Anyone else worried about their decreasing wardrobe?

emrp22

I can understand that not having clothes that fit you now is difficult. Here in the US we have second hand stores like Goodwill; it looks like you live in the UK, and I don't know what kinds of "Goodwill-like" stores you have over there. If there are any stores like that, look around and sometimes when you go through the clothes you find stuff that does not look too bad.

My problem is opposite of yours: I've had a health problem that caused weight gain for a few years (very frustrating), and now that I am losing again, I will start using my old clothes as I get into them - I just could not afford to buy a lot of clothes for my heavier body; I always thought I would find a way to get the weight off again (doctor insist I do!), thus, I do not have a lot of "cute" or "nice" clothes for my current size. I am looking forward to unpacking my "slimmer" clothes.

Hang in there! Sounds like you have done a great job with your weight. :-) I hope you find a place that has some clothes nearby that you can afford; I know it is not easy to make ends meet when you are a student.

emrp22

Seltzermint, congratulations on such a great weight loss! Very impressive. :-) I am sure that with time you will build up a wardrobe again - but it can be expensive, so I am glad you have a job where more casual jeans are allowed.

ell_23

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.

Thanks for the suggestions guys but I'm English, we don't have craigslist or walmart. There are kind of equivalents, though. They're a bit crappy quality but I guess if I'm poor then that's what needs to be done!

I will have to resort to charity shops and cheap stores more (as in, even cheaper than the stores I already shop at!), I know that…
But my point was also more that it's upsetting having to discard favourite clothes or 5 pairs of jeans that were £40 each which is a lot of money for me

powerpigeon

Ebay is your friend! Sell the stuff that doesn't fit to find stuff that does. Check out charity shops too.
Could you organise a clothes swapping party? Everybody brings along clothing they no longer want, and swaps it for something they do want.

ell_23

I can understand that not having clothes that fit you now is difficult. Here in the US we have second hand stores like Goodwill; it looks like you live in the UK, and I don't know what kinds of "Goodwill-like" stores you have over there. If there are any stores like that, look around and sometimes when you go through the clothes you find stuff that does not look too bad.

My problem is opposite of yours: I've had a health problem that caused weight gain for a few years (very frustrating), and now that I am losing again, I will start using my old clothes as I get into them - I just could not afford to buy a lot of clothes for my heavier body; I always thought I would find a way to get the weight off again (doctor insist I do!), thus, I do not have a lot of "cute" or "nice" clothes for my current size. I am looking forward to unpacking my "slimmer" clothes.

Hang in there! Sounds like you have done a great job with your weight. :-) I hope you find a place that has some clothes nearby that you can afford; I know it is not easy to make ends meet when you are a student.

Well we have charity shops, or thrift stores I think you call them. We also do have a couple "high street" stores that are designed to be quite cheap, and one is super cheap called Primark, but it comes at the price of slave labour and rubbish quality…I guess it does the job for a bit until Christmas and birthdays though.

Ah that's almost good that you have your slim clothes still! Unfortunately, I'm currently about the same size as I was when I was about 12 or 13…and all my clothes from then have obviously been thrown out and would be kiddy clothes anyway now.

I know I don't have a drastic weight loss experience like others - I sympathise with people who have dropped (or gained) 2, 3, 4 or more dress sizes as that really does call for a new wardrobe altogether, whereas I can still manage with most of my tops and jumpers and leggings and joggers because it's only been one size for me.

Thank you good luck with getting the weight off again and being able to fit back into all your nice clothes!

ell_23

Go buy clothes from Goodwill.

It doesn't exist in the UK. Don't know what it is.

ell_23

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.

H&M we do have in the UK, and I shop there already There's a few high street stores on the cheaper size and a few online stores that are cheaper that I shop at anyway…I just always buy slightly more expensive (still not a lot though, really) jumpers and jeans, as I want them to both last and for the jumpers to be warm - usually involves a slightly higher price.

Yes, agreed. Thankfully winter is coming and I can put on my smaller tops and jumpers which are baggy anyway, and maybe buy just one or two pairs of new jeans in a smaller size. Don't think I'll ever be smaller than UK 8 on my bum so hopefully I won't get this problem again. I will also definitely be keeping most of my bigger stuff incase this happens again with weight gain.

aethre

You know, if you're amenable to the charity shop approach, and live in a fairly urban area... it's totally worth choosing your locations carefully. If you go to a charity shop in a more expensive neighbourhood then the clothes in stock in any charity shops there tend to reflect that - higher quality, still cheap. Just a thought.

DawnieB1977

Try charity shops maybe? I guess it depends where you live..some towns are more likely to have nicer thngs! I did my degree at UKC and there were some charity shops in Canterbury with nice stuff from Next, Gap etc.

I'm losing weight after my 3rd baby and am just wearing leggings and tops at the moment, and when it gets colder I'll be in tights and dresses, as it's fine if they're a little loose. I don't want to waste money on jeans and things when I have loads of nice ones in my pre-pregnancy size.

DawnieB1977

Go buy clothes from Goodwill.

It doesn't exist in the UK. Don't know what it is.

I think Goodwill is just a charity shop?

emrp22

I can understand that not having clothes that fit you now is difficult. Here in the US we have second hand stores like Goodwill; it looks like you live in the UK, and I don't know what kinds of "Goodwill-like" stores you have over there. If there are any stores like that, look around and sometimes when you go through the clothes you find stuff that does not look too bad.

My problem is opposite of yours: I've had a health problem that caused weight gain for a few years (very frustrating), and now that I am losing again, I will start using my old clothes as I get into them - I just could not afford to buy a lot of clothes for my heavier body; I always thought I would find a way to get the weight off again (doctor insist I do!), thus, I do not have a lot of "cute" or "nice" clothes for my current size. I am looking forward to unpacking my "slimmer" clothes.

Hang in there! Sounds like you have done a great job with your weight. :-) I hope you find a place that has some clothes nearby that you can afford; I know it is not easy to make ends meet when you are a student.

Well we have charity shops, or thrift stores I think you call them. We also do have a couple "high street" stores that are designed to be quite cheap, and one is super cheap called Primark, but it comes at the price of slave labour and rubbish quality…I guess it does the job for a bit until Christmas and birthdays though.

Ah that's almost good that you have your slim clothes still! Unfortunately, I'm currently about the same size as I was when I was about 12 or 13…and all my clothes from then have obviously been thrown out and would be kiddy clothes anyway now.

I know I don't have a drastic weight loss experience like others - I sympathise with people who have dropped (or gained) 2, 3, 4 or more dress sizes as that really does call for a new wardrobe altogether, whereas I can still manage with most of my tops and jumpers and leggings and joggers because it's only been one size for me.

Thank you good luck with getting the weight off again and being able to fit back into all your nice clothes!

Hi ell, thank you for your good wishes about my weight - and same back at you! :-) It really sounds like you accept your situation pretty well, although you also feel a bit frustrated about your clothes. I hope you follow the advise from someone here and look for a second hand clothing store in a nicer neighborhood if that will find you some clothes in your current size. Even one or two pieces of clothing works great as a "pick-me-up!" I hope your birthday is soon - and, like you say, Christmas is coming up. (Wasn't Christmas just a month or two ago??? ugh... time flies!)

Greetings from Oregon! :-)

PoesyP

I'm guessing you don't sew? Time to learn! It's pretty easy to take most things in a little bit. With tops you might find all you need to do is run a machine up the side seams a little further in. Or adding a couple of darts into a shirt is also really simple. You should be able to find loads of instructional videos for stuff like that on YouTube.

Sometimes you can get away with just adding a bit of elastic in a suitable place, especially on a skirt. Trousers are a bit more fiddly and jeans, I'd say, you would be better trying to find total replacments for.

ciarotheray

I very much agree! Even a super budget machine (such as a mini one, could be €30 or so) can be enough to pull in the hips and waists of your clothes and give them a new life.

Tip from experience: If a dress has got too big, shortening it slightly usually improves the fit, and only takes about 10 minutes. It can even be done by hand easily.

Cc215

As others have said before - ebay really is your friend. Sell what doesn't fit any more, and use that cash to help buy more clothing. It sounds like you are almost at your goal - so check ebay out for the replacements too - you can get a lot of stuff on there that still has the tags. So you can get new clothes at a fraction of the price - it might be a season or two old - but a pair of skinny jeans looks the same whether its on the shop floor this week - or was there a year ago.

Having said that I feel it is only fair to warn you - I found shopping on ebay a little addictive - so many bargains to be had!