Okay…here’s my problem. Someone…anyone…help me.
I had gastric bypass surgery in October. Since then, I’ve lost 76 pounds.
I still have quite a bit to go, so I don’t want to spend tons of money on clothes. However, I started in a REALLY big size…I mean, I was basically handicapped because of my size. I was around a 28 or 30. Now I’m a 16. I’m not finished, mind you. But I look a little silly in my old clothes.
So…
I bought about three things that fit me and it was the MOST amazing thing. I mean, I lost 40 pounds simply by putting on clothes that fit. And I felt so unbelievable! Like I looked normal and I had curves again, etc. I have a WAIST! Hurrah!
But…does anyone have any advice about figuring out your size so that you can order from catalogs (read: sales) figuring out WHICH size range you’re in (am I in a 20 miss or a 16 women’s?) and finding things that are fairly inexpensive for the transitional period?
I know there are others who have gone through this probelm in some degree. I know lots of women change sizes over their life times and have to figure this out. As someone who struggled with their weight, I’ve gone through it before too…just not to such an extreme extent.
Help! Send Size 16 (or so) clothes! And advice!
L
Damn! I gave away my Size 16 clothes because I didn’t want to have any “just in case” fall-back clothing. That’ll teach me to be efficient!
The thing that saved me when I was losing weight but not yet near the size I hoped to reach was thrift stores. As you saw, it’s really, really important to wear clothes that fit, even if you’re not to your goal, because you deserve to feel good. You’re rightly proud of yourself for your accomplishments so far, and you’re well on your way to your goal, and wearing clothes that look good will only reinforce that feeling. If you look around for thrift stores in fairly nice areas of town, you can often find things that are extremely nice and don’t look very used at all.
In my experience (in the US, that is), a 16 is a Misses size, not Women’s. The only advice I have for you about ordering clothes online is to measure yourself carefully and always look at each site’s size charts. I usually have to try clothes on to ensure that they’ll fit right, but I think that’s because I don’t have much of an eye for style, so I’m not good at judging what will fit my body type best.
Oh, and duh…congratulations!
CCACW:
I had GBS in November. What’s saving me now are the end-of-winter sales. I’m down from a 28-30 in jackets to a 20/22; same with pants. I’ve been buying jackets that can go through the chilly parts of spring. Also, some pre-spring sales are going on so I can get some lighter stuff, too.
Also, if you work or have a large circle of friends, let me recommend an “estate sale” to help you fund new clothes purchases. There are quite a number of plus-sized ladies at my office who have always admired my clothes; I got permission to have a (literal) trunk sale one day a lunch. I brought a collapsible clothes rack and set up shop in the parking lot! I unloaded a bunch of stuff and made over $400.
Good luck.
VCNJ~
I lost 70 pounds by doing Weight Watchers and exercise. I gave away all of my clothes when I went down to a 12/14, and then promptly got pregnant. I haven’t got anything that fits properly.
Thrift is your friend. If you won’t thrift, then catalogues will usually have a size chart in them. Take your measurements and compare.
Having lost a bunch of weight in the past year, I know what you’re going through. It’s nice to buy all new clothes, but it gets expensive. A few words:
- Congrats
- What Ginger said - catalogs should have a size chart; if there isn’t one, you probably don’t want to order from that catalog.
- Check out online shopping; look for free shipping when possible. Again, there should be size charts. Sometimes sizes run big/small, so go by each place’s size chart for their clothes.
- Buy pants with belt loopholes if you don’t want to have to keep buying new pants every time you go down a size or two - you’ll get more mileage for your $$, esp if you have to wear a style of clothes to work that you wouldn’t wear outside of work.
- If you’re still losing, when in doubt about a size, buy the smaller one - there’s nothing more aggravating than buying a pair of $70.00 pants at The Limited in a size 12 on sale for 50% off, then a month later going back for the size 10 and paying full price because the 10 now fits perfectly. (Sorry, personal rant…) YMMV on this one, but it’s especially true if you’re working out…you may not see much results on the scale, but you may go down an entire size because you’re toning up.
The best way to get the right fit when ordering online or from a catalog is to take your measurements and use their size charts. To get the most accurate numbers, have someone else do the measuring for you.
Sizes can vary widely from company to company.
Have fun shopping for your new body! 
I had GBS a year and a half ago. I was giddy at all the clothing choices when I was losing weight. When I got to 150 lbs., I thought I was done and bought size 11 or 12 clothes. Then I lost another 25. So I ended up giving away a lot of the inbetween sizes. What saved me (or at least my wallet) was shopping at Target and looking for clearance items at JCPenney, Sears or Macy’s. I have a special talent for finding great deals, so that came in handy (I recently bought a suit at Sears for $7.00!).
About your size, it’s all trial and error. I had a lot of fun just trying on clothes, regardless of whether I intended to buy anything or not. I also kept an eye on my measurements, too. If you go by the measurements, keep in mind the loose skin issue. Since that’s not fat that you have to fit, you might be buying something that will end up bigger than you expected.
Good luck and have fun!
Hey, great advice!
Yeah, Target rules. I got a couple of things there that were cute and inexpensive. I haven’t hit the thrift stores yet, but I have no problem doing that. In fact, I even know where there are a couple of these ridiculous consignment stores that sell clothes rich women wore once. I will have to check those out sometime this weekend!
Also, I have a sewing machine and can put darts in the back of my pants to make the waist fit better. Since that’s where I’m losing all my weight, that should help. But it’s still so nice to have something “new” that fits!
Do you know, I lost a SHOE size? How weird is that? Plus, my watch and rings are too big. I’m trying to figure out when I had fat wrists. Weird!
Thanks again for the advice. It sure is a lot more fun to shop for clothes now, even if it’s not fun to pay for them!