Down'sizing' - part 4, what to buy

1. Pants-top priority for fit but not for variety. Find pants that fit. Buy just enough to get you from one washday to another. I make do with denim, black, khaki and brown. Decide what you need and then find the cheapest pants that fit. Why the cheapest? Because you won't be wearing them for long.

Before going too far, we need to stretch. Talk about stretch fabrics that is. As you slim down, you'll want to try stretch pants. They can be body slimming in the misses' sizes. Avoid stretch pants that look great when you put them on but puddle at the knees around noon. Good stretch pants look good all the day long.

Some pants have an inside 'tummy' trimmer, a little mini girdle inside the pant. Great idea but make sure when you tuck a shirt in that the 'tummy' trimmer doesn't try to grapple with the shirt edges making it next to impossible to get a smooth look.

Here's what I've found works in buying pants:

• Jeans in all colors. Jeans are cheap and the fit can be pretty amazing.
  The lowdown on the big box stores
  K-Mart has a great jean selection. Don't look for anything beyond khaki, black and denim but the price is right and the jeans are nice enough to wear to work any day of the week.
  A step up costwise is Kohl's but the store outdoes itself in selection. Gloria Vanderbilt jeans tend to fit smart (read: you'll wear a size larger than other manufacturers) but the fit is great and the color assortment fantastic. Look for Kohl's coupons in the paper to make the trip to the cash register hurt less. blogger update: I bought Gloria Vanderbilt jeans today at Kohl's for $19.99, you can't beat that.
  
• Slacks
  Wal-Mart has the best selection with twill pants with elastic waists. For us gals who are losing weight, elastic waists can help give our bottoms a great fit.
  I love Target but their pants tend to be less than 'standard' with 'need-to-iron' fabrics, cargo pant pockets, pinstripes, cuffed hems, bell bottoms. When you're down'sizing' your fashion focus shouldn't be on the bottoms.
  
  Once you get in the misses' sizes, I suggest you start tucking shirts in. Find a department store that has their own brand of slacks. You want inexpensive yet looking nice.
  Macy's JM Collection of pants were a godsend for me. They are available in a multitude of colors and options: petites, regular and tall, misses' and women's sizes, elastic waist, zippered front with belt loops and side zipper styles.
  
  During the first leg of my weight loss, the stretch pull-on straight leg pant was perfect for my figure that tends to lose the inches last on my waist. Now in the misses' category, I'm aopting for side or front zipper styles. And at $24.98, these pants are priced to fit my budget. And did I mention they need very little ironing. Online shopping tends to have the best availability in sizes and colors. Bonus benefit: Once I found these pants, shopping became a breeze. Pants becoming a bit loose? Go online and buy the next lower size.

2. Have fun with tops Show off your newly emerging figure.

• A stretch top can fit nicely sometimes across 3 sizes making them a great budget saver.


• Long sleeve t-shirts with no band necklines are inexpensive yet nice enough to wear to work any day of the week. Add a scarf, pretty necklace or vest to dress it up.

3. Belts Yes, look forward to the time when tucking in your shirt and belting the bottom is a look-good option. Once you've left the women's sizes, you should be wearing belts every now and again.

For your down'sizing' look for a belt where you make the holes. I have a belt with a loose weave of leather, no holes (3rd one from the top in the photo). I just stick the prong of the buckle wherever it fits. I bought it at size 16 and still wear it. I love that it's beginning to wrap around my side on its way to my back.

Other belts can work just as well, like the tie belt at the top of the photo. There are belts with holes across its entire span (belt 2 and 3 from the top). The last belt is metal but backed with stretchy fabric. When stretched to its entire length the metal circles are barely touching. All great belts to down'size' with.

4. Vests Buy a vest to wear unbuttoned then as you lose weight, button it. Vests can hide blouses that are a little too large. Great budget saver.

5. Jackets Try the vest strategy of buying small and wearing unbuttoned then buttoning it as the size goes down. Numberwise, buy only what you absolutely need in basic colors (read: black or brown). Don't get me wrong, jackets are fantastic additions to the down'sizing' wardrobe, but they can be budget busters.

Fitted vs Boxed Fitted jackets are going to start looking great on you, but remember fitted jackets are usually designed for a certain look. The outfit won't look so great when you try to pair a fitted jacket outside its genre. Buy fitted when you can think of a couple of outfits you can make with it. Fitted jackets are so tempting. Just make the jacket work for you in several ways.

6. Winter clothes I work inside, all day. So my down'sizing' strategy is to not to immediately down'size' ill fitting coats and sweaters that I just take off once I'm inside the door.

My strategy changes for my cold weekends when I go hiking with the Appalachian Mountain Club. I don't want to look frumpy with my buds, so my hiking clothes fit quite nicely thank you but inside my thermal underwear is quite loose (heh, large sizes are still effectively warm).

I'm heading up to NYC in December. I walk a lot in NYC so I bought a new coat. Down'sizing' your wardrobe doesn't mean you do without when you need it. We've worked hard to get our shapes, there are times when you need to show it.

Here's what I buy for my woolies and fleecies:

• Think smooth - no large 'cables' (as in cable-knit) running down your sweaters and no puffy jackets (the latest style, but so frosty the snowman looking).


• The great thing about sweaters is they're a lot like stretch fabrics. They have to be really big to look too big on you. Make your existing sweater wardrobe last as long as possible.


• Looking for warmth? Fleece is it at bargain prices. Target has a huge assortment of fleece jackets and sweaters in a variety of colors only $15 each.
  
  Other posts in this series
  Down'sizing' introduction
  Part 1 - the plan
  Part 2 - getting the most out of each size..
  Part 3, focus

Down'sizing'- part 3, focus

1. Separates, think tops, pants, skirts, vests and jackets. The human body loses loses weight ignorant of clothing sizes. For me it's been bottoms first, but now the top is catching up. Down'sizing' your wardrobe is certainly the time to mix and match tops and bottoms.
2. Don't buy a smaller size to 'lose' into. Personally if I buy something smaller, my body seems to say 'we'll see about that' and it takes a lot longer to get there.
   But there is another reason not to buy smaller. As you lose, clothing styles will look different on you. Empire waists were always my best bet at my heaviest. Something happened between size 14 and size 12, the empire waisted clothes sensing a smaller waist at size 12 seem to want to 'pile' at my hip line and make me look heavier. Don't want that.
   I'm also amazed at clothing styles that looked horrendous at my obese weight but looked fantastic as I slimmed down.
   There'll come a time when you don't need a loose fit to look good. It will come.
3. Don't buy investment pieces when you've got more weight to lose. It's the correct mindset. You don't want to buy an expensive or frivolous item when you're not near your ideal size. Don't give yourself any motivation to keep the weight high.
   However, if you need clothes for work that need to be professional (lawyer, interior decorator, etc.) - clothes which tend to be more expensive- buy what you need. Treat it as a short-term investment. Wear it a couple of times a week to get your money back.
4. Know when to splurge There are times when you want to shine. And you should with your emerging beautiful figure. Show it off at the company dinner, cousin's wedding, anniversary dinner.

Other posts in this series
Down'sizing' introduction
Part 1 - the plan
Part 2 - getting the most out of each size..
Part 4, what to buy

Down'sizing' part 2 - getting the most out of each size

Blessed are those who only need to lose one size.

I'm not one of those people. I love shopping and love shopping for smaller sized clothes that make me look great. But once I set-up my budget, it was obvious that binge shopping to wrap my new body in the threads it deserves was not going to happen.

It comes down to 'when'. When do you buy the smaller size. My thoughts...

1. Pants Depending on where you lose weight first, pants can be the first to go loose. I'm bottom heavy and when I lose weight the pants are the first to show. Pants also have a higher 'frumpy' index, loose pants can ruin the look of the outfit. Tops not so much.
   
   Pants became my priority in buying. Loose pants had Goodwill in their near future. I bought pants for every new size. Not so in blouses.
   


2. Blouses Most blouses can be worn plus a size or two without the top looking too big. To trick is not to go beyond 'one size too big.'
   
   I had an 'ah ha' moment about this. At size 16 I bought a fun purple striped cotton sweater set. I loved it. Sometime and some pounds later (size 12), I was wearing the outfit out shopping and noticed the same outfit was 80% off and available in a smaller size. Before trying on the smaller size, I would have sworn the larger size was a good fit. One look in the dressing room mirror told me how wrong I was. I looked like a puddle in the larger size. The smaller size looked that much more fantastic.
   
   Exception: Stretch knit tops. The trick is buying the knit top so it's not that tight on you to begin with. I knew a top was too tight when my Mom told me that I should get the mole on my tummy looked at. That same knit top, I still wear on my several sizes smaller body. You'd have to feel the fabric to know that its stretch, but tucked in it still looks great.



3. Skirts Depending on the fit, skirts can be like pants, jean skirts particularly. Those with gathered waists not so much. If you wear a skirt with a long jacket, you can get away with a larger size much longer. Watch the fit if the jacket is short or fitted.
   


4. Jackets can be like blouses unless you buy something super fitted. While losing weight, super fitted jackets aren't the best buy.
   


5. Dresses To make them last longer try belting them. I've tried putting jackets over them but then the ample amount of material showing around the jacket hem looks bad. Overall dresses aren't the best buy for a weight losing gal.

Other posts in this series
Down'sizing' introduction
Part 1 - the plan
Part 3, focus
Part 4, what to buy

Down'sizing' the wardrobe, part 1 - the plan

As you lose weight, you need to buy new clothes. Loose clothes make for a frumpy appearance, that look is not why we're getting in shape.

And if you're keeping an extra watchful eye on your wallet, you need to buy clothes with a plan. The goal is to look great with every pound and every size lost without jacking up the credit card bills.

How to plan the down'sizing' of your wardrobe:

1. Give yourself a budget. You don't want to loose weight and your credit rating.
   
2. Make your budget correspond to your weight loss. Attach the amount to spend on clothing budget to what you lost in weight. Here's how:
   
   - Think what you want/should/could spend on new clothes in a month.
   - Determine what you'd like to lose in a month.
   - Divide pounds into dollars and spend according to your loss.
   
   For example: In April, I could spend $40 in clothes. I wanted to lose 8 pounds that month. For every pound I lost I could spend $5.
   
3. Work with a plan. With our regular wardrobes, most of us can go 3 to 4 weeks without repeating an outfit at work. During the time you're losing weight, divide that in half. At first*, I was willing to repeat outfits at work every 2 weeks. So at any one time during my weight loss, I needed for work:
   
   - 8 nice tops
   - 2 casual Friday tops
   -1 jacket/blazer (that doubles as a dinner jacket)
   - 4 pairs of slacks
   - 1 pair of jeans
   
   Your needs will be different, but what's important is to write down what you need to wear.
   
4. Keep it simple. Only have in your closet what fits. Clothes that are too large can stay until they can be replaced. 'Too small' sizes find another home. It's easier to stay on your down'sizing' wardrobe plan if you can see in an instant what you got and where the gaping holes are.
   
5. Don't fight your budget. Once you've written down and bought or found the clothes you really need, make it easy to stick to your budget.
   
   Purchase a dozen IKEA hangers (or any other 'odd' looking ones). Ones that will stand out in the closet. These are the only hangers in my down'sizing' closet. I was able to hang all my clothes (except for pants) on the 12 hangers. If I bought something new, it needed a hanger. Something old had to go.
   
   So before buying anything new, I would stand in the dressing room and decide what piece of clothing would lose its hanger (go in the Goodwill bin or the 'too large' box). With only 12 items in my closet, it was easy to picture what my options were. If I wasn't willing to part with something then I knew the new item wasn't worth it. The budget was spared a hit.
   
   blogger note: I can't tell you how many times I would come back a month or so later, a size smaller, and try the same top on (of course in a smaller size). If it was a winner, it usually was marked down making it a double winner.
   
6. Have an exit strategy. If there are only 12 hangers and you buy a blouse, an old top needs to go. But where?
   
   Do you really want to save clothing that doesn't fit? Personally I decided to save only one size above where I was at that particular time. I don't want to make it easy to gain weight.
   
   So in my closet I have two bins, one 'Goodwill' and the other 'one size big.' If I buy something new, the old item freed from one of the 12 hangers gets put in either of the bins. Drop a size and everything in the 'one size big' bin gets put in the Goodwill bin.
   
   To make this exit strategy really work, make frequent Goodwill runs.
   
   Other posts in this series
   Down'sizing' introduction
   Part 2 - getting the most out of each size..
   Part 3, focus
   Part 4, what to buy
   
   *I realized I was the only one to notice how frequently I wore outfits, so I took the number of outfits down to 1.5 weeks. Keeping my budget the same, I was able to buy nicer clothes.

Down'sizing' introduction

Losing weight means coming down in clothing sizes or down'sizing'.

For those of us who started rather large, it's back to shopping upfront in the store in the Misses' department not having to trek back to women's section. Happy to find a clothing item that really fits and looks great. Done with the X sizes that fit by just hanging or being draped on the body.

Although we all love shopping, shopping to down'size' your wardrobe can be fraught with problems. The more obvious is expense. You can't buy a whole new wardrobe with every lower size. Yet you want to look good and show off your progress.

Down'sizing' your wardrobe is a series of suggestions on how to down'size' optimally. Your suggestions are desired, so please comment.

Super-sized mentality

It was a super-sized moment. I just bought a new 3 piece luggage set with the new spinner wheels on the bottom that let the luggage roll besides you not dragged behind you.

As I was hauling my ten year my old suitcase out of the closet to give to Goodwill, I noticed the super-sized difference. The old suitcase, which used to be the largest piece of luggage I owned for years, was only slightly bigger than the smallest piece of luggage in the new set I bought.

Ten years ago, this battered and torn suitcase was the only luggage I took on a 3 week trip to Italy filled with clothes, first aide kit, sewing kit, laundry stuff, even a fanny pack. During the trip, I remember thinking that I wished I packed less.

What happened in ten years for luggage makers to super-size their goods? Luggage makers are just meeting the needs of a super-sized society.

We're a super-sized society. At McDonald's we super-size our 'meals', we buy super-sized, super-soft toilet paper in super-sized amounts at super-sized big box stores.

If it was only that, but as we all know the super-sized mentality shows up on our bathroom scale. And many of us don't realize it. In a recent poll, 27% of overweight women didn't admit to being overweight.

Well I was overweight. I admitted it. For sometime I did nothing about it. That part of my life is over.

Less is more

Less is more than just losing weight.

Weighing less is more fun. It's more years to live healthier lives creating more time to be happy being who we are.

Weighing less is a journey made easier when you share the road. What's the old Chinese proverb? Every journey starts with a first step.

Walk with me.