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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!