Do you keep clothes that no longer fit?

[lucky penny]

I've lost weight this year because I changed the way I eat & exercise more in an effort to lower cholesterol (& it's working!). My clothes now fit very loosely. I bought some pants in a smaller size that fit well & I don't really like wearing the ones that feel baggy. I also found some items in the back of my closet that I haven't worn for years because they were too small, but they fit nicely now.

How long have you kept too-big clothes after you've lost weight? Or too-small clothes that no longer fit?

My closet space is limited. I've read that most of the time most people wear only about 10% of what's in their closets.

 

[Jerry1]

I’ll keep one size in either direction. My weight hasn’t changed much since I lost a bunch of weight all at once, but I have a couple things that are more comfortable (fit loose) that I keep around, but seriously, I’m not going to drop another 10/15 pounds any time soon so I don’t have anything I could shrink into and I will only keep one size larger because that’s my limit. If I gain enough to need those cloths, it would be time for serious weight control.

 

[Dawg52]

I have some items I can wear if I lose 10lbs. So yes I keep a size smaller. I can't think of anything too big. Ha.

 

[Rianne]

Absolutely! My weight has fluctuated and I weigh less than I have in years. I"m so glad I saved clothes, honestly, the fashions just roll around every few years and old clothes are in fashion. My faded, ripped jeans, baggy sweatpants, skirts and dresses that fit great now. I'm so glad I saved them.

And I will save my fat clothes for and if I get fat again. :}}

 

[athena53]

I like the one size up/down idea. I've lost weight over the years (deliberately) and baggy clothes aren't flattering. I don't want to be that weight again so I donate them.

 

[MBAustin]

For most of my clothes, I follow the "if I haven't worn it in a year, it goes" rule. Exceptions are very dressy clothes (I don't have many but sometimes will go more than a year without an occasion to wear them) and some winter clothes (if I don't travel up north in the winter, I often don't wear the few that I have).

 

[friar1610]

My weight fluctuates 10-12 pounds in either direction. (Unfortunately it's been in the + direction recently! �&#56874 It mainly shows up in my waist so I keep slacks/jeans in different sizes, an inch or maybe 2 in either direction. i also find comfort waist chinos to be a great invention.

 

[W2R]

For most of my clothes, I follow the "if I haven't worn it in a year, it goes" rule.

This is what I need to do!!! Although I got rid of my expensive clothing for formal work meetings right after I retired, I still have my casual work clothing. This is my 9th year of retirement and some of it I haven't even worn since the day I retired.

I can see a massive decluttering in my future....

As for clothing that doesn't fit, well, I should care that it doesn't exactly fit but I really don't. Besides, oversized clothing feels cooler to me in our hot New Orleans summers.

 

[scrabbler1]

Yes, and it's a good thing I did. When I had my health issues 3 years ago, I was in the hospital for 12 days. When I got out, I had dropped about 20-25 pounds. Some pants I couldn't fit into going back about a year I could fit into again, while the newer, wider ones I put away. I have gained some of the weight back but can still wear the older pants. And some of the shirts which weren't fitting me very well now fit me fine again, even with the small weight gain.


That being said, I did a major purge of old clothes last December, stuff I hadn't worn in at least 10 years, donating it to charity while I could still take the tax deduction. It was mainly shirts, as the pants which weren't close to fitting me any more I had gotten rid of during the last purge about 10 years ago. I have limited closet space in my small apartment, so I recouped some of that space.

 

[MRG]

We got rid of things that were too far out of size. I was wearing 38" relaxed fit when I w*rked, today I'm 32" regular. DW went from size 14 to 4, not much fit her.

I wish I'd have kept one dress shirt with a 18" neck. There was a time when that was too tight. When I put it on after losing 55 pounds I could button the collar and stick my hand out of the neck!

 

[youbet]

I recently (since last Sept) lost 50# and 6 inches off my waist. I took the larger clothes that I was never that fond of over to Goodwill. The larger clothes that I liked, I put into a storage tote and parked in the basement with an inventory list taped to the lid. In two years, whatever is left in the storage tote (hopefully everything!) will go to Goodwill.

I'm doing it this way because I know if I left the larger stuff in the closet, I'd avoid the chore of packing it up and it would be there forever. This way, it's already all packed up and when I'm comfortable the weight isn't going back up, just grab the storage tote and drop it off right down the street.

If I had a storage problem (no room for even one or two storage totes), I'd just get rid of it all now.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I've lost 30# since ER, doing nothing special except not working. Many of my clothes are fitting quite loosely. I'm still wearing the too-big shirts but too-big pants don't work so well. I don't want to buy too many pairs of intermediate sizes, as I hope to continue losing inches from my belly, so I'm wearing some that are really a bit big, and cinching up the belt.

I'm donating all that I can as I don't want to have any "fat pants" around that might lead me to do nothing when I gain some weight back. I had a bunch of work khakis that I've donated since I don't really have a need for so many pairs. Some I had never worn and still had tags on them. I hope someone less fortunate can get some good use out of them.

 

[mystang52]

Some 20 years ago I took off a lot of weight through diet and exercise (mainly, running). I knew that I would keep this new lifestyle, so as clothes became too big I got rid of them. It may also be a bit of an incentive, to maintain the new diet/exercise, knowing you don't have clothes to accommodate a weight gain.

 

[Red Badger]

Another "big loser" here. I lost a couple tons (40+ pounds @ 5'8") in 2012/13. I held on to my fat guy clothes until I retired about a year ago. When I was loading the corporate wardrobe (lots of slacks and dress shirts) in the car headed for Goodwill, I added the all the lardo large stuff (both corporate battle rattle and jeans, casual stuff).

Very glad to be rid of all of it.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

No, if you shop at Ross "Dress Like a Mess" you do not need to.

 

[grasshopper]

Years ago I vowed to never by shoes under size 11 because if I did they would be uncomfortable. I lost 40 lbs on a health scare and can wear 34 waist, but I don't it is 36 baggy and XLarge shirt size for me. Ms G hates it and I have maintained 165 lbs for over 5 years. I mean who am I trying to look good for, the UPS or Fed-Ex drivers. By the way I still wear cargo pants much to the dislike of Ms G.

 

[Nightcap]

I’ve lost about a hundred pounds since last year. My suits, which I had no use for anyway (I don’t need to worry about what I’ll be buried in, that’s someone else’s problem), went to the dry cleaners and thence to the thrift shop.

I figure I have another 10-20 pounds to go. I have one pair of pants that’s a size too small and a couple pair that are too large, that’s it. Everything else has been donated or discarded.

 

[Ronstar]

I keep pants and shirts that no longer fit because past history shows that they will fit again some day. But I am fluctuating less now than in my working days, so maybe I can get rid of my fat clothes.

 

[Freedom56]

Our weights have been stable for many years. We normally donate clothes that we no longer want but are in good condition to charity about once per year.

 

[Katsmeow]

I lost about 65 pounds. I got rid of a big pile of my too large clothes when I had lost about 50 pounds or so. When I lost another 15 pounds I got rid of the rest. A couple of years ago I had a tummy tuck which made a very small difference in weight (this was to remove loose skin and was not a method of weight loss) but made a big difference in size of some clothes. I got rid of the clothes that didn't fit.

I have kept a very few things that were large on me. Mostly something where I didn't have much and could use something a bit larger just to knock around the house.

A big part of this is that I didn't want to make it too easy to gain weight and slide back into larger sizes. Right now I am up about 10 pounds (the last few months have been brutal what with selling one house, moving, buying a new house while interspersed with the illness and death of my mother). One thing that has really helped in keeping me at maintenance the last 2 months is realizing that if I gain any more weight I will have to go buy new clothes! Right now, I can still wear most of my clothes but they are getting a little snug. I refuse to have to buy a larger size. So, that has been motivating to me in keeping watch on what I eat so I don't gain any more during this stressful time.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I am also in the process of changing my diet to hopefully achieve, finally, permanent wgt loss. I tend to keep clothes and wear them until they literally start falling apart. So, i have a drawer full of jeans that are size 10 (my ultimate goal for my rather large frame female body) from yrs ago. Also have several size 12 and 14 in another drawer. Have lost enough wgt now that can now fit into some of these and am glad I kept them. Also have several blouses and a few dresses hanging in closet that I hope to soon be able to wear again.

Will I throw out or give away the size 16 and 18 stuff, those that are not too raggedy at least? Have not decided yet. perhaps if i can keep the wgt off for say a yr or two i will.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I lost 40 lbs and donated all the clothes. I have maintained this weight for the past 3 years.

 

[Moemg]

I lost 40 pounds and donated my clothes and bought a new wardrobe .I have maintained the weight loss for eight years .

 

[Nemo2]

Having read this thread I dug into my 'souvenir clothes'.....found this old T-shirt from 35 years ago, (about the time I ran my one and only marathon)....the body's aged, but....