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.