[lackadaisy]

So there is a lot of discussion of buying in-between sizes at cheap outlets and moving down dress sizes in the other threads, but I think most of us 'feathers' have 'skinny clothes' we're comfortable with when 5 lbs skinnier.

I have a slightly different question -- are there styles you would recommend for summer dresses that will last through perhaps a 10 lb weight fluctuation? I want to shop for warm-weather things now but I don't want them to look absurd later. I've given up on shopping for work clothes in advance -- my slacks from interview season in the fall already look terrible -- but it would be nice to shop for the spring-to-early-fall season without buying things I don't fit into now or (hopefully) won't fit into later.

[krampus]

Gathered waist with a belt/tie - you can move belts over one or two holes or tie a tighter knot (or vice versa) - or cinched/stretchy waist, which can conveniently move up or down depending on your weight.

The beauty of summer dresses is that a little flowy is okay. You can always throw a belt over them when you want to say "look at my teeny waist" or put on a cardigan when you're having a "fluffy" day.

[Wildflower]

Wrap dresses!

Also, I find jersey material is fairly forgiving. You can buy a small size and most likely it will stretch and look just fine and stay looking fine as you lose some more pounds.

[skinnyelle39]

I love the long Maxi dresses! They are cute, comfortable, can be dressed up or down, and just as flattering on me at 164 as they are now at 145ish.

[lackadaisy]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

I went to an exchange/secondhand shop today and traded in some old tops for two lovely new sundresses. One is a size 4/6 with a cinch waist -- definitely a little loose but in a great, flattering way. The other is fitted through the ribcage. I'm a little less certain about whether I find that flattering, but the print was so pretty that I had to get it. It should be be even nicer 5 lbs from now

[Born This Way]

yup. all I've been wearing are dresses & skirts I get your struggle though-all I want is to buy some really nice, good fitting jeans to embrace my progress, but I know I should wait till I hit goal before I splurge on something like that.

[lackadaisy]

Born this way -- You should definitely buy one nice pair of jeans now. Seriously, jeans have at least 7 lbs flexibility, and also: TOM jeans!! Who doesn't have a pair of bloat jeans? The slightly too-tight going-out skinny jeans of today are the comfy fat jeans of three months from now!

I'm only being slightly facetious. I just bought retail-$150 jeans from Habitual ($50 on clearance online) that fit fairly snugly now and will hopefully be my slim-but not-tight work-appropriate Casual Friday jeans in a few months.

[Lisa1971]

I bought some nice jeans for $50...Anoname or something like that. Anyway, that was about 2-3 pounds ago. At first, it seemed like I lost 10 pounds and didn't go down a size. But now, it seems like every couple of pounds is the difference between a 2 and a 4. So, I decided I should keep the jeans for the same reasons you said, Daisy. Great minds think alike! I even took them to the tailor to be hemmed so it's a done deal. I wanted to ask you if you ever heard of Pencey? I bought a killer dress to celebrate my weight loss. It's so not like what I usually wear but I came out of the dressing room at Century 21 and everyone looked at me and no one said a word. They just stared. So I knew I had to buy it. Is that awful of me? I have to say that this brand runs super tiny. But it was a $300 dress listed fo $100 and I got it on sale for $60. So I had to do it. Now I need to find somewhere to wear it!