Buying the absolute basics for an inbetween wardrobe
We're are really strapped for cash at the moment but the number of clothes I can wear is quickly dwindling. I'm mostly in my prepregnancy clothes (so all of them are at least 3 years old) and even though they fit well, they are falling apart because they are just so old and weren't high quality clothes to begin with. I'm down to just one pair of pants at the moment (not counting workout/PJ's)!
So I need to suck it up and buy some clothes. Thankfully we'll get a small tax rebate and I can do it out of that. BUT here's the problem. Our consignment shops are horribly expensive here (I've tried a number of them and they either don't exist anymore or only sell top name brand items for something like $200 in the local currency, I'm not in the US). We don't have places like Target here either (there is a Walmart but it's not close and we don't have a car) and all the cheap shops are not that cheap actually (pants on sale here are $90 in the local currency ). Once I get to my goal weight (and our financial situation gets better, which it will in a few months) I won't mind spending that much if the clothes are good quality BUT now it means that I can only get the bare, bare minimum for my size (somewhere between a US 10-12).
SOOO... what absolutely bare minimal pieces would you suggest for a mom who needs clothes that will work for both at home with her kid AND at work (it's a rather casual environment so jeans are ok but I still have to look presentable).
First, I'd find a good thrift store. If you absolutely can't do that, I suggest ebay!!
If you are buying new though, I suggest a pair of jeans, black pants and a pair of khaki or brown pants. I find they go with just about everything. That's all you really NEED and is what I have been dealing with this entire time. It is getting old.
I have been trying them on and purchasing them if they are snug, but I won't buy them if they have a muffin top. I don't buy them if they're at all loose because I'm still heading down and it's amazing how quickly those snug pants end up loose. To that end, I suggest a belt.
You could just get some really really cheap plain t-shirts and wear them round the house with jeans/jogging bottoms. And then dress them up with some jewellery for work? Thats what I do. The asda near us sells plain tops for £3 or £4 each and I just wear them with a black/white cardigan and jeans and some pretty jewellery. Long necklaces look nice with stuff like this?
You can also always order off the walmart and target sites, just make sure you are good with your sizing (though you can return items and exchange).
Maybe if the walmart isn't too far make a day of going to the area and just getting what you need.
I'm also wearing the bare min. right now. I've been emptying my closet and not replenishing as much but I've been going to walmart and target and buying $5-$7 shirts and $10-15 jeans
If you know how to sew you might make some tops, skirts, and dresses to go with purchased pants. You might even be able to barter something/skills with someone who can sew for you.
So like I said I'm pretty limited to what we have nearby. We don't live in the US so Target doesn't exist here and it looks like Walmart doesn't even sell clothes (i just checked online). I'm definitely not brave enough to buy clothes on ebay because I like things that fit me well and I haven't had the best experiences with buying clothes online.
I'd LOVE to go to a thrift store but again the only thing I found was the local consignment shop that was ridiculously expensive.
I know on the outskirts of town (we live in a city that has 20million people in the great metropolitan area so, yeah, that's really far away!) you can find cheaper stuff but not here. However, that could end up being a series of bus rides for hours (just to give you an example it takes DH 1-2 hours to get home from work depending on traffic and that's less than 10km away! ).
Oh, and I'd LOVE to sew but we don't have a sewing machine and can't afford one of those right now either (we recently moved and have had to furnish our apt from scratch so we don't even have a dinning room table or a couch at the moment just to give you an idea of our situation). Also that means I don't really know anybody who sews either.
I guess what I'm thinking is I basically need:
blue jeans
some sort of slacks (there are times I need to dress up more)
and a few shirts ?
a belt?
We're going into winter here (although it's still really warm at the moment) so I might have to pick up some light sweaters/jackets too. However, I'm horrible at finding outfits that can all mix & match. I guess that's what I'm asking for more. Left up to my old ways I'd probably end up buying waaaayyy too many black pieces.
I haven't done the whole mix and match thing while losing. I've gone with basics that all go together, so I kind of think all black might work. But that's just me!! I'll mix and match with completer pieces once I get to goal when I know the pieces are going to hang around and FIT for a long time.
So yeah, I stick by my black and brown/khaki pants and some basic tops. I bought one dark brown and one cream colored cardigan and have made do with those. Actually, a lot of the time I just wore those over the nice short sleeved shirts I'd purchased the previous Summer, so I got extra use out of those. The cardigans got old, but it's temporary.
My wardrobe is fairly basic because I'm living overseas and had to buy a few things to accommodate the cultural dos-and-don'ts but didn't want to buy a ton of things that I'd never wear when I return stateside. I did:
1-2 pairs of jeans
1-2 pairs of "sleans" (slack-jeans) as my boyfriend and I call them- lightweight cotton pants that are more casual than slacks but not made out of jean material, if that makes any sense
2-3 tunic-type shirts that go down mid-thigh or to the knee; can wear these with pants or as dresses depending on weather, what country/culture I'm in, and how weight loss is going for the legs . These are super-flattering if you are like me and carry weight in your rear.
1-2 solid-colored shirts, including 1 black shirt
2-3 very inexpensive lightweight scarves to wrap around the neck and dress the solid-colored shirts in different ways.
How are tailoring services in Brazil? Can you get a very basic tunic-style dress/shirt made? They should be dirt cheap if you can find good basic material. Scarves are even easier.
There's nothing here like craigslist either. I think it's a cultural thing. According to DH, he said people don't normally try to sell used clothing/toys/furniture etc unless it's name brand things (what I say at that consignment shope) instead they donate it to the poor (we have a lot of people in extreme poverty here).
Eliana - don't give me an excuse to stick to black clothes! I really do need to try some other things but I have to admit that they're something very comforting about wearing them.
indiblue - I'm not sure about the tailoring services here... that's a good question because I have some maternity clothes that I paid a lot of $$ for before I had my miscarriage and I'd really like to use them when I get pregnant again so it's something I do plan on checking out eventually. I might just end up doing it where my in-laws live because they know some people who do it and it might be significantly cheaper there (but we're not planning on visiting them anytime soon ).
Well, the good news is twofold. 1. it turns out that our local grocery store carries really cheap clothes! Way more affordable. Granted, the quality is pretty low and they aren't exactly the most fabulous clothes ever and the selection itself is really small but they have some basics I could wear at least and they have some workout clothes too!
DH also suggested I return to the consignment shop and really dig around and see if I can find somethings. Last time I went there with DD and so I just did a cursory glance (especially after seeing their prices). He said that it made more sense to probably pick up a few more high quality items that I could either resell there later or get tailored down, especially since I'll need to at least look decent when I go to work.
I was going to suggest the grocery store. I don't know where you live, but I'm in Mexico, and the grocery stores here (the bigger ones that aren't corner markets) are all sort of like. . .smaller Super Walmarts or something. Sometimes they have really good clearance sales, too. If you're in a big city (sounds like you are) there are probably some good swap meets there, too. Everything is negotiable at places like that!
I wouldn't buy pants if you are still losing weight, and also - isn't it more of a cultural norm to wear dresses/skirts in Brazil?
I'd go with:
a basic jersey material wrap dress or two, depending on your budget
a skirt
2 or 3 cardigans
1 pair of pants (could be jeans if you can wear those to work)
2 or 3 tshirts that can go under cardigans
Mix it up with the dresses and wear cardigans over them some days, a skirt/shirt another and then the pants/shirt another day. Change it around by wearing jewelery or scarfs as accessories.
Have you seen this blog about a woman who wore the same black dress every day for a year, but styled it in different ways?
Buying the absolute basics for an inbetween wardrobe
). Once I get to my goal weight (and our financial situation gets better, which it will in a few months) I won't mind spending that much if the clothes are good quality BUT now it means that I can only get the bare, bare minimum for my size (somewhere between a US 10-12). 
We don't live in the US so Target doesn't exist here and it looks like Walmart doesn't even sell clothes (i just checked online). I'm definitely not brave enough to buy clothes on ebay because I like things that fit me well and I haven't had the best experiences with buying clothes online. 
I really do need to try some other things but I have to admit that they're something very comforting about wearing them. 
