Hi, while you are on your journey to a healthy and fit body. What do you do for clothes? During this transitional period?

I have clothes sizes 7 to 16 (not full wardrobes, some stuff was borrowed, sent to goodwill etc). Like most of you, you buy clothes when needed, but what do you do for the short period. You know you are not going to wear them for long or at least that is the plan. Do you buy brand new clothes each size you drop? Do you bargain shop at garage sales/thrift stores?

I for one love getting deals, saving money whenever I can, and using it for other things. For example: date nights, vacations, house projects, or my hobbies.

So Far, I haven't had to buy any clothes, I am in a size 16 and have left over clothes from before. Luckily I bought some 14's pants at Lane Bryant 2 years ago when they had a HUGE sale, I will mainly need capri's and shirts. Obviously I don't want to spend more money than needed. When I reach my goal weight, I will not mind, but not now. What do you do?

Tunics and leggings have been my friends. When I find deals, I buy things snug, then they last longer. I found a two pack of yoga pants at Sam's Club for 15.00, they are really tight right now but 15lbs from now they'll look decent.

I hit up thrift stores and sales racks at Sears (my top favorite...amazing yellow tag sales), Target, Kohl's...or Walmart sometimes. I never feel like I've wasted money when I get to small for a top I spent $4 on. Then I pass it on or donate it.

i live in yoga pants or sweat pants an t's and hoodies most of the time.. i keep the clothes that im trying to fit into and the ones that are too big,well i keep those too especially if i feel like im having a bloated fat day... i try not to shop until i have no options for clothes

First off, congratulations! All of you are doing an awesome job!

Great finds and tips! I love going to garage sales, thrift stores, outlet stores/malls and hitting the sales racks at department stores. I do not like paying full price for clothes, not now at least. LOL Clothes wise, I am fine for now, but when I lose another 15 lbs, I will need shirts, and capri's. I can't believe Spring is just around the corner! Which means garage sale season! You can find better deals at garage sales vs thrift stores, but for clothes they are hit or miss. Last year, I found a lady selling her big clothes 18's, for .50 cents - $1 each, pants, shorts and shirts, and they were name brand, Tommy, Ralph, Gap etc. I was in heaven! That was the only sale I was able to find clothes to fit me. Smaller sizes you see EVERYWHERE! LOL

Thrift stores are the one place I have not been able to shop so far. This is largely due to a cost-benefit analysis that does not work out favorably for our local offerings. The clothes in these places are sorted by color?? not by size, and 95% of the clothes are the wrong size for me. I tried to look for jeans there once a month or so ago and spent thirty minutes looking through rack after rack trying to find something... no luck! Even if I had, the jeans there are still about $7. Too much irritation for me to deal with when their prices aren't that much lower than new clearance clothes.

When I go to regular stores, I almost never buy anything unless it is on sale for at least 50% off. For my transitional clothing, I'm limiting myself to about $5 per item. I have been able to find a lot of cute things on clearance at target, maurices, and jc penny's that fit my price range. I didn't know Sears has decent sales that low as well, I will have to go check them out too.

Oh wow, Kaebaka. I love our thrift store! It is organized by item, size AND color. It's so easy! And my store, though in a really bad part of town, oddly has mostly name brands. And I've never spent more than $3.00 on an item, usually in the .60 - $1.50 range. I like to buy basics at the thrift store and fill in elsewhere.

I purchased some nice shirts at the outlet mall last Summer, mainly because I was worried that I was too out of touch with today's style to trust myself at the thrift store.

I am ten pounds away from needing a new wardrobe and I'll be darned if I'm going to purchase even one more piece until then!! But I'm looking rather sloppy these days, with one hand constantly tugging at the waist of my pants trying to keep them on my hips.

If I had it to do again (please God no!) I would spend some time and good money on accessories for the day I hit goal. I'd buy things like nicer belts, nice socks, necklaces...things that aren't going to change much or that have more of a range they fit.

Thanks for starting this thread Jacki. There are some really great ideas here. I do despise shopping but at least I know where to go. I swear one day I will have a personal shopper that brings clothes to my house to try on!

I also buy many things from goodwill and it helps in the transition as you are spending so little. I also think it is important to feel good about myself in the transition so that I enjoy the direction in which I am moving. I do not want to look like I am wearing a feed sack. Another thing I do is shop only the clearance or a very good sale. There is something about knowing that I am spending money on cloths because I am getting smaller than allows me to accept the fact that I will not be in them long, almost like a reward system. I also through out all my big clothing so that they are not there as a crutch. Damn I am feeling good about myself today. I hope you are to?

I'm glad you posted this. I literally had a fit this morning getting dressed for work. I fit in NOTHING. I literally stomped my feet and fell to my knees whining. I know it's a good problem to have but I have a mental block when it comes to buying clothes right now. I don't want to spend crazy amounts of money on clothes that I better NOT fit into in a couple months. I have smaller sized clothes for spring/summer but what the heck do I do now? I am muddling through by wearing skirts. No diaper butt there. And to hold up the skirt I safety pin them to my stockings or underwear.

Maybe you can bring a few pair of your favorite pants to the tailor?

But I love the ideas you have been given. I might suck it up, buy a few pair of new pants from Target or something and just mix and match shirts.

Thanks for posting this!

Eliana....I am so jealous of your thrift store.

I have also seen the suggestion on the site many times of looking for a clothing swap / weight loss support group in your local area as a way to help affordably stay clothed. I haven't been able to come up with anything near me, so if anything like that exists here I have officially determined that they have no web presence.

I did end up stumbling across a new website - The Great Clothing Exchange. I'm not sure about how their logistics are going to end up working out, but the idea behind their site is to allow people to post clothes to get rid of as they lose weight, and the recipient of the item would pay for shipping. It seems like they've only been in existence for about 2 weeks, but the idea is certainly interesting. I know that personal clothing sales / exchanges aren't allowed through this forum to avoid problems with payment etc., so I will be curious to see whether or not this site ends up being successful. Also, I'll avoid linking it directly just in case that would violate the forum rules about sales and exchanges and so forth. But you can find it if you're curious.

Hi ladies,
Interesting topic! I'm trying to shrink some jeans in the wash, but about halfway through the day I'm walking around with quite a pouchy behind. Maybe time to invest in a new pair!

I have clothes from different sizes. I mostly only have to worry about my lower half because the tops I purchased as I went up in size would look good over-sized or layered.

Also, I invested in a good belt.

I love Ross, Marshall's and TJ Maxx.

I can wear most shirts for awhile if I buy them for function instead of fashion. Get them a *little* snug, and they'll last awhile. I make sure that the jeans I buy have spandex in them. Again, buy a little snug, and the spandex will keep them from looking horrid then and as you shrink. I'm a 20/22 in my jeans, but I have a great pair of LEI's in a size 26 that I still wear and still look good. I don't like wearing dresses and skirts as a whole, but I've learned to adjust. A sheath or flowy sundress can be worn over several different sizes.

I'll also get out the sewing machine and do minor alterations so I can wear clothing awhile longer. I have a cute sleeveless shirt that was just too big at 26/28--I took 2" off of each side, and it looks good all over again.