Weeding out clothes, and the overweight American male

Thorbjornn
Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
in Success Stories
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. :smile:

Replies

  • Rwheltsley
    Rwheltsley Posts: 16 Member
    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
    212ackley Posts: 431 Member
    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:cry: ) I would love to have to buy a new winter wardrobe by fall though! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Thorbjornn
    Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
    Congratz to you too. It is kind of annoying, but the good kind, I guess.
  • Shikonneko
    Shikonneko Posts: 187 Member
    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
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    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
    Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
    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
    jasonheyd Posts: 524 Member
    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
    luckyshilling Posts: 229
    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.:wink:
  • Thorbjornn
    Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
    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
    luckyshilling Posts: 229
    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
    luckyshilling Posts: 229
    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
    sdionnemoore Posts: 45 Member
    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
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    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. :smile:

    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
    slynnalex Posts: 38 Member
    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....

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