I'm about to graduate college, and I'm going to go into mourning for all my heels and mini dresses. LOL. Going away to school where you go out every weekend gives a girl a place to wear these things to. My wardrobe became HUGE after losing weight, and now I'm scared that I'll have nowhere to wear these things to. Back home I live close to the city... so I could go out there I guess...

Does anyone have tons of cute things to wear but not a lot of places to wear them to?

What kind of social events does the city offer ? Opera, ballet ,symphony, plays, concerts, holiday events of all types, fine dining ?
I live in California where any kind of clothing is OK, most of the time, but there are times that I get dressed up in the heels and everything that goes with them.

I'm 42 and a mom who works from home (mostly). One part time job is from home 90% of the time. The other part time job i'm a director of a non-theist Sunday school, so I can wear nice clothes there, but not "hot" clothes.

I have several really nice going out dress now, but NOWHERE to wear them. My anniversary is coming up and I'm determined to find a place and something to do that warrants dressing up!

You're not alone! I loove shopping and I keep buying all these nice cute new clothes but I have no place to wear them to! After college I moved back home and I live in a tiny town with absolutely no places to go to wear all these clothes. It doesn't help that I'm a nurse so I only wear scrubs to work. Guess I need to move to a bigger city?

This morning I tried on a dress that I had never worn outside because I gained weight before I had the chance to take it for a spin, and was pleasantly surprised that I fit into it again! Well, just now I put this dress on and showed it off to my husband because I know that it will never be worn again (Since soon I will lose more weight and not fit into it, again...)

I'm 27, and my closet is FULL of beautiful dresses and shoes and accessories that are not living the life they were meant to live!

I saved money from my first real paycheck, took a trip to NY and bought a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes (my dream!) that was three years ago! And I'm still waiting to take them out!

A few months ago I actually had a "visit" with my clothes! I'm not kidding! I took all my beautiful dresses and I tried them on (then repacked them).

Crazy? Maybe, but I'm NOT giving them away! And the reason is because I have hope! You just have to look for the eight opportunities... It probably won't be every weekend BUT you can always be the most stylish person in the coffee shop on a Saturday There will be outings, and there will be oportunities... For example Holidays, and Vacations!

A Word of Caution though... You're lifestyle will change, and for a lot of people this change frequently translated into a slow deterioration into frump! (I'm "just" going to the store, why dress up? OR It's just my friend and I why dress up?) Well, if looking good is important to you, and clothing something you enjoy, then letting go of that part of you could be a pit fall (speaking from experience here). Not really caring about what you wear could translate to not caring about how you look, and then not caring about what you eat, and then not carring about the scale, etc. It doesn't happen overnight, so just be aware of it and find your own reasons to dress up!

Good Luck! (Sorry for the novel!)

I've never thought of this before, and it's actually REALLY good advice for a almost college grad to hear!! Thank you very much for that insight. I'm going to tell that to all my girlfriends lol.

I finished grad school 3 years ago and started losing weight about the same time and my wardrobe started to grow and expand and I became a much dressier person. I have a somewhat business casual (development media-type) job most days. I could wear dark wash jeans and a nice top to work with flats and I do sometimes, but many times I get dressed up even more than my job requires and I always get compliments. I may also get "where are you going looking so fancy" but the reply "oh I just felt like getting dressed up today" always works. I wear fitted dresses, short dresses, skirts but then dress them down for work with a blazer or a fitted cardigan or something. And if I feel like wearing my fanciest pointy toe heels, I do (as long as they're not overtly sparkly and evening-y). Sometimes I even wear my fancy shoes with jeans to visit a friend and make it look like I made more of an effort.

I find that now that I do that, it's harder for me to slack of and get into the slippery slope of schlebbing around because people then wonder "are you okay?" "what's wrong with you today?" because they expert a certain level of effort from you. There's also this really cool site called What I Wore Today (WIWT), you can check out. You create an account and can upload pics of your daily outfits. Nothing motivates you to stay creative with your wardrobe than knowing you're putting up your outfits for scrutiny.

I definitely don't think you have to pack away your weekend clothing. If your dresses are mini and non-sparkly, you can turn them into day wear with a pair of opaque or funky patterned tights and a cardigan or jacket. And that way if you're going out for drinks or something after, you can peel off your tights, take of your jacket and Bob's your uncle. You can steel wear your funky heels with your day clothes. Get creative make it happen. The feistiness doesn't have to end just because you've graduated or it's not the weekend!

I wear my hot clothes for my fiance!

With not as many opportunities to wear my hot clothing out as much as I'd like, I've resorted to wearing them around my house by myself.

Is this weird? Most likely. Do I love it? OHHH YEAAHHH.

;-)

I am making my boyfriend take me to Black & Latino Legislative Caucus Weekend again this year just so I can parade around in skimpy outfits, hehe.

It's tough. I'm 25 and my friends are hippies and I hate the attention wearing such outfits draw when I go out around here. I guess I'd better book some party weekends huh?

Yep :-( And I always want to buy more, then I remember... for what?

It's one of the reasons I enjoy going to the Opera.

I feel you! I just turned 24... still shopping at Forever 21 (it's okay right?!), and I just bought a hot club dress. Not sure if I'll ever wear it, but I definitely miss dressing up every weekend in undergrad. Maybe you can wear it to the bar with friends?