Shopping -what a blow to my self esteem!

You should still feel good about yourself. You'll get to your goal with patience. At the party, focus on your friend and how happy you are for her, not how you look to others.

Honestly people are going to be excited about seeing you! They aren't going to be worrying about your weight. You are not the only one that has gained weight after marriage and children:) There are some cute clothes out there for size 16 you just have to try a lot on to see what flatters your body the best! I don't know if you are near a Dress Barn but I am quite happy with a dress I found:) Good luck and be proud!

My shopping was for graduation - and I thought the clothes situation was just because I am 76 and everything I found was for a 16 tear old! I finally gave up and am going to wear an old dress with a tie in the back - and just tie it tighter! Even though it is large it still looks better than what I found in the stores! Find something in your closet, maybe put a belt on with it - and be proud of the fact that it is big on you now - and have fun at the party!

You should be very proud of yourself.

Nobody likes fitting room mirrors and overhead florescent lighting Stop being so hard on yourself. Not sure if your a dress person but empire waist dresses are normally flattering to most body types especially plain or try a wide banded waist dress or shirt with nicely cut slacks. Be proud and don't buy clothes to hide, all they really do is point out the flaws (everyone has) instead.

ETA fit is most important, some brands you may not fit a 16, always buy clothes that fit right.

and

nope. I refuse.

try another store. try a million stores.

look at yourself and just be like.
"damn, I'm hot as hell. wow, check out my *kitten*."

this ^ Fitting room mirrors are the work of the devil.

^^^ This is SO true! I am at maintenance and a trip to the fitting room can set me back many pounds and many months! Congrats on the progress you've made! :flowerforyou:

Edited to clarify: set me back psychologically.

Try on something old so you can really see how far you have come, don't loose perspective on your accomplishment.... You just know what you want to look like and where you want to be.... Enjoy being able to fit in your new size clothes and hopefully you find something cute to wear that you feel good in. You will get there, I'm sure you look better than you think you do .

Be proud of the fact that you had a 24 pound loss and dropped 3 dress sizes! That is an accomplishment someone will notice.

It took me almost 100 pounds off before I went from a 24/3X to a 16. A 14 is just now getting loose after 120 off. (I love shopping for clothes, now)

Try a different style. I have come to the conclusion that regardless of my size certain things may never look good on me. (I tried on bathing suits last weekend - not fun!)

I loathe shopping for that very reason. If I go at a time that I feel good about myself, it just brings me down. If I go at a low time, I end up in tears. But I'm trying to remember if I ever liked what I saw in the dressing room mirror, even when I was slim.

This is too late for your current situation, I know, but I have found that the absolute worst shopping experiences occur when I'm under pressure to find something for a specific event. I procrastinate, then when I finally go, I have to pick something even if I don't like it very much. The answer, and I'm trying to do this myself, is to go to the stores on a regular basis and just try stuff on. You don't have to buy anything if it doesn't suit you, but if by chance you really like something, buy it. Even if you don't have a specific event on the horizon, you know you will eventually need a nicer outfit and you can have it altered if you (yay!) lose more weight before you ever need it.

Incredibly, my husband is all in favor of this approach. He has had to deal with the emotional wreckage that results from my usual last minute suffer fests. He's actually happy to know that I went shopping and even happier if I come home with something new.

Try a different style. I have come to the conclusion that regardless of my size certain things may never look good on me. (I tried on bathing suits last weekend - not fun!)

Yes - try different stores, styles, fabrics and/or colors. You may find that you look better in clothes you wouldn't have considered in the past.

I usually do this in my own closet. I have a lot of clothes...some are old but in smaller sizes which I use a "tape measure". Some day when I feel leaner or lighter, I put them on.. and then...:brokenheart:

just a thought, but if you have an old dress you like, you could always use some thread, a needle, or some pins and pull some of the extra fabric to the back, make a sort of pleat down your back and wear a sweater to cover it up. I've done this when I'm inbetween sizes. It could show off your new body and you can sort of customize the dress to fit you in all the right places. It shouldn't take any more than 15-20 mins or so.

Maybe to shake things up, when you're shopping pick up something from your old size and try it on before you try on your current size. Might make you feel better!

Very true! This happened to me this week. I was having trouble finding tank tops that looked good and I tried on a tank in my old size (XXL) because it was on clearance and I figured for 4.99 it would probably be fine. Boy was I wrong! It was so baggy you could see my bra at the sides even if I didn't lift my arms. I was so shocked! I thought for sure the difference between an XXL and an XL was only "felt" when the XL was too small -- not that the XXL would be truly so baggy it would look bad. It was quite the boost to my ego to be able to need to buy a smaller size for both comfort and because it looks better. That's never happened to me before because until now I've only gained weight, not lost it.