I can't be the only one...

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  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
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    Personally I hate second hand clothes life is never that desperate surely. But a big believer in a capsule wardrode. Buy a cheap suit - skirt, trousers, one jacket which works with both, some lycra tops and one or two dresses and your'e done for work. If you buy as much as possible in stretch fabric it will move with your body. Buy belts to cinch things in. Its really not that expensive. You
  • SheRa1964
    SheRa1964 Posts: 155
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    Goodwill is a a great option. My son buys all this clothes there. I buy all my transitional clothes there. If you go to an upper class part of town you get nicer stuff! :) I shop there even when my money isn't super tight. Sometimes you can find things for $3 that would cost $30 at Kohls. I like to save money and I LOVE clothes. Plus you are helping people who work there stay employed. They hire people with special needs. It's win-win.
  • CashierCantin
    CashierCantin Posts: 206 Member
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    Goodwill was my saving grace. I had to buy business casual clothes and its amazing how many things were now my size where before I could never find anything that fit because I was too big.

    I went every weekend and bought a shirt here and a pair of pants there. I've quite a collection I need to get back into once I get the rest of these pounds off me.
  • ccmccoy09
    ccmccoy09 Posts: 284 Member
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    I just thought of something! Head over to the resale shops in Berkeley (Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, Plato's closet) and sell whatever you can for credit, and then buy yourself some new duds. When you lose more weight and grow out of those, take them back, resell them, and buy new ones with the credit. You won't get a 1:1 trade on price, but it will be cheaper than donating your old clothes to charity and paying cash for new stuff.

    Depending on how generous your friends are, you might want to ask them for their cast-offs so you can try to sell them too. You might be surprised how willing they are to forego selling their clothes for a bit of cash in order to help you out.

    Be prepared for the staff at those places to be picky, and don't take it personally if they don't offer what you think your clothes are worth. If your cast-offs are too big for you, and you're committed to never being able to wear them again, those clothes are essentially worthless to you anyway. :) Congrats on your weight loss!!
  • skateboardstef
    skateboardstef Posts: 164 Member
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    My strategy is every time I drop a pants size, I only buy a few pairs of jeans because I plan on losing more weight. I do a good bit of laundry but at least I'm not wasting too much money on new clothes when they might not fit me in a few months. Also I look for tops that are made of stretchy fabric or stylish loose fitting tops that will still look good on me when I lose weight.
  • steffiejoe
    steffiejoe Posts: 313 Member
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    I know the feeling. I have two bags of nice work clothes (size 10 &12's)some with taggs in my gargage that I need to donate. I wish I new someone I could give them to. I'm wearing a size 8 now and they are getting lose.

    For black friday I purchased two pairs of size 6 slacks. They are just a lttle snugg in the thigh area but im sure when I lose 5 more pounds they will fit perfect.
  • cerrajean
    cerrajean Posts: 188 Member
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    I just thought of something! Head over to the resale shops in Berkeley (Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, Plato's closet) and sell whatever you can for credit, and then buy yourself some new duds.

    My experience with these types of resale shops are that they have NO plus size sections, therefore aren't really keen on buying plus size items. I'll definitely try them again, especially since I'm now in an 18, but I know when I was a 24 or 26 it was virtually impossible to find anything at Plato's Closet and I had heard Buffalo Exchange wasn't accommodating for plus sizes either.

    Also in Berkeley, there's Says Who/Seams to Fit, but the style of clothing they look for isn't really in line with the business casual styles I wear/need. (Nothing against them, they've been doing what they do for 30 years, but I've never been the earthy-tent-like garment kinda girl.)
  • cerrajean
    cerrajean Posts: 188 Member
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    I know the feeling. I have two bags of nice work clothes (size 10 &12's)some with taggs in my gargage that I need to donate. I wish I new someone I could give them to. I'm wearing a size 8 now and they are getting lose.

    For black friday I purchased two pairs of size 6 slacks. They are just a lttle snugg in the thigh area but im sure when I lose 5 more pounds they will fit perfect.

    You should look up domestic abuse / women's shelters in your area. They're always looking for donations, and it's a great cause.

    Gongrats on dropping so many sizes! I look forward to being that small! (maybe not a 6, but definitely a 10-12!)
  • bampitt
    bampitt Posts: 43 Member
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    Thrift stores are a great option. Or if you sew, you can alter your own clothes.
  • Nmama
    Nmama Posts: 191 Member
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    my friend and I hit the thrift stores one day and were amazed at how many of them had dress pants and jeans that were stylish and in great shape! I would defintley check them out!
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    Maybe you could get a group of women together and do a clothing exchange? My friends have been setting those up lately...everyone just brings all their clothes that they don't/can't wear anymore and trades with others.

    http://www.wikihow.com/Hold-a-Fashion-Swap-Party
  • KavemanKarg
    KavemanKarg Posts: 266
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    You will feel better thin, in baggy clothing, then fat in comfortable clothing.

    I would think.

    Just a guess :)

    Also there are weight loss support groups and some of them share clothing they out shrink :)
  • HartJames
    HartJames Posts: 789 Member
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    Personally I hate second hand clothes life is never that desperate surely. But a big believer in a capsule wardrode. Buy a cheap suit - skirt, trousers, one jacket which works with both, some lycra tops and one or two dresses and your'e done for work. If you buy as much as possible in stretch fabric it will move with your body. Buy belts to cinch things in. Its really not that expensive. You

    Whoaaaa- offensive much? I'm surely not desperate and am perfectly happy buying clothes wherever the hell I like- thank you very much!
  • sal22408
    sal22408 Posts: 90
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    Ok...so thrift stores can be time consuming but just go on a day you have time to pick through and make a day of it. Even if you walk out with only a few things, its still worth trying ..considering the savings. Sometimes Ill go just for the thrill of finding a great deal! I have found that although the shirts are generally grouped by color...they are also grouped by size. The jeans and slacks are generally hung by size as well.
    If that really isnt an option for you then i suggest getting your favorite items altered to fit your new size...or try ebay where you can just punch in the size item you're looking for. I personally like to try stuff on ...but whatever works!
    Im trying to lose weight so that i dont have to buy a new wardrobe....my clothes are getting snug and i REFUSE to go up a size! ...however, id be happy to go down one :)
  • cerrajean
    cerrajean Posts: 188 Member
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    Personally I hate second hand clothes life is never that desperate surely. But a big believer in a capsule wardrode. Buy a cheap suit - skirt, trousers, one jacket which works with both, some lycra tops and one or two dresses and your'e done for work. If you buy as much as possible in stretch fabric it will move with your body. Buy belts to cinch things in. Its really not that expensive. You

    I wish it were just that simple. And I don't see used clothing as desperate, especially in transition from weight loss. To try and explain this as best I can, and in support of people who believe thrift stores aren't filthy and disgusting or for "desperate" people, here are the items you've listed, that I would need to replace every 2-3 months at my current rate of weight loss.

    I'll base this on Ross pricing since it's the most familiar to me and by budget-

    Cheap suit- My top is generally a smaller size than my bottom so someplace cheap like Ross isn't going to work, as they do not separate their suit pieces. You get one size, and as I established, I like my clothes to actually fit.
    Skirt - $10-20 (avg $15)
    Slacks $13-25 (avg $19)
    Suit Jacket/blazer $20-40 (avg $30)
    'Lycra' tops $9-$20 (avg $15) x 4 (avg $60)
    dress - $15-40 (avg $28) x 2 (avg $55)

    Based on the averages this totals $179 every 2-3 months. and I would definitely need some jeans, 2 pair, and another pair of work slacks, also bras and underware become too big too. So that would be-

    Jeans - $13-25 (avg $19) x 2 (avg $38)
    Slacks $13-25 (avg $19)
    underwear $4/pair x 7 (avg $28)
    Bras - $6-15 (avg $11) x 2 (avg $22)

    This adds another $107, bringing it to $286 every 2-3 months by your strategy. While it would be nice to have that extra $1k to spend on new clothes over the next year, it's laughable for me, and I'm guessing a lot of other people. In fact, that $286 is less than is left from one paycheck after I pay rent out of it. When I say I'm on the strictest of budgets, I mean less than $50 I can part with per month for fun/non-necessary items, and even then that could go to paying off bills.

    You may not have to focus on each dollar and keep track of every single penny, but I'm sure plenty of people around here take as much offense as I do to your claims of used clothing being a desperate measure. If it's truly not that big of a deal, you're welcome to buy my next pair of pants in a couple months.
  • pinkgigi
    pinkgigi Posts: 693 Member
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    I love op-shops, and believe me I am not desperate!

    This last weekend I was caught in a terrible rain storm while I was on holiday, on a long drive. My daughter and I popped into an op-shop and I bought a pair of Target pants, UK size 12 for $5, and I changed into them because my jeans were soaking, OK I was desperate to get out of cold wet clothes, but I'm wearing them today too because all my other pants are baggy in the bottom.

    I love the idea of getting singlet tops and a couple of good pairs of pants and wearing your cardigans, that's what I wear most days to work.

    GG
  • cerrajean
    cerrajean Posts: 188 Member
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    Thanks again everyone - I really appreciate all of your contributions, well- except one, but the rest of you- THANKS!
  • shopewell70
    shopewell70 Posts: 125 Member
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    Theres only one thing left to do......Each and everyone of us are all of different height and size. We need to start a clothing swap!!!!! It would be like XMAS everyday.....Just a thought

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