Before I had surgery I went through all my clothes and placed them in bins by size. I am going to use those plus my some trips to my local Goodwill. But I would say if you can take things in to go for it! Won't it be nice when we can have one size in our closet and know every morning, everything would fit!

I've thought about this (and I am a pretty good seamstress), but it seems to me that for my clothes to fit well I would need to pretty much take them completely apart and put them back together.

It's easier to drive to Goodwill.....

I am a seamstress, everything from tailored coats to wedding dresses, and I didn't want to mess with altering my clothes. Most were old anyway, but I just searched out great sales and bought just enough to get by at work in each new size. It was about one size a month.

Becca- I have only altered four dresses that are simple shifts, but were relatively expensive. They are summer dresses and I hated to get rid of them. I waited til this week because my weight loss has slowed enough that I'll make it through the summer with them even if I lose another 10 - 15 lbs. But I did get rid of a ton of clothes!! I have a pair of black slacks, a pair of capris and a few elastic waist skirts that I wear over and over and just keep buying new tops. k

I decided not to alter my clothes... My theory was that even in a smaller size they would be a constant reminder of the old me....

I have bought most of my clothes from Kohl's with coupons and great sales.... I have dropped a few sizes, but my shirts are OK as I shrink... My pants are what I have had to replace.... I only buy one or two pair in a size that way I am not losing much...

If you can alter nicely and are comfortable, I think that is a great thing.. We each need to do whatever works best for ourselves...

I tried the Goodwill as well and got frustrated.. I am not a good shopper, and I hated going through rack after rack of clothes.. One of ours hangs everything by color.. That annoyed the daylights out of me.. I had to look at every pair to see what size they were... Needless to say I walked out of there frustrated and haven't gone to another one since...

I had some uniform pants that I had the waist made smaller. Most of my old clothes are sitting in bags waiting to go to good will. I ain't much of a seamstress either.

I got some gym shorts and long underwear that have folds sewn in the elastic to make them tighter. and believe it or not we made some suspenders out of cheap elastic for the long johns last winter. Had to have them and couldn't afford to replace them!

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll see how it goes.... I do love second hand stores, so that might be easier (and funner! LOL!).

I am just a cheap/poor college student, so anywhere I can save a nickel.... But feeling good about myself and my clothes (even if 2nd hand) might be more important that saving that nickel.

And sarge, I gotta chuckle outta your "I'm not a seamstress"! Maybe it was a sexiest chuckle.... but for the life of me I don't see you as a sewing kinda guy! :) :)

funny you brought this up today.. just this morning I was asking my daughter about helping take in the legs of some of my jeans.. they're the stretch jean material so they get loose automatically... just think may be I'd feel better with them a little less loose... I have quite a few pair so I hate to get rid of them.. so I'm trying this first... we shall see :)

Maxine, let me know how it works out!

The physcological impact of that number at the back of my shirt is as great or greater than the number on the scale. I am so anxious to be away from 2 and 3x shirts and ne er want to see them again much give them love and attention by manipulating them to stay in my life longer. :)

Actually Becca, I have had to do most my own sewing and a lot of other "non-guy" chores! LOL! Taught the wife how to cook. When we got married she didn't know how to make coffee!

I did alter a few things but there is only so much altering you can do! Most of my clothes I bought while loosing weight was from Salvation Army at the 49cent sales on Saturday or $1 rack at the consignment store I took my too big clothes to. I took alot of my too big clothes to consignment store and have made over $500 on them. What they didn't accept I donated to my local women's domestic violence shelter or salvation army or gave some to co workers or took to my local WLS group support clothing exchange or exchange clothes with fellow WLS group support friends of mine. I still find it hard to buy new clothes after getting such good deals at Salvation Army! I have a $100 Macy gift card in my wallet that I've had for over 6 months and still haven't spent yet! LOL!
I do buy new bra, panties, nighties, shoes and bathing suits but tops and pants/jeans I go to Salvation Army or Consignment store still. I have slowed down on buying stuff since my closet is stuffed and I have bought some new top/bottoms on clearance sales at like Mejer or Kohls with coupons.

I sew and I decided not to alter my clothes. I hated seeing the 3x tags in things and knew that if I could take them in I could let them out again. Maybe it's a mind game but I didn't want that to be an option. I bought mostly at the resale shop until recently. Although i still need to loose about 8 lbs til goal my weight loss has really slowed down so I'm more comfortable spending a little money.

I had a couple things altered but it was expensive (I do not sew) and didn't seem worth it since I shrank out of them a couple weeks later!

I think it is important to have at least 1 outfit that fits you properly as you go down the scale. I went from 30/32 pants down to size 2 pants...and that's a lot of sizes!!! I had stuff in my closet to get me from 30/32 to about 20. After that, I had to buy. Dresses lasted longer than pants but I always had at least 1 pair of jeans that fit me well. Once I got into "regular" sized pants, I had to learn a new way to shop. Almost all jeans have stretch to them now. Honestly, you have to buy them as tight as possible because in 30 minutes, they will stretch out and if you buy them comfortable/what you think fits properly, you will look like you have droopy drawers! Because I had to buy my pants super-tight, I think I skipped either size 14 or 16 all-together. I had a fashionista friend who made me buy a pair of jeans I couldn't even button. I wore them around the house for 30 minutes and then I could button them!

Also, your shape will change, so a cut that looks good on you at one size may not be the right proportions at a smaller size. Oh, and your feet will probably change sizes along the way, too. I made the mistake of stocking up on cute 6 1/2 shoes and that were falling off me 6 months later.

JJ