Do You Have “Skinny” Clothes in Your Closet?

I think you have the right idea–save a few pairs, but get rid of a bunch. I don’t like shopping either, so there’s no point selling now to buy back later, but there’s no reason to hang onto that many clothing items–particularly since you’re getting by on far less right now!

(And, yep, stonewashed jeans will come back…)

Stonewashed jeans are bad. Get over them. They should not come back, and even if they do, you shouldn’t wear them.

You should buy quality clothes to fit your body now, not clothes that you can’t wear because you might fit into them some day. By the time that “some day” rolls around, whatever it is will be out of style anyway. I know that you say that you’re not “into being in style,” but I’m assuming you want to look good, right? Wearing jeans that are years out of style will not make the best of the svelte you that you will be. Treat yourself to new size 12s when you get there.

I’m debating getting rid of a LOT of clothing too. I have size 12 clothes (mostly jeans/shorts) and haven’t worn them in about six years. I’m with Stacy - get rid of all of them and treat yourself to something new when the time comes!

[...] was just reading over at Blogging Away Fat about saving smaller sized clothes - huge eye opener for me! I still have clothes (mostly jeans or jean shorts) that I wore years ago. [...]

As a first step, I would stop making purchases for future body sizes. I also do that, and it never works out - either I don’t end up losing weight (and then have extra junk clogging up my house) or the clothing is outdated and out of style by the time I can wear it. As a way to de-clutter my life, I now try to just by what I need right in the present day.

As for your present situation, I would try to balance your desire to be frugal and pay off debt with the worthy goal of de-cluttering your life and your home. Maybe keep two pairs of size 12 pants and get rid of the rest. And while you are between sizes, just wear the bigger size and have it be baggy as a way to save money.

On the other hand, I know people (like my mom) who have saved clothing in sizes they used to wear twenty and thirty years ago. It’s psychologically hard to let the stuff go because it’s a way of having to admit that you might not reach that smaller size again. But, I think it’s healthy to purge the junk. On a related issue, a lot of weight loss efforts suggest getting rid of clothing in larger sizes as soon as you lose the weight. It’s a way to make your overall life lighter and to force you to make a firm commitment to not regaining the weight. I’ve also had a hard time with this, because I like to keep some of the bigger stuff around so I don’t have to repurchase it if I gain weight back again. This also reveals a faulty mindset…both too much junk in my closet and a mental attitude that gives myself permission in a sense to regain the weight.

So many issues that this brings out! Ugh!

My small clothes were all in the garage. Just recently, someone broke into my garage and ….STOLE
all the small sizes!. (only in LA) Now,with the clothes gone, I actually have been losing weight.
Strange I know but I was psychologically tied to those clothes! (We have now barred the garage window) ugh!

Hey Tricia, I just found your blog and congratulations on the 13.5 pounds gone. I know it can seem like it’s not that high a number considering the goals, but when I finally started trying to lose weight I read to make 20 pounds the maximum goal and then reset when you make that. (The reason being of course is that any more than that can seem impossible!)

I think with the clothes thing that the only reason I hated shopping for clothes was I hated my body in the clothes. (I hate shopping for all other things, too.)
But when I was shopping for 12’s instead of 18’s, it was a whole lot more fun. Buying 8s was a simply awesome time–and since I shop at thrift stores, cheap and plentiful, because people who wear smaller sizes seem to cycle through a lot of clothes. (See above “fun” factor.)

I recently slept through the last six months and regained 25 pounds, but the real wake up call came when my jeans wouldn’t fit. I had dumped all my jeans as I outshrank them, so there were no fatter sizes to switch to. I think I regained more unawares because I never bought the smaller sizes out of fear that there was no leeway with those.

No more. I only have clothes in the size that fits me, and when I lose a size, the bigger ones are leaving the house immediately so there’s no breathing room for regaining.

Same theory for new clothes; don’t save the other ones, they’re a monument to defeat, i think. When you make each new size, get new ones; a number on a scale doesn’t give the satisfaction of new jeans from the thrift store. If you go that route, it’s totally affordable and I firmly believe that kind of accomplishment deserves a separate reward.

In fact, I’m going and throwing out all my too small clothes right now–they’re a failure symbol, not a success symbol–since I have to start over now. I’ll need new rewards myself.

Keep it up, i’m going to read all your other entries.
Melanie

I have to warn against throwing away clothes that don’t fit … I threw away all my “skinny” clothes figuring, if I ever got thin again, I would reward myself with new clothes.

Well, I did become skinny again, but it turns out I didn’t simultaneously become rich! So for the longest time I had to wear clothes that were too baggy on me because I couldn’t afford a whole new wardrobe. I have kicked myself many times for not keeping the “skinny” clothes.

After 8 years of making myself miserable looking at ’skinny’ clothes in my closet I decided I had to get rid of them.

I’ve lost some weight and my clothes are too big on my but it’s still better than having all those skinny clothes looking at me and making me feel even worse about myself.

So in my opinion getting rid of my skinny clothes was the best thing I did! As I loose more weight I’ll check the second hand shops & garage sales for clothes.