How to not buy a new wardrobe every few months?

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_Punjab
_Punjab Posts: 67
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to lose more than just a few pounds. My goal is 100. I need clothing advice from people who have been there or are going through it!! What are some tips for clothes that last through as many size changes as possible so that I'm not buying a whole new wardrobe every few months?!?
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Replies

  • jcmartin0313
    jcmartin0313 Posts: 574 Member
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    There is none. I have lost 117 pounds and replaced clothes a few times. Just buy the basics until you get where you want to be. Downside of extreme weight loss.
  • peaceinside
    peaceinside Posts: 272
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    I haven't found an answer, I've lost about 70 now and had to shop every couple of months...Goodwill and thrifting is the only way to do it. In fact I thought I was done around 60 pounds and bought new clothes and I'm still losing. I'm gonna have to go again!! It's hard but part of the deal! And more than worth it!!!!!
    Peace! :flowerforyou:
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
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    I didn't have as much to lose, but I found that you can wear dresses longer than pants when you lose weight. Just belt them when they get loose!
  • gwyn48
    gwyn48 Posts: 23 Member
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    This probably isn't for everyone, but I know how to sew and have used that to my advantage.

    I identified about 10 pairs of work pants that I have taken in. I adjusted them so they were slightly tight. For me, I lost 50lbs, but only went down 2 sizes. I have also identified a few work shirts and taken them in. The ones selected are clothes that can work through all seasons.

    To help me stay motivated, I did splurge and bought 2 nice, stylish jeans for going out. I will probably continue to do this, since jeans are something I really don't want to alter.

    The other thing I do is I shop at the high end department stores or their "outlet" stores at the end of season and can pick up alot of basics for under $10. I have been leaning towards the new stretch microfibers, since they will shrink with me.

    I have scored alot of great sales on those clearance racks. In total, I have probably spent about $100 on new clothes for 50 lbs lost. I expect these clothes to last through another 25 lb loss, which should put me back into winter.
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67
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    I didn't have as much to lose, but I found that you can wear dresses longer than pants when you lose weight. Just belt them when they get loose!

    This is actually what I was thinking I was going to do. Go out and buy some cheap dresses to wear every day and belt them as they get too large. It works out well that it's summer right now!!
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67
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    There is none. I have lost 117 pounds and replaced clothes a few times. Just buy the basics until you get where you want to be. Downside of extreme weight loss.

    it s te downside =/ bt also kind of the fun side!!!
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67
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    I haven't found an answer, I've lost about 70 now and had to shop every couple of months...Goodwill and thrifting is the only way to do it. In fact I thought I was done around 60 pounds and bought new clothes and I'm still losing. I'm gonna have to go again!! It's hard but part of the deal! And more than worth it!!!!!
    Peace! :flowerforyou:

    Congrats on the 60 pounds!!! And I guess that having to buy new clothes every few months because theyre too big is better than because theyre too small
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67
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    This probably isn't for everyone, but I know how to sew and have used that to my advantage.

    I identified about 10 pairs of work pants that I have taken in. I adjusted them so they were slightly tight. For me, I lost 50lbs, but only went down 2 sizes. I have also identified a few work shirts and taken them in. The ones selected are clothes that can work through all seasons.

    To help me stay motivated, I did splurge and bought 2 nice, stylish jeans for going out. I will probably continue to do this, since jeans are something I really don't want to alter.

    The other thing I do is I shop at the high end department stores or their "outlet" stores at the end of season and can pick up alot of basics for under $10. I have been leaning towards the new stretch microfibers, since they will shrink with me.

    I have scored alot of great sales on those clearance racks. In total, I have probably spent about $100 on new clothes for 50 lbs lost. I expect these clothes to last through another 25 lb loss, which should put me back into winter.

    Unfortunately, I can't sew, but the clearance racks at outlets are really great for basics!!!
  • lostwisdom
    lostwisdom Posts: 73 Member
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    "Fortunately" I'm a bit of a hoarder, so I still have clothes now that I wore when I was a size 16, and 14 (am now a 18-20), but I have found the longest lasting items of clothing in terms of what I can wear through various weights are:

    -elasticated skirts, depending on where you live I would recommend Primark or Forever21 as they are proper cheap, and do stretch both ways!
    -cardigans! buy a size too small and wear them open whilst losing the weight, and then done up when you've dropped a size!
    -accessories! it's pretty obvious, but if you can only have a small wardrobe due to continued weight loss, mix it up with bangles, necklaces, and adjustable rings!

    also I'd say the biggest thing is to go for cheap and cheerful before you hit your target weight!
  • Trutra
    Trutra Posts: 131 Member
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    Well, I was wondering myself until last week, since I really cant afford to buy new clothes . My jeans are falling off me, I bought a belt and now need to put a couple of extra holes into it. The pants I bought for my nephew's baptism in May are also loose. However, last Sunday I was looking for a shirt I needed to wear to our college graduation, and decided to clear out my cupboard, lol. I managed to get rid of two bin bags of old clothes, but also find clothes in quite a few smaller sizes, which should last me for at least 6 months. Some I had actually forgotten that I had. That will put me into December, and I plan on asking my family to give me gift cards for Christmas/my birthday so I can buy clothes.
    Will probably buy elasticated pants etc so that they last longer.
    My other plan is to visit my sisters house as I lose weight, and scrounge from her. She has a 4 bedroomed house and ever cupboard is full of her clothes, many brand new, and in sizes from overweight to underweight. She has 35 paris of trainers! I could take a lifetime of clothes and she wouldnt even notice, ha ha.

    Edited to add: I would ask her, lol, wouldnt just take them.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    I haven't found a way to avoid it, so I just shop the clearance rack.

    If you need dress clothes for work, check out Coldwatercreek.com - the outlet section. You can get shirts for less than $10 and jackets for under $20 sometimes. The prices in the regular section are outrageous, but the clearance section is nice!

    Kohls has great clearance prices too - and TJMaxx. And there's always resale shops.

    The trick is to buy basics and neutral colors you can mix and match. Then, buy some cute, bright jewlery (which will fit no matter what size you are!) to spruce it up. You can buy new clothes at your goal weight and still have the jewelry to accessorize with.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    Thrift stores, clearance racks and wearing clothes that will still look ok if they're a little baggy. I only lost 25-30-ish, but I haven't had many shirts that got too big, and a quite a few of my old shorts and jeans are wearable if I put on a belt.

    Some basic sewing skills - or a tailor - can make a big difference, too. A few little darts in the waist can make droopy jeans fit again. Taking in the side seems of a skirt a half an inch will make it fit better, too.
  • SpazzyMal
    SpazzyMal Posts: 276 Member
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    Elastic skirts and dresses with a belt, as some have mentioned, are probably a good bet.
    Maybe try to find shirts that would still look good if they were intentionally loose when you lose weight, so you can throw a tank on underneath them.
    Also try to find clothes you can modify easily. Not necessarily sew, but there's plenty of stuff you can do with a pair of scissors and/or a ribbon if you get inventive.
  • celebrity328
    celebrity328 Posts: 377 Member
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    Maybe go to a tailor and get pants taken in is an idea I think its 7 bucks to have it done here. You can walk around with bigger shirts longer then pants falling off :D!

    Also I go to thrift stores when they have 50% off on everything. I got 7 pairs of pants ranging from size 16,14,12 just because $2 for a pair of jeans Im going to wear maybe 3 months is a killing :)

    I also picked out about 10 shirts that range from a tad tight to I cant get in this if my life depended on it. I got about 20 items in all and spent $30 bucks :)!

    I just wear the clothes I have until I cant wear them anymore. The only time I have bought a brand new item in the last year was for a party and all the clothes I had were bagged for good will lol!
  • Cocochickdeleted
    Cocochickdeleted Posts: 343 Member
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    Thrift stores, garage sales, friends who have clothes they are trying to get rid of, pants with drawstrings...that's all I can think of at the moment. :-)
  • MinaAriel
    MinaAriel Posts: 138 Member
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    Dresses and bottoms with drawstrings have been my friend. Pretty much every shirt I own is too big now but when your bottoms are too big, you can get into trouble. LOL I've had decent luck at the Goodwill store, buying new shorts that still had the original price tags on them. Outlets are great too when combined with coupons so check online. I agree with the buying the basics and then adding a few trendy type pieces here and there. Old Navy is about 50% of my wardrobe because they are really cheap and run sales often.
  • RainaWalks
    RainaWalks Posts: 72
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    i had to shop when i shed 145 pounds...some tops were not too bad...i could wear them baggy but now i have different size tops and bottoms in my wardrobe...i kept them all because i figure ...**** happens...

    it is hard on the pocket book but worth it....i could not stop looking at myself in the mirror....
  • Runner50266
    Runner50266 Posts: 66
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    I am loving me some EBay!
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    I bought a lot of my clothes on consignment. I gave my old clothes to a friend here who needed them. It worked out quite nicely.

    If you prefer to buy new, JCPenney has a lot of good clothes that aren't too expensive especially if you catch the sales.
  • KatFierce
    KatFierce Posts: 252 Member
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    for me its been friends mostly. I always held onto my "skinny" clothes so I had some pieces that worked as I lost. Then I had friends who were the size I just was and I swapped the my now too big stuff for their too small clothes. And when those got too big I gave them back.
    Good will/thrift stores are great
    and looking out for great sale items to buy some basics, like cheap jeans etc. I SAHM so Im home with my kids in the day and go to school at night. My kids dont care if Im in sweats, or the same jeans as yesterday

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