amazon for only like $20. I have found some great stuff that way, just trolling Amazon and paying close attention to customer reviews.
But I'm getting off track here...clearance racks. And stores like Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx...LOVE THOSE!!!
Mostly for me it's been a matter of learning to live with a smaller "capsule" wardrobe and to get rid of those old ideas that I MUST HAVE 10 pairs of jeans, every single color of dress pants, 20 warm sweaters, etc. When I went from 22 to 18, I basically replaced every single thing in my closet -- it took me years to go from 22 to 18, so I figured I was "safe" but then a few months later the 18s looked awful. So I got smarter with 16s and it hasn't been traumatic to go to a 14 and now I know not to get too attached ;-)0 -
The Limited is great for work clothes-- the quality is really good and the prices aren't too high. They often have Buy 1 Get 1 sales on pants, skirts, blazers and dresses. They also have petite sizing online, if that's something you need.
I have to admit that Forever 21 has some good buys if you have the patience to sift through the ultra-trendy and junky stuff. A lot of their clothes are of surprisingly good quality, and the fit is perfect if you're on the smaller side. I've heard Uniqlo is similarly good (but we don't have one of those here yet!).0 -
Ebay! Just make sure you select women's!0
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I'm in love with the flare dresses from Old Navy. Otherwise, I buy the cheap shirts at Kohls when they have a 30% coupon.0
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do you Old Navy lovers find their qualitly is low? I never have luck with their clothing lasting more than 1-2 seasons. Not the best quality, but cute stuff at times.
I don't really care for Old Navy for this reason.
Although it just lasting 1-2 seasons wouldn't really be a problem for me lately with still changing sizes, I find their prices are not THAT cheap (with some obvious exceptions like sale-price lounge/pj pants and t-shirts). I can either buy a $24.50 shirt from Old Navy that will start looking rough in 3 washes, or spend $12 each on two clearance tops from Macy's or at TJ Maxx and they will look amazing in a year. Just my experience -- I am not trying to contradict others who have had better experiences with Old Navy. Mostly I'm just really cheap and for me to spend over $20 on a single top it better be awesome.0 -
do you Old Navy lovers find their qualitly is low? I never have luck with their clothing lasting more than 1-2 seasons. Not the best quality, but cute stuff at times.
I don't really care for Old Navy for this reason.
Although it just lasting 1-2 seasons wouldn't really be a problem for me lately with still changing sizes, I find their prices are not THAT cheap (with some obvious exceptions like sale-price lounge/pj pants and t-shirts). I can either buy a $24.50 shirt from Old Navy that will start looking rough in 3 washes, or spend $12 each on two clearance tops from Macy's or at TJ Maxx and they will look amazing in a year. Just my experience -- I am not trying to contradict others who have had better experiences with Old Navy. Mostly I'm just really cheap and for me to spend over $20 on a single top it better be awesome.
For me it's not that Old Navy clothes are falling apart after 2 seasons, but that they feel and look cheap. Fabrics that stretch out and fade easily, poor construction and fit, chintzy finishes, etc. Even straight off the rack they're not that enjoyable to wear.0 -
Consignment and the clearance rack work for me....
Have fun and only buy 2 or 3 items at a time....0
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