Well, Spring is approaching, and 45 lbs later, there is no way my pants are fitting from last year. It is a great thing, don't get me wrong! But I am trying to figure out what to do about buying clothes for the Spring and Summer without having to spend too much money, since hopefully by next year at this time, I will need smaller sizes, and will have to buy again!

I can get away with summer since, I am a teacher and do not work for the summer. Therefore, I will be happy living in my favorite Hanes tees and shorts that I buy from Wal-Mart. But I still need to get through the school year in the Spring, and need to buy a few things to get me through.

I can get away with my shirts, as I often wore full cut tunic shirts. But I have to get some new pants for sure! I tend to buy the elastic waistband and roll them over to get them to stay up!

Anyway, I just wanted to hear what you are all planning to do!

Isn't it a great problem to have! You are doing great. For me, I had lots of sizes in my closet. I bought almost nothing in my journey of a 107 pound weight loss. Of course I bought a whole new wardrobe when I reached my goal. I now stay out of the stores for fear of spending more money. You might want to try thrift stores or consignment shops to get you through the rest of the school year. Happy shopping!

I just caught a sale at lane bryant and I got my jeans a little on the tight side so I can at least get 3 months of good wear out of them. I wore a pair yesterday and before 3 hours was up they were loose! So disappointing. I know I can't button up the 18s of the 20's will do. I tell you the elliptcal does wonders because at 300lbs I should not be in a size 20 at 5 "5 1/2 lol. I remember being in college at 270's wearing a 24? Well, I know they make the clothes a little bigger now days to but still! But, now that winter is almost over I plan on catching all of the winter clothes on sale and I am going to buy all size 14 and 16's and I better be that small when winter roll back around!

During my big weightloss phase I was lucky that I have been a clothes hoarder over the years. I spent a great amount of time "closet shopping". I did have to buy a couple things and went to a really nice plus size consignment store for those items.

old navy always has some great deals. Also jcpenny has great sales plus they ALWAYS have great coupons. Do youhave a platos closet or second hand store near you? Those are great places to find new clothes. happy shopping! I have spent so much money on clothes the last 8 months. My job requires me to always look nice and trendy (I'm an esthetician and its required...i always get called out if I wear too big of stuff)

anyways I love shopping!

One word... GOODWILL lol

I did consider Godwill and Consignment, but I feel guilty going there. It is more important for those less fortunate to go there if they need to rather than me, who can afford to go shopping. In these econcomical times, I feel that others may need those stores more than I do right now.

SF, I agree with you. I also plan to buy some more snugger fitting clothes, in hopes they will fit down the road. That will definitely buy some time for me to wear them a little longer. I like crop pants a lot, and I can easily wear them until the fall, so I plan to get good time form those.

In the meantime, I will do me best to catch sales. I like Kohl's a lot and they hav a great return policy, so if I need to return unworn clothing, I can get something else!

Goodwill is two fold. Their prices are great for those less fortunate....but they also use money from the sales in the store to help with funding and scholarships. That's why I donate and shop there....now I can never find clothing I like but I have bought furnuture items and picture frames and stuff like that.

I am with Trish on the Goodwill and other resale shops... I work in social services and we have contact community agencies that run resale shops. So I hope to get to a couple soon to look for some clothes.

I am also like Hummingbird in that I had been a clothes hoarder over the years and have been going thru my own stuff and found some things I can wear. WalMart has been good to me about pants too... I've gotten a couple pairs there for like 15 bucks a piece.

I hear you Topazz ... and some coworkers (who know I had the surgery) have encouraged me to start wearing clothes that fit for I continue to wear some elastic pants that hang all over as well as waaaaay to big tunics and t shirts!!! The money fairy is just not with me though....

I too hoarded clothes, so I started in my own closet. I am a principal, so I understand with the summer thing where you still need a few spring/summer professional items to last you until you get to the summer t-shirt and shorts . I usually hit up discount stores like Ross, Burlington Coat Factory, Cato's and a few others. The secret is I buy a lot of dresses and skirts. When pants get too big, they tell on your everytime with the saggy booty look. Dresses and skirts you can get away with a little longer being big for they become terrible looking. Tops, get at Goodwill, Walmart, or catch sales--they are usually easier to find cheaper. Buy a pair of black pants that are snug like SF that you can dress up and down for work--I also take advantage of layaway, not because of the need necessarily to pay a little at a time, but I put sizes smaller on layway on sale. If by chance I am not to that size, then I just take off layway. If I am, I still have cheap clothes in my new size!

SF--I actually am the same way. I am around 270 and wear and 14/16 top and can get in 18's and 20's! You, like me, have reconfigured your body--way to go!

Thanks for your suggestions. I wish I had saved my clothes. We have a small house, so not much storage. I ended up donating most of my old clothing. Kind of wishing I hadn't now! But in the end, I am glad I did for those could use it.

My clothing sizes range also. On bottoms, I always got into 14/16 or 18/20's as long as the pants had stretch. I am lucky to have skinny legs. But my upper body is fat and boobs, so I was wearing a 26/28. Now, these days, I wonder what size I am??!!

Does your surgeon offer a support group? Mine does and every few months we have a clothing exchange. It is a great way to get rid of my larger sizes and find some smaller sizes that will get me through until the next one. Good Luck!

I was going to suggest exchange at support group too.

What about freecycle? www.freecycle.org It's an email list through yahoo groups (usually.. some may use other services, but all the ones I've been on use yahoo) where people give away things they don't want any longer.

I recently got 7 bags of used clothing from freecycle. I pulled out what my family could use and then passed the rest, 6.5 bags, on to another freecycler.

And while the less fortunate may well need the charity stores, I don't feel bad shopping at them as I donate there as well. Our local thrift store supports Hospice. Lots of nice things there.

Thrift stores, garage sales, TJ Maxx, Ebay, Friends...

AJ Wright..Walmart...Ross..Marshalls...all clearance racks. You need to buy the pants and work with the shirts you got....get black, brown, blue, beige and change them out with different shirts. I am a teacher too. I don't get my clothes at Goodwill but there is a lot of heavy chicks benefiting from my Lane Bryant wardrobe now who may need the help. I get furniture and hard to find dishes from there as well.

I have went from a 24 to a 12 (some 10's) this past 13 months...92 off...and havent bought a ton but some.....my tops are now large/medium but some of the bigger ones, sweaters and such, I kept. I had a lot of in between stages. I will need to shop for the spring. It can be done. Shoo my shoe size even went down.

I was 275 highest, 260 at date of surgery (1/9/10) and I hit 168 today. 13 away from a normal BMI.

I need to wear professional dress for work and I have just about "outgrown" my entire wardrobe. I spend the money on two pair of dress black pants that fit well.....for me, it is important that they fit well.

I buy tops on close-out racks. I don't have the greatest selection right now so it is a struggle. The part that I am struggling with right now is that I don't fit into any of my "suits" or any of my jackets. It is too expensive to buy a jacket to only out grow it in a month or two.

I think by fall, I will be close to the size I will end up at.......so I hope to go buy nice jackets for next fall and winter. It is a bit easier in the summer to pull off my professional level dress as I can wear a nice blouse or a light sweater.

I have one pair of jeans....and they right now are getting too big! Since we are still in the midst of winter here in Maine, I wear a lot of hoodies right now, so those are okay being big (although I have downsized from a 2X to an XL)

I missed the clothing exchange this fall at my bariatric center, but hope to catch the spring one! I unfortunately took all my outgrown clothes to Goodwill a few weeks ago though. I have a very small closet so I had to get it out of here.....

Jackie