Keeping clothes around that are too small... waste of time?

I personally would keep the jeans as a small goal motivational tool.

I absolutely keep clothes that are too small, unless they are unreasonably small. But I toss 'em if they are too big. I like knowing that if I gain weight back, then I'll have to go out and buy new clothes in a BIGGER size, which I would hate. But having the SMALLER size clothes around always motivates me!

I recently had knee surgery gained a lot of weight and had terrible eating habits and I have a fair amount of shirts that I "fit" into but look terrible on me. I do have some that I ordered as well that just never have fit. It is my motivation to someday make into those and look good in them.

I have at least 5 pairs of jeans that won't fit me but I keep them to motivate me to keep losing. I probably won't wear them when I can fit because they were from my high school days and not my style anymore but it will be a huge achivement to fit in them.

I kept all my clothes from my smallest size (12) up to my current size, so I have the inspiration, the motivation, and don't have to buy all new wardrobes each time I go down a size or two xDD. The smaller ones are in storage, but I do have one size small t-shirt that I have tacked up on my "Goal" wall. I'll know, when I fit into that shirt well, I've made my goal, whether the scale says what i want it to, or not.

I still have all my clothes from before I gained weight. Some of which I only got to wear a few times. For me they are motivation. Right now I'm wearing clothes that are too big, but I'm getting close to being able to fit into a pair of pants I bought when I first started to gain weight. I'd have to go clothes shopping (which I really don't have the money for) soon if I didn't have all my old clothes.

I refuse to buy bigger clothes and still have my clothes when I was smaller. I'm keeping them as motivation! I was going to squeeze into a pair of shorts I love and take a picture as my BEFORE pic. I couldn't get them closed even for a second. They have now become my goal shorts.

For my 30th birthday my beloved and I went to Barcelona.
About 3/4 of the way down the Ramblas, there's a cracking little Irish Bar called Molly's Fair City.
On the night of my 30th, we ended up there all night, only leaving at around 4 or so.
The staff were absolutely brilliant, really good laugh and " bought " me a few drinks for my birthday.
They also gave me a souvenir T Shirt that should have cost around 15 Euro.
It was an XL that was like lycra on me and we all had a bit of a giggle about it, but I kept it as a souvenir of a brilliant trip and a great night.
That was almost 6 years ago.
Intermittently I'd come across it while tidying things away or searching for something and try the T Shirt on, have a little smile to myself in memory of that night and sigh at how fat I was.
However, 3 weeks ago, same thing happened, organising the spare room and came across the T.
Friday my Girlfiend and I went for a bit of lunch and when I took my hoodie off, to her amazement, I was wearing the T Shirt.
It fits me realy well - a little loose, just how I like my T Shirts.
Now, it's not the most fashionable thing, but the sense of achievement I felt from being able to wear it out in public was massive.
In short - Keep the small clothes.

I would keep them. My daughter gave me a pair of jeans when I first started that were too small. I could button them but they were way too tight. Now, 9 months later, they are too big! I love putting them on and thinking about how tight they once were!

Keep them...once you start reaching your weight loss goals..you are going to go in the closet try them on and they will fit perfectly. I brought some jeans 2 months ago...and got them on today and there a little baggy. That is a great NSV to share

I have my 'skinny' clothes and they are in a progression of getting smaller so I can put them on and be like 'hellz yaaaaaaaay' when they fit. Obviously some of the stuff like tee shirts I won't wear again I'm going to donate. I would suggest keeping them because then you can hang them on your wall or something and look at tehm and they can motivate you to get to that place where you can fit.

Keep them, I have gone through 5 sizes of my smaller clothes with 2 to go. I refuse to buy clothes till I have used up those last 2 sizes. Why buy clothes when I drop a size so often? Besides it is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment each time.

I used to be a US size 3/5 and ballooned up to a 12 and was pushing 14 but refused to buy 14's (no offense to anyone for which a 12 is your small size, I'm short and petite so that was huge on me) and that was when I decided to make a change and start losing weight. I kept all of my small clothes and I'm wearing a pair of my transitional size 7 Levi's jeans right now!! :laugh:

I try not to buy fad styles anyway; the things I buy are normally timeless, style-wise, so the Capri pants I wore ten years ago when I was a size 5 will still look good when I fit back into them after I lose another 10+ pounds. Heck, if you save something long enough, it may even come back in style! Although I refuse to buy into the retro-80s style neon clothes that I am starting to see on the clothing racks in my local dept store. Blech!

Personally, I think the "too small" clothes work as great motivation! However, the clothes you may have outgrown need to be ditched! That's the rules I've been going by. I don't need motivation to gain weight. lol ...I've even kept some clothes from my skinnier days (10 yrs ago) to gauge my progress when that time may come. :-) Best of luck!

I would keep them. I bought a "someday" dress for when I lost some inches. I tried it on every few weeks to see my progress. I tried it on this last time (on Saturday), and it was too big!!
I kept a pair of smaller jeans to rank my progress. I could not get them past my thighs 6 months ago, now they fit and button, no muffin top.
I say keep them!