FASHIONISTAS ~ Using FASHION as motivation?

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  • swim777
    swim777 Posts: 599 Member
    juliedesabrais wrote: »
    When I was at 210, I rarely ever ever ever felt sexy in any clothes of mine. Now at 165 I try buying all sexy, exciting, flirty and fun clothing. Nope - I don’t really own any basics other than jeans/yoga pants! I think that always having a closet of fun, exciting clothes is motivation alone. It makes you feel good and sexy a lot of the time and not frumpy. It makes you wanna keep losing the weight since you appreciate your body more!

    You’re not disguising or hiding. You are able to express yourself. I know exactly what you mean!
  • Vgetskinny
    Vgetskinny Posts: 28 Member
    Great replies! And it's going to be SPRING soon, so it's almost time to plan on lighter clothing choices. Fun, fun...regardless of if it fits or not, it is a reality check, and a motivator to avoid straying off track. Sometimes it gives me a little boost to get a little more exercise that day, too. :)
  • XxQueenMxX
    XxQueenMxX Posts: 683 Member
    Shopping for clothes is definitely I think almost my #1 motivation!!! I lost 4 lbs last week and went shopping for clothes this weekend lol. I'm such a girly girl and it makes me soooooo happy buying cute little outfits and also workout clothes!!! Soooo fun!!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    rainbow198 wrote: »
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    Fashion has been a huge motivator for me in weight loss and sometimes I think I'm a little too fashion-obsessed for my age (41) but I believe I'm making up for the twenty years I lost wearing only plus size styles.

    Yes! I'm definitely making up for lost time. I often think about when I was younger shopping with my friends. I usually had to sit on the sidelines or shop alone in the plus-size section which had *way less* options as they do today.

    Now it's my time to shine! :)

    Absolutely share your feeling on that too about sitting on the sidelines before! That was me for as long as I could remember, actually. When I was a kid I became adult-sized pretty much overnight and could never shop where my friends shopped whether that meant the kid section or petite stores or whatever.

    The other day I felt sad because I was in a store with 2 female friends who are around my exact age and size, but one of them was visibly uncomfortable there and later she said that she hated being there because she feels old and unfashionable. That was sad to me especially because she's not a big girl and not "old" in my opinion.

    Honestly even when I was at my very heaviest and barely fit into even Lane Bryant clothes, I still liked fashion & clothes, even if I could only really be "stylish" with shoes and bags.

  • DmaMfz
    DmaMfz Posts: 125 Member
    If only for every lb lost I made $, that could really contribute to my fashion crazed self. Love your idea btw!
  • Urbancowbarn
    Urbancowbarn Posts: 97 Member
    edited March 2018
    I LOVE clothes and when I gained weight and didn’t look good in the clothes that were my “style” I was really miserable. My whole body changed and I had no idea how to dress it. I have to say that being able to look good in clothes I liked was my biggest motivation for losing weight. I know it should have been for my health or something more lofty, but I can’t tell you how much better I feel being able to dress in the clothes I like to wear. It’s like I feel like *myself* again. I have about 10 lbs left to UGW and I’m not buying a single item for spring/summer untill I reach it.
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,451 Member
    Past time this thread was bumped! There are probably more of us "Fashion as motivation - if we were honest about admitting it!" out there who just don't know how to search for older conversations!

    And it is SUMMER!!! Hot-weather clothes time!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    I find that when I am in a slump (emotionally) and wear one of my best outfits and feel extra stylish, it lifts my mood and keeps me from comfort eating.

    Even today at work, I am not dressed particularly stylish as it is casual Friday but I am wearing figure-hugging jeans and a cropped sweatshirt (as in, 0% belly showing but more body con than a big baggy sweatshirt) and I think that helped me to steer clear of the donuts a sales rep brought in.

    Fashion has been a huge motivator for me in weight loss and sometimes I think I'm a little too fashion-obsessed for my age (41) but I believe I'm making up for the twenty years I lost wearing only plus size styles.

    I work from home and am in my pajamas. Shortly, I'll change into exercise clothes. After dinner, back to PJs.

    Tomorrow, I'm going to put on the same red, white, and blue shirt that I have worn for the last three 4th of July.

    Not even sure why I clicked on this thread, lol.
  • dhiammarath
    dhiammarath Posts: 834 Member
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    I find that when I am in a slump (emotionally) and wear one of my best outfits and feel extra stylish, it lifts my mood and keeps me from comfort eating.

    Even today at work, I am not dressed particularly stylish as it is casual Friday but I am wearing figure-hugging jeans and a cropped sweatshirt (as in, 0% belly showing but more body con than a big baggy sweatshirt) and I think that helped me to steer clear of the donuts a sales rep brought in.

    Fashion has been a huge motivator for me in weight loss and sometimes I think I'm a little too fashion-obsessed for my age (41) but I believe I'm making up for the twenty years I lost wearing only plus size styles.

    Growing up, I was never fashion conscious. Then I gained weight at the end of college and with nothing to choose from, I was... um... definitely NOT fashion conscious.

    What resonates with me most in what you said @seltzermint555 is the making up for the years lost when I felt awkward af shopping with friends. I definitely feel that! I dress better now than I ever have in my entire life and I find it fun to see something and be reasonably sure it would fit / be flattering. (Well minus dresses, but dresses are the one thing I'm trying to battle into trying because I've been terrified of them for so long...).

    So yeah... looking cute has become a HUGE motivator for me as well.
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  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,451 Member
    I ACTUALLY bought summer dresses this year .... now that I am 3 months into maintenance. And am actively looking at sewing patterns, now that I have less fear of changing sizes and actually out-growing things between the time I cus them out and the time they are stitched up.

    Altering clothes down can be tricky-to-impossible depending on your skill level (mine isn't super-high) and the seams in quesion. Enlarging is often right out of scope, even on simple thing.
  • darklyndsea
    darklyndsea Posts: 56 Member
    I'm not generally a fashionista, but sometimes I see people wearing cute workout clothes on the trail and feel like cute workout clothes would be a nice extra motivation to work out. But when I look in stores, either the workout clothes are super revealing (I don't want to have *more* places to forget to apply sunscreen), or they're just....blerch. What kind of athletic clothes do you fashionistas wear?
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 3,089 Member
    darklyndsea wrote: »
    I'm not generally a fashionista, but sometimes I see people wearing cute workout clothes on the trail and feel like cute workout clothes would be a nice extra motivation to work out. But when I look in stores, either the workout clothes are super revealing (I don't want to have *more* places to forget to apply sunscreen), or they're just....blerch. What kind of athletic clothes do you fashionistas wear?

    I am NOT a fashionista, but I like the CALIA line by Carrie Underwood. I own one modest CALIA t-shirt that I picked up at a local sporting goods store (first time for that too). I would love to get some leggings, but I haven't crossed that bridge yet.

    J.C. Penney used to have nice workout clothes, but the store near me closed. :/
  • sarawilliams5889
    sarawilliams5889 Posts: 105 Member
    I have sooo many clothes in my closet that I would love to fit into again!! Can’t bare to throw them out. What a good motivator to go and visit them when that voice screaming “eat all the food” comes along!
  • corriepelc
    corriepelc Posts: 2,088 Member
    Fashion a HUGE motivation factor for me. I've always loved clothes and always felt that I could never be trendy when I was overweight, and could never find anything that fit correctly. Now I have the opposite problem were 95% of what I try on fits great and I want to buy it all. LOL

    At my highest weight, I was wearing XL shirts and L dresses to hide my stomach and hips, and I was barely fitting into size 16 jeans. Now my closet is full of XS dresses and shirts, and while I still struggle with jeans (thanks, Mom, for the booty!) I range from sizes 6-10 depending on the brand. It may sound superficial, but to me I feel special and just better knowing I'm wearing a smaller size. It really does help me make different choices.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    MidModJenn wrote: »
    Even though I have a long way to go (100 lbs to lose), I work to be fashionable now so that I still feel good about myself at this size. Thank god for Eloquii and Universal Standard! Always gives me a little thrill when people (especially smaller size) ask me where I got a particular piece. :) I do have a Pinterest board that I keep for motivation, it certainly helps!

    I also love Pinterest for style/fashion ideas and inspiration!
  • PiscesIntuition
    PiscesIntuition Posts: 1,372 Member
    I’m not a fashionista, but I did buy a dress specifically for scaleless victories!
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    edited August 2019
    I've never really been a follower of fashion, even when I was young and slim, but now in my fifties I'm finding that I take much more of an interest in clothing and style than I ever did when I was bigger! I'm not too worried about whatever the latest trends are, but I like being able to choose clothes that actually fit well and look nice rather than, as someone else said, "sacks of fabric" just to cover everything up.

    For someone who, for the past twenty years or more, has never been much interested beyond "do I like the colour?" and "does it cover my belly/butt?", I have an astonishing array of "age 40+" style blogs bookmarked...! ;) Money is tight but I've found some nice stuff at the thrift store while losing weight, and I love going in and trying on styles and items that I would never have looked twice at when I was fat. It's fun to experiment and see what suits me now!

    Plus I can wear higher heels again! I couldn't balance in them when I was obese, and now I can. Most of my "smart" shoes/sandals are now at least 3" heels... :)
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited August 2019
    Fitting into clothes is a big motivation for me to stay on track. When I find myself getting lazy, I try on swim suits and book a trip somewhere where I have to wear one.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 702 Member
    edited August 2019
    I like going back through stuff, I have a big pile of beautiful things that have been stashed away for about 15 years.

    Never wanted to spend any actual money when I was at my heaviest, I didn't feel like it was worth it. It all looked awful anyway.

    I do find though that there are some things I have kept because I loved them, and although I can get back into them they don't look the same. I need to get my head around that I am not the same shape, and not 23 any more!
    And of course that clears space for beautiful clothes that suit my life now.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »
    I like going back through stuff, I have a big pile of beautiful things that have been stashed away for about 15 years.

    Never wanted to spend any actual money when I was at my heaviest, I didn't feel like it was worth it. It all looked awful anyway.

    I do find though that there are some things I have kept because I loved them, and although I can get back into them they don't look the same. I need to get my head around that I am not the same shape, and not 23 any more!
    And of course that clears space for beautiful clothes that suit my life now.

    I had this issue too - things I loved or that I'd kept for sentimental reasons as much as anything else, and now they're just not flattering at all! I'll still keep the dress I wore on the first blind date with my husband of 30 years, but I'll never wear it again. :)

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