[mmw160]

I am down just about 50 lbs, going from a very tight size 16 (I refused to go up from there) to a 10/12. My shirt size is M/L. Luckily I just celebrated my 22nd birthday, and I told everyone in my family to give me money for clothes shopping. Well now that I have some money and a new body... where should I start? I like to look put together, and I always have, even when I was big. Where can I get high-quality, but affordable clothing? Should I buy with "room to lose?"

I'm sticking to summer clothes for now because there is a high probability that I will lost another 20 lbs. by fall. What are must have versatile items? I only have 1 event where I will have to dress nice (my brother's high school graduation). Everything else I need is day to day casual clothes. And maybe a few thing to wear out at night on the weekends.

[canuckgirl7]

Congrats on the weight loss! My goal is to lose around the same amount of weight

I think it is a good idea to just stick with summer clothes since you plan on losing more weight.

I imagine somewhere like the GAP would be a good place to start.


Versatile, basic clothing would probably include a white button down shirt; one or two pairs of jeans, khaki pants; at least one pair of nice black pants; a black tank can be dressed up or down. A convertible dress might be a good idea.

What are your plans for the summer? Do you have a summer job summer school etc.?

[runningfromfat]

I've written about this a lot on my blog. I have about 16lbs left to lose for goal and have already started stalking up on a few items that are either stretchy (so they should fit for awhile) or high enough quality that I won't mind paying for alterations.

So, first off. Make sure you're wearing a well-fitting bra! The best starting point is band size=bra size. I'd do this BEFORE clothes shopping because it can actually make your drop a clothes size or two and give you a much longer waist. If you need help finding bras that fit look here. I'm always happy to answer questions too.

As for dressing your new body, think long and hard about what your body type is and what parts of your body you want to emphasize. I discuss that some here. Another thing I did was wanted to definite certain rules for my wardrobe so I was buying clothes that I loved and not just what was the easiest/cheapest.

Then I actually planned out what clothes I wanted so I wouldn't make in rash decisions and I bought from brands that I knew and love:

Work Clothes
Outerwear
Workout Clothes

I also examined my reasons for not always buying the clothes that I actually wanted here.

Sorry for all the links but this is one of my favorite topics!

There's also a new series on Hourglassy about starting a new wardrobe from stratch after weight loss.