Losing weight is a grand thing. Who doesn't want to become slimmer as they grow healthier? However, what in the world do you wear to work when you're busy hitching your britches up every time you turn around? Here are some ideas to help in the middle of weight loss and you just don't want to shop (or don't have the budget, like me).
1. A good belt
A few weeks back, I hit my goal weight. Yes, I had a different goal weight than my doctor because I had never seen myself weigh less than this one number my entire adults years (not to mention teenage years). He originally told my mother and I we'd be hitting our highschool weight. Well, I just passed my high school weight. He then told me a goal-weight 30 pounds under my goal. I didn't believe him and told him as such. Well, guess who won? I went past my goal by a few pounds already (just a few pounds, but my body isn't settling at my goal weight, it's still moving and I got to let it find it's happy place). That's what a healthy thyroid does? Maybe I've never really had mine working at prime levels.
Yesterday, I noticed I was hitching my favorite "goal size" jeans up way too often. I had just washed them, so that made me slouch my shoulders in defeat. Really? My favorite pair? They're about to go into the "can't wear anymore" category? Figures. I cinched my belt and realized the back band of the jeans was either folding or sagging below the belt. No matter! The lovely Harley Quinn belt my husband bought me covers me up in a ladylike way and it'll get me through until another good payday when those jeans just can't be worn anymore (like that one time I still wore jeans 2-sizes too big and I was chasing the cat that escaped our home (he likes the outdoors, I don't like the fleas) and I was starting to flash the neighbors...it was time to retire those jeans; can't have that happening again with this pair).
I have seen some people rock a belt around a loose dress. It's another option for those who've outgrown their dresses, but can make the dress go further without it being a verifiable tent. One good wind and you're a kite floating in the sky like Mary Poppins otherwise.
2. Undergarments
UNDIES
The only thing worse that hitching up your pants while you're doing anything is hitching up your underwear. I start panicking thinking "I can't do this in a classroom!" And thus, the very next payday, I get myself a package or two (honestly, I'm here again and I'm waiting on payday).
BRA
For those of us who need them, a new bra during weight transitions is rather important. You look better in the clothes you do have with the right size bra, and I personally feel like it's important to not feel like I'm about to expose myself because of loose fitting underpinnings. I order online, myself, because I know my favorite store and their products. I just take out my measuring tape and figure out what I need to order. Some sites include "bra fitting" quizzes for you. That greatly helped me with my last purchase when I had to go down a size (do I go down just the band size? how does the cup change?). Those questions do matter greatly with fit. Bras are made proportionally and proportions are a tricky math concept. Don't believe me, this graphic from Pinterest really gets the point across. Sometimes, you just need help with a new fitting.
3. Tailoring
I realize not everyone knows how to sew, but if you do (or know someone who does, bribery can work...maybe make some sugar-free brownies), it's a cheap "in-the-meantime" alternative. What Not to Wear Stacey London and Clinton Kelly often repeated how tailoring was the main secret that made each participant look the way they did (so they paid a professional, and you can too). I'm not going to give tips on tailoring here. That'd be it's own novelette. By all means, google alteration videos on YouTube. Here's one for taking in with and without a zipper. I've gotten more than one good sewing trick from YouTube videos. I even learned how to make palazzo pants using an old pair of leggings, and I'll be doing that before school starts. The point is, you can alter the clothes you have so that you don't have to go shopping right now, and you don't have to waste money on clothes you'll probably outgrow (or is that undergrow?).
4. Sewing
For those of us who are in competition with each other for owning the most fabric (as my sister says, "She who dies with the most fabric, wins!"), sewing is a great answer to my clothing dilemma. I made myself several dresses over Christmas break. Now, I've shrunk in them just enough that I need to do #3 with them because they'd be a little too revealing at the neckline and I'm a teacher, so that's a no-go. The dresses are "poofing" above my shoulders if it's cotton (and drooping too low if it's knit). Part of that is my high-waist and the other part is my short stature. I'm going to have to undo the shoulder seams and take it in there (believe me, that's gonna be fun because the shoulder seam is the first seam you sew and from there, it becomes difficult to reach. For example, I can alter the sleeveless dresses easily enough, but those wrap dresses with sleeves? I have to undo the sleeves completely, trim them to fit, and then resew the shoulder seam and then the sleeve seams as well). Do you see why I'm avoiding that?
I am presently enjoying a sewing session where I've cut out 3 fabrics (two with linings) from the same pattern. Most patterns have Choice A or Choice B and I've taken advantage of that for variety. My sister also gave me a knit navy fabric which I plan on using with an altered wrap-dress pattern I already have, but reduce it for 2 sizes smaller. If I can't alter the pattern itself, I will repurchase the pattern. You can wear a dress that's one size too big, but when it's two sizes too big and with my small body frame, we're - again - discovering a modesty issue.
Truth be told those palazzo pants I made myself last school year (thanks Mom for all those silky knits!), they still fit because knits stretch. There's only one pair I felt would dangerously expose flesh, but because it's knit, the band was extremely easy to alter one morning before school. They ended being a great long-term weight-loss clothing item and I didn't spend $60 on them. At the time that's all I could find palazzo pants for and I'm a teacher and a mother of three, I don't own clothes that cost that much! Not unless I got it on sale and that's the original price and I got a 50% or more deal.
5. Dresses
I'm not always happy with shaving my legs either, but there are those maxi dresses! My trick is to shave on Sunday night and I can get away with two days of knee-length dress wearing before I'm entering "the students will notice" zone (and they notice, they may not comment that you need a pedicure, but they notice). Then it's onto maxi dresses and my favorite day of the week: jeans day! Dresses provide a great weight-loss option. You look like you took time to get all gussied up, but you really didn't. Plus, you don't have to fight anything to stay where it's supposed to (unless you haven't taken care of an item in #2). It's one of my easiest tricks for work-wear.
6. ThredUp & Resale Shops
I got a bit addicted to ThredUp this summer. If you don't mind resale, this is an easier way than visiting a thrift store yourself and spending hours scouring each aisle. I'm not too proud to shop resale, but I don't have time (or the attention span with 3 children in tow) to scour aisle by aisle. America has a surplus of clothes and we have more than what we need and/or want. I have to look like a professional and I have a small frame. If I stay in clothes that billow around me like a tent, I'll look like a kid playing dress up in her mother's clothes (yes, yes, it's a blessing to not look my age, but it's frustrating to meet up with people who want to either take advantage of me, or don't take me seriously when I have a masters and I'm probably smarter than them). For those reasons, I take how I dress seriously. I want to get certain things accomplished and how you dress helps you get past people's first (perhaps wrong) impressions and show who you really are. It's a time saver (and I hate wasting time).
Years back, I participated in a TEA textbook panel in Austin. The premise was I had to grade a textbook and tell the publishers how lousy it was, and where to fix it. I had a team at my table and I quickly made friends with a woman named Stacey. We became gym-buddies and took our meals together, which is rather nice when you're in town alone for an entire week. She took me to the finest Goodwill I had ever been in (she was from Houston). I found some fantastic professional wear there, but I don't live in a big city where our store has those kinds of options (and the Austin store had a more TJ Maxx appearance). I found some great items, but I don't get to shop like that often.
With ThredUp, I can. This summer, I had a 40% coupon for being a first-time customer. For approximately $125 (includes tax), I purchased 11 work-worthy items, and a number of those included BCGC Max Azaria (I adore the classic cuts, can't afford the original $120 price tag)...but I own some now! Thanks to ThredUp.
7. Know Store Sale Seasons
Summer is one of the very best times to shop for clothes. You'll find 40-70% off sales now because stores are trying to clear out their shelves for fall fashion. This is my favorite time of year to shop. I've spent all my money on school supplies and birthdays (two this month, aw, but my little girls were so happy with their birthdays), so I can't partake in the sales I keep seeing.
My favorite undergarment store has several sale seasons (ok, it's Victoria's Secret, but shh!). They have great summer sales (that I'm missing, ones that would take care of my undies issue), but they have a good after-Christmas sale, too. I bought some cowl-neck sweaters in January. They are beyond super flattering and normally cost $60+ because they're cashmere mix (I know, my Mom always told me I had champagne taste on a beer budget). I got them for over 50% off and just danced myself silly. I always get compliments when I wear them. They are designed to be oversized (so weight loss doesn't affect their wearability) but the trick is that the cowl-neck and wrists showcase delicate parts of any woman (neck, collar bone, wrists) and put a focus on your face (wear some pearls, hair in a chignon, and fresh-looking makeup and you're looked tres chic in the most comfortable clothes ever!). I'd wear them with leggings and knee-high boots and be thoroughly warm. I'm short, so leggings in those sweaters covered everything (may not work for my tall friends, sorry). When it came to recess, I'd take that oversized cowl-neck (that could be around the shoulders, too) and use it as a hoodie outside. I love those sweaters. I'd be so warm and so fashionista. Best part of all was the sale! Well, that and the kids were always pleased to see me so dressed up. If I cared that much about dressing up for teaching them, well, they were that special because that's how serious I took my job of teaching them.
It's worth keeping track of your favorite store's sales because when you know they're coming up, you put money aside the months prior and then jump when the time is right. In fact, after school starts, you'll find some after-school sales. I will be jumping on some uniform sales then, lemme tell ya, and Walmart glue is $0.16! (or it was last year).
8. Know Your Body
Being that I am a seamstress at heart, I have gotten excellent at measuring my body parts and reading a site's size chart and ordering clothes online. I've also watched What Not To Wear until I drove everyone nuts (just let me take you shopping just once and I can find the BEST outfit for your body type, just ask Ruthie, my sister, I felt she didn't believe me, she was going for basic black for a special church event and I found this suede tan-colored skirt with attractive seamings and a teal shirt. She looked fantastic!). Thus, I've trained myself to look at outfits and go, "That'd look good on me, I'm short-waisted and I'll look hour-glass in that."
I have met up with one unexpected dilemma with my changing body. This summer, I found a New York & Company 50% off sale while at a Houston conference (you seeing my shopping trends here? I shop for clothes when I'm away at a conference). I picked up a shirt I knew would flatter me...well, it would have flattered me before. I just didn't know it yet. It was a silky jersey that's good at showing you're a lady and you got curves but it leaves a lot to the imagination so you're tricking the eye to think you have less rolls than you actually do because it doesn't hug your rolls at all, nor make you look like a sausage. The shirt itself had an elastic hem, so the hem meets at your hips, so the shirt itself billows a bit.
I loved those shirts when I was bigger because it hid a gut...well, I don't have a gut now (take out yeast and carbs, and that swollen gut disappears). I'm just short enough that the shirt makes me appear to have a gut or be slightly pregnant. I hadn't anticipated that I'd have to alter some of my fashion choices. I thought I knew what my body looked good in, but my body's changed. I don't need to camouflage as much (except for the c-section tummy, which I can't help but be thankful for, two of my girls are here because of that medical miracle; 100 years ago and we'd loose me and the baby, ya know?). Plus, I have to admit a new size. I'll put on a shirt and think "it's too big, but I wear this size now" and what it comes down to is I can't wrap my mind around wearing a smaller size because I've never worn that size since probably junior high (i.e. I don't remember when).
The moral of the story is this: as your body changes, you will have to learn new things about it. You'll have to experiment on what does and doesn't look good. I know, I know, I don't have time for that either. I'm sticking with empire-waist dress patterns because I know I'm short-waisted and no matter what, my natural waist will be show-cased and it'll trick the eye (I'm ever the artist) into thinking I have an hour-glass figure. Besides, those dresses don't showcase my post-pregnancy stomach (and there's no shame in that stomach! I just don't think anyone needs to see every bit of me) and just give the illusion of an hour-glass figure. Add a cardigan or structured jacket (found a great deal on one at ThredUp) and the artistic illusion of slimness is perfected.
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