Weeding out clothes, and the overweight American male

Thorbjornn

I removed 3/4 of my shirts, buttondown and polo, from my closet and drawers because they are too big. I've gone from XXL to XL and from 17 1/2 to 17 neck. In the XXL I look like I have about 3 hours to live. My tailor says she can alter my collared shirts by taking in the sides and arms for $28 each, but it's not worth it except only for a couple really nice ones. I've gone shopping for XL and 17 neck. All the XXL shirts are set aside waiting to go somewhere. I may also be ready to go down to size 38 pants from very annoyingly loose 40s. However, because I have 3 more sizes to go for my goal, this is going to bankrupt me. :laugh:

On a serious note, however, it's a sad testament to how fat the average American male is when he has a 17 1/2 neck, but the body of the shirt measures 52" at the midsection. Even then on some men (my boss for one) the shirt is stretched and the buttons strain. I was one of those (too many) fat American men, and hope to never be there again. Onward and downward.

Rwheltsley

Congrats man - I am in a similar boat myself and it is actually the only disappointment I have about weight loss so far. It legitimately pisses me off.

Went from a XXL shirt to XL and 42/44 waist to a 38 so far.

It is extremely annoying though because all of my expensive work clothes now fit like I am homeless - but I don't have the hundreds of dollars necessary to replace them and I don't want to splurge on clothes now either because I still plan on going down sizes and don't want to waste money on the in-between size.

212ackley

I am there with you! I just got rid of 2 garabage bags full of clothes over the weekend..:happy: ..It is so very unattractive to be walking around with a saggy butt -:noway: -started feeling very frumpy. Thank goodness I saved my too small clothes! I feel like I have a new wardrobe and my shorts all fit me this year! (I lived in stretchy clothes last summer since I couldn't fit into anything else ) I would love to have to buy a new winter wardrobe by fall though! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Thorbjornn

Congratz to you too. It is kind of annoying, but the good kind, I guess.

Shikonneko

I know that feeling (down three pant sizes and all that); had to go to good will so I still looked reasonable at work. I couldn't bring myself to by second-hand bras though--thank goodness you don't have that to worry about too.

Djproulx

Oh yeah, I feel your pain. Since Oct 2011, I've gone from a 17' neck/40" waist to 15.5neck /34" waist, so I'm on my second "wardrobe refresh" in 12 months. I'm thinking that I'll need one more "refresh" by this summer. With two kids in college, that certainly wasn't where I wanted to spend extra money. :grumble:

But as my wife reminded me "Its only money and I don't want you walking around looking like you're wearing a parachute!" :laugh:

Thorbjornn

People have said to go to thrift shops. I'm going to donate my clothes to the SPCA thrift shop. Maybe I can trade for some things. Being short (5'5") I always have to have my pants shortened. So I'll be paying $16 for a $10 pair of pants. It's still worth it instead of buying JCPenney $19.99 Staffords or St. John's Bay and still paying $16 or a hemming. This *can* get expensive. But worth it in the long run healthwise and psychologically.

jasonheyd

I hear ya'. I'm down to wearing a large from a... er, yeah... 2XLT. :noway:

I wore the baggy stuff as long as I could, but ended up buying two new sets of pants & dress shirts along the way & probably have a few more things that I should replace one of these days.

Congrats on the loss & yeah, good problems to have. ;-)

luckyshilling

Congrats! You look fantastic!!

This is my second time losing weight *shame face* and being a woman the changes in bra size are a killer expense because I have a hard time wearing cheap bras (they just fit like crap in my opinion, are uncomfortable, and don't hold up very long so you just have to buy more often).

I can see how paying to get all your shirts taken in would be way too expensive! Oh well, motivation for us to never go back.

Thorbjornn

Thanks. And they say to never keep your big clothes because it's a subconscious excuse to let yourself go again. And haven't we all been down this road before!?

luckyshilling

I hear ya'. I'm down to wearing a large from a... er, yeah... 2XLT. :noway:

I wore the baggy stuff as long as I could, but ended up buying two new sets of pants & dress shirts along the way & probably have a few more things that I should replace one of these days.

Congrats on the loss & yeah, good problems to have. ;-)

That is so great!

luckyshilling

Thanks. And they say to never keep your big clothes because it's a subconscious excuse to let yourself go again. And haven't we all been down this road before!?

Well, that's explains it! I didn't get rid of my big clothes, they just sat in the back of my closet.:blushing: I will not be lazy this time, as soon as they are too big out they go!:bigsmile:

sdionnemoore

You might try looking into an upscale consignment shop. They will turn around and sell your suits and shirts for you and you get to keep a portion of the sale price. It's not much, but it's something.

saxmaniac

On a serious note, however, it's a sad testament to how fat the average American male is when he has a 17 1/2 neck, but the body of the shirt measures 52" at the midsection. Even then on some men (my boss for one) the shirt is stretched and the buttons strain. I was one of those (too many) fat American men, and hope to never be there again. Onward and downward.

This is very true. Once you get down to a good (not even great!) BF% level, finding good clothes will be vastly more difficult, for exactly as you described. The brand, line, and store matters hugely.

Before I figured out what I was doing, I bought some "slim-fit" dress shirts bought without trying. Some of them have what I guess to be 38"-42" waists. Not great for my 32".

I'm having good luck with Van Heusen fitted dress, VH Studio sport, JP Claiborne slim, Mossimo athletic cut... and very little else. Even a few of those are a touch baggy.

I have a one-in-one-out policy at this point. When I get a new shirt, an old "fat" one gets the axe.

slynnalex

Thrift stores are my friend - I've gotten rid of tons of clothes in the past year and replaced things w/ some basics from thrift stores. I know this isn't for everyone - some people thing it's gross to shop at a second hand clothing sore, but it's economical and recycling is good....