Anyone else worried about their decreasing wardrobe?

ell_23

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather reach my goal weight and live in the same 3 outfits bought off ebay than stay fat and wear all my old stuff.

BUT I'm a student, 19 and don't have much money to buy new clothes. My tops are fine, but bottoms-wise…all my jeans are starting to be too baggy around the waist. Everything still fits - with just a little extra room - but another 10-15 lbs down the line I think I will have officially dropped from a UK size 10 to 8 on my bottom half…meaning none of my jeans and smart/tapered trouser will fit and a few of my tops that are size 10 and designed to be fitted, will be baggy and look wrong.

I don't want to complain about weight loss, because I'm proud of myself and not going to stop or anything, but if there's one annoying thing it's buying new clothes when you DONT have the money to…:( and saying bye to some of your favourite clothes you can't fit into anymore

PS wasn't entirely sure which message board this fitted in to.

caracrawford1

Nope. Granted i have a job, but i also have a car note , student loans, rent, etc. I dont have money like that. BUT-- Thats what Xmas is for! My birthday is right after Christmas too so I'm going to cash in double from the family.

Kalikel

I hate buying so many new clothes all the time and have started sort of swapping out on eBay. I sell a few and use the paypal money to buy a few. The rest get donated to battered women. I also buy a few new.

It's really expensive going through entire wardrobes every few months.

But it will end eventually!

TheSatinPumpkin

went through 3 sizes (42/44/46) so fast that i am thinking of taking some of the nice progress pants to my tailor to have them taken in at the waist.

SezxyStef

I am beginning to get perturbed actually...

I have nothing for colder weather atm...going to go get something soon...

But that being said everything I bought this year is now getting too big...i replaced all my tanks...now they need replaced again..along with all my swim suit bottoms..

I have a job but I also don't want to spend too much money on clothing...

StrawberryJam40

I can't wait. I have way too many clothes now that I don't wear. I told my sister when I get down 2 to 3 sizes they are all going! In the meantime I shop thrift stores. Every Sunday our Goodwill has a color tag (tail they call them) for $1.29. I pick up stuff here and there as goal pieces to get into.

I'm a single mom and my budget is very tight too.

i will wear my t-shirts until they literally fall off of me. So, yeah, finding bottoms will be the biggest issue.

I also found a few friends/people locally that are a few sizes smaller than me in their weight loss journey and are willing to recycle their clothes to me. Bonus.

Besides eBay do you have any local buy/sell/trade sites. On Facebook each local area town by me has one where you can post things for sale, find things on sale, or put feelers out on what you are searching for.

I think it's a bonus to have to buy smaller clothes! Good luck!

krennie8

yes, in fact i just bought 2 new pairs of work pants and i'm debating returning them for a smaller size. They're already slightly roomy (so when they get washed they won't be too tight) and now i'm questioning that. I mean, if I get the smaller size now, I can hopefully wear them comfortably in a few short weeks.

And I've put off buying dresses for work (was looking at rather expensive ones at Ann Taylor & Loft, well expensive to me).

seltzermint555

OP, I understand that your situation is a little different...but I can relate somewhat to the shrinking wardrobe thing, too. For years I was in large plus sizes and built up a huge professional and casual wardrobe so I literally had hundreds of things in my wardrobe. Now that I've gone down from a size 22 to 10/12 it's all new and different stuff and I have about 10% of what I used to have...instead of twenty pairs of jeans, I have four. And literally ONE pair of dressy pants, when I used to have 30 or so in 12 different colors/shades/fabric types. My life has changed a lot, my job allows jeans instead of requiring dress-up or suits...but it still gives me a panicky feeling sometimes to look in my closet and see it 1/4 full instead of overflowing.

Just be smart, secondhand shop and clearance racks when possible...one pair of great fitting jeans is worth ten poorly fitting pair...two cute tops you feel GREAT in and wear all of the time are better than a ton of baggy or ill fitting tops you don't like much. Think of capsule wardrobes for travel and make that your goal even for daily life. It's actually kind of fun!!

Liftng4Lis

Try a thrift store or consignment shop.

RodaRose

Congrats on the weight loss! When you lose the 10 or 15 pounds you can buy new jeans. You only need two or three pairs.

I have a some shirts to take to the seamstress this week.
She can modify them to be one size lower for me.

wyattj99

That is what Good Will and friends of friends of friends wantimg to get rid of clothes are for

seltzermint555

I notice a lot of people talking about clothes from friends/friends of friends...I have found that sort of thing to be a psychological sh**storm, full of people with hurt feelings and women who wear size 16 but are long in denial about that and swearing they are a size six like they have always been and so on 'til the end of time.

And I honestly don't think of my friends as particularly drama queen types. But every time someone offers up clothes that are too big or too small for them it just brings out ALL OF THE CRAZY!! So not worth it.

I have however had excellent luck with selling clothes to STRANGERS locally, whether via craigslist or garage sales.

gmallan

Is there anywhere on campus or locally that does a clothing swap meet? Selling stuff online to get cash is also a good idea

Nekrachael

Also, skirts are more forgiving than pants. You can kind of deal with them from a little tight to pretty loose, as long as you don't carry too much stuff in the pockets.

Mariachicat

I'm putting away seasonal summer clothes and I'm debating whether or not to save some of these medium-sized bottoms when I've been replacing most with small. Jeans cause me a little bit of angst because I really am a 4 now but I've spent lots of money patching up my "skinny" jeans (which are now too huge for me and fall down, even with a belt), which are a 6.

The upshot is that if it still fits & looks well, I will save it. Falling off? Donating to charity. Make room for the new.

pita7317

I am lucky. Saved all my skinnier clothes which are now beginning to fit again. So happy I did that.

meshashesha2012

wear skirts and dresses, problem solved..

cliffismyinspiration

Am I the only one who saved a ton of her clothes from high school? Just joking around. Honestly though I would keep your current clothes as long as you can (even use a belt for a while) and when those pants won't stay up for the life of you pile up all your unfitting designer clothing/nice clothing, put an ad out in the paper for a yard sale, and sell it! You might not get all you paid for it but it will give you some shopping money for your new wardrobe and a size 10 lady out there is going to walk away a happy customer. Just a thought Congrats on the weight loss btw !

perseverance14

I have a closet full of size 9-12 and even some 14s I don't fit in anymore, mostly folded and up on the shelf that goes around the top of the closet. I haven't decided what to do with them yet, get them altered, trade them, give them away or what, but most of my former closet is now on the shelf. Luckily for me I had some smaller things, so I have things to wear, and I have bought just enough to get by. I am in the middle of small now, so the only place I have left is the small side of small (like 0-5 size), so I guess it gets easier as you go on. My big splurge was 2 tiny bikinis for when I get to goal body composition wise, not as much scale wise, what good is it if you can't look good in them.

I have some beautiful things I hate to part with, but I am going to have to get off the shelf (pardon the pun) at some point. Go for ebay, maybe you can sell bigger ones and get smaller, try things like freecycle and thrift shops, and I wish you the best, totally understand the frustration.

Val8less

I can't wait to have to change out my wardrobe!....luckily I live close to a goodwill second hand shop...

pita7317

Agree, seltzer mint. I gave larger clothing a couple times to an acquaintance thru another friend. After that, no to the thrift store.
No problems but just felt weird about doing it. As in here ya go, have my fat clothes. Not cool.

auddii

Charity shops and belts. They are your friends.

Cranquistador

You can have the waist taken in to make them last a little longer...it's not very expensive....find a tailor.

sphkhn

I've been the same size since I was 13 so I had a ton of clothes! I went from having hundreds of outfits to having about 10 I need to wait until I am at least close to goal to buy new stuff based on my budget. I only have 3 pairs of pants that fit and two jackets. I am thinking it is time for a trip to goodwill or h&m to pick up some cheap basics. Also a bunch of my shoes no longer fit :noway:

violasmith85

I went and bought 4 nice pairs of jeans at a thrift store, 1 in each size down to my goal size. 1 dollar each. The smallest ones are the cuties so very good inspiration to reach my goal. and very economical.

jennifer_417

Thrift stores are your friend.

TheLadyBane

I went from a size 24 to a size 8 and loved buying new clothes every step of the way. It was hard to get attached to a favorite pair of jeans then shrink out of them, but it is so very worth it. I kept costs down by selling some of my old clothes to local consignment shops and shopping for new at local thrift shops. It also helps that my black compression pants double as tights under a dress for work, then I just switch shoes and tops to go from work to the gym.

chriamaria

Definitely freecycle. Especially if you live in a bigger city. Also craigslist. Check the free section often as well. I love goodwill because you can often get things half price. Target is also surprisingly an awesome place to go. Their clearance section is great and I have in the past found things for super cheap. Lately my wardrobe is comprised of hand me downs though.

violasmith85

Definitely freecycle. Especially if you live in a bigger city. Also craigslist. Check the free section often as well. I love goodwill because you can often get things half price. Target is also surprisingly an awesome place to go. Their clearance section is great and I have in the past found things for super cheap. Lately my wardrobe is comprised of hand me downs though.

^^agree and walmart usually has a clearance section as well. Most of the time I'll see something there for a great price, get to the register and it was priced wrong and was even cheaper! I got a ton of t shirts there the other day for a dollar each and they were marked 3 dollars.

Karissa_Clohan

I invested in a lot of stretchy clothes and clothes that are meant to appear baggy, like tights and over sized sweaters. Also, as others have stated, thrift stores are your friend and clothing exchange groups on Facebook sometimes work.

Good luck, OP!

Cortneyrenee04

I've been trying to find some things that won't look terrible when they get too big. I did finally get rid of some old clothes because I felt so frumpy in them. It's not good for my self esteem to go around like that.

I found some great dresses at H&M for $12.95! I think they'll work for a while and I can take them in a tad if I need to later on. I'm a little thankful that it's almost time for layering - maybe I can wear old dresses in a new way.