Clothes Shopping

Hi, I made great use of all our op shops to get clothes to fit, this is a great idea when you are going down through the sizes,they are now way too expensive to buy new as you don't get very much wear out of them if you are one to lose the weight quickly. I think I have done my entire wardrobe just about by doing the rounds of the op shops,many of the clothes even still had their new labels on them. I just recycled all the fat lady clothes back to the op shops as well so we all gained.Once you have reach your goal weight or you have stabilised then spend up if you want good new clothes out of a normal retail outlet,the op shops saves you heaps of money.

Thanks for your advice Jarrah, I haven't heard of TS14+ but I will have a look out for them. I measured myself today as I'm looking at the sizing charts on the websites, I can't believe that my top half is between a 20 & an 18 while my bottom half is between 22 and 20 obviously the shorts I wore today were a 'loose' 20 but that's OK I will take that.

I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow, Merry Christmas!!!!
          

TS14+ is usually very expensive… but keep an eye on their sales … can pick uup some great bargains and they are designed for our kind of figure. . . one or two pieces can be worn to death … you look fabulous in the meantime and the resale is good on them if you want to eBay … I used to buy lots of it on Ebay cause I knew what a bargain I was getting.
Merry Christmas !!!             

I'm buying pants with drawstring waists, so they'll fit over a few sizes. More comfy when they're a bit baggy anyway :)

Thanks Bluebags, yeah I only bought 4 x pants and 4 tops I need to wear something to work, apart from that just some swimmers, cause that is how I get my exercise, that shrug which I think will fit me over a few sizes (I bought an 18). I not sure about missing sizes, I feel that I might lose slowly and I may not get away with say size 20 on a 18 size body it might look silly and my pants might fall down!
  
 
But it's all a learning and exciting experience, thanks for your advice from someone who is further down the track than I am. I will look at the sales of course.....lol I think I may be scared of buying a 16! goodness I haven't been that size in 30 years!!! So far I have some 20's and 18's that's quite exciting enough for now, says she, but waiting for the sales ya never know I may get brave and buy some smaller sizes.
 
 

P.S. I am wearing for the first time today, ta da......size 20 tops and bottoms...........happy dance!!!!!

     

If you are already close to the size 20 don't buy anymore then you have ordered as you really won't get the wear and I have tried to sell some of my clothes on ebay without to much success.  I think keep your eye on Millers online and after Xmas when the sales start Autograph have lovely clothes they are owned by Millers as are Crossroads and City Chic.  I used to get all my clothes at Autograph as they had nicer clothes then Millers but when both of their sales are on they have bargains.  Autograph sizing is more generous then Milers as they specialize in only larger sizes.   When the sales start go 18 and 16s as you will not believe how fast the weight does go when it really starts your shape kind of moves first but then the sizes start to fall off.  Just prior to my op Autograph had there sales on and I bought 16s thinking that would be my size for this summer well I have never worn those dresses as I skipped a size and now can't fit in there size 14 let alone 16. 

Overall all the sites you have picked are good sites but keep in mind in just a few days they will all go on sale and those $60 tops and $100 dresses will be 20 and 30 dollars so just wait a bit longer and it will be a feast.  BTW I have found that the sale prices are better then the second hand shops and yes the sizing is more available over 20s really don't get on the shelves much in second hand shops.

Hey Wenchie,

There is no Kmart around, only Target, there are some smaller boutiques (mostly for the tourists) but they are expensive and pretty much they have shut down for the wet season. I went online last night to Kmart and bought a few items they have free postage if you order over $50 worth so that was a good score. CC, Autograph and Ezibuy are too expensive for what I am trying to achieve. I scored a nice little black shrug (bolero) with short sleeves because a lot of the fashions particularly in dresses seem to be no sleeves and I'm not that brave just yet. lol.

I'm not worried about measurements really, I have clothes that fit me now, I am just going to buy a few essentials in the next size down and wait until they fit me, then get rid of the bigger clothes and keep repeating the process. I'll be happy if I keep it around the $100 - $150 mark for each size I go down, that's a challenge in itself haha. I'm not really into clothes I just need to be covered for the times that I leave the house e.g. going to work etc.. lol

Part of the reason I'm keeping the clothing down and getting rid of the big stuff quickly is because we will be moving from here within 6 months and I don't want lots of useless crap following me around but also I think it is important for my mental health to keep only clothes that fit me now. Well that's my theory, we'll see how it goes.

     

Have you got a KMart close by? I've been able to buy some decent stuff there pretty cheap, linen pants, white work blouses $10 each. Millers is good, but for autograph/city chic, I found ebay is pretty good for those. I bought a fully lined CC jacket off ebay, still had the tags on, for $25. And if you're on Facebook, there are heaps of selling groups on there too. 

If you're going to be buying mostly online, don't forget to do measurements, damn sizing is all over the place for these shops. I'm in a 24/26 for KMart, but a 20 for CC.

Thanks for that Jag, I had thought of the charity shops, when I used to go to them they usually never had much in the bigger sizes, it might have changed. I will have a look but I live in a small community and not holding out much hope really. I don't have any friends here either, but I don't need any going out clothes, it is so casual here my trousers and tops will be fine if I go anywhere.

I'm so far away from any decent shops I am just buying clothes online in the next size down and waiting until I can fit into them. I can't really go and try stuff on to see if it fits or what it looks like when on. There is a Target here but it's fairly expensive for what I am trying to achieve.

I was looking for on line retail clothing shops today if anyone has suggestions I'd like to hear about them. So far I have found:-

Millers.com.au
Rivers.com.au
CityChic.com.au
Autograph.com.au
EziBuy.com.au

I was just looking at their clothing that was on sale, don't want to pay $60 for a top. $20 maybe but rather $10 :). Like I say it will only be for transitional clothes so probably only wear them for around 4 months? Dunno really how long and how many kilos does it take to go down a size???? So far I've lost nearly 20 kgs and gone down almost 2 sizes. I might be able to stretch it out a bit longer if I say wear the size 20's until they are way too loose and I'll possibly then be a size 16 therefore bypassing clothes in size 18. I might look a bit silly though have to see how it goes.

          

I've never had this type of problem before.......I usually stay around the size 22 even when I've dieted before and lost weight, before long I would regain it all again.

Sounds like a good plan to me! A friend of mine has gained a lot of weight recently and commented she had no clothes. I offered to loan her my 'skinny' clothes (that's about her weight now) - so I am wondering if you know someone else around your size now you can borrow special going out clothes if you needed rather than have to spend big. Also, I find the second hand charity stores like vinnies or salvos often have a great selection at really good prices. And when they become too big for you, just donate them back!

I can't find any conversations about clothes shopping as we go down through the sizes. I am currently a loose 22 going on to a 20. I am hoping to go down a few more sizes hopefully down to 14 or 12 eventually.

I am looking for advice re: shopping as I don't want to buy a full wardrobe of clothes for my transitioning sizes (yes it is tempting), so I have devised a plan to buy say 3 pair of trousers (white, navy and black) and 3 good tops (that go with all the trousers), maybe a couple of shorts and tees for weekends.

So far I have ordered online 3 X size 20 trousers and 3 X size 20 tops and 1 X size 20 swim wear from Millers, I got all this for $80.00 (incl postage), that is about what I am comfortable with spending per size as I realise that I won't be a size 20 for too long and will soon be looking for size 18 clothes. I only need summery type clothes as it doesn't get cold where I live. I have plenty of shoes to keep me going unless my feet shrink considerably!

I am going to put my too large clothes on the local facebook page to see if I can sell them, even if I get $5 per piece that will help me to clear out the cupboard ready for the new ones.

Does this sound like a good plan or does anyone have any other advice to offer?