Shopping, transfer addiction....

I know that feeling...I have a Harley fund jar at home with only $5 bills in it...in 8 months I have accumlated over $400.00....how cool is that! You might want to try it..everytime you get a $5 bill you put it in the jar and don't touch it and see how much you can accumlate for a month...You'd be surprised!

Hell yeah! I love to shop. I looked like crap for close to 20 years! I'm living it up. Damn Straight. Credit Card bills or not. I've gotten rid of almost every fat piece of clothing I owned. I even just gave away this really cool Ralph Lauren blazer that I bought on the way down because it was just too big to take in without recutting the whole thing. For 20 bucks more I just bought one that fit! LOL!

I'm sure I'll ease off once I am used to being this weight and have a full wardrobe. I spent the most on suits, but did some good bargain hunting, but still it adds up!

And yes, the whole damn staff at Men's Wearhouse knows me by site and name!

I love clothes and I love to shop; however, I have an important control in place right now.  I'm at an awkward age (45).  The things I like in size 2-4 that  are chic and age appropriate tend to be very expensive.  Clothes that are less expensive tend to be either too young and hoochie or too matronly for me. I've found this to be a particular problem here in Florida where they cater to retirees and spring breakers.  As a result, my accumulation rate has been slower than it might have been 10 years ago when I wasn't concerned about looking like a skeezie cougar.

I do all my shopping at consignment shops and thrift stores.  I bought a cute pair of size 10 Michael Kors pants today and paid $8. 

Yeah..that's my next stop for clothes. We have Marshall's and Ross here in Texas so that helps alot but I have so noticed the price between regular size clothes and plus size...WOW!!! I could buy 2 dresses for the price of one plus size dress...

I love my sleeve!

So is it weird that I love to shop but I am newly post-op and while I lost quite a bit before surgery I am doing my best to hold off on new clothes. I know I have a higher weight than most so it may take me a while to move through sizes with dropping just a few pounds but I am used to going to Catherines every friggin week and getting a new shirt or something.

I've always grown up hearing and believing that you dress your best at ANY size so I have to say even at my highest I always kept in style and with nice clothes but I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that I am going to be in trouble as I drop in sizes...

I'm already able to wear a 26 dress (from about a 30/32 if not larger before I started losing) and only recently discovered Ashley Stewart and Avenue (WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE!!!).

You're doing a fantastic job!  Hang in there.  Once the sizes start dropping it will be a roller coaster, downhill all the way!

Instead of Target and Fashion Bug, start making the rounds of the consignment shops and Goodwill.  That is my new transfer addiction.  I go on my lunch hour at work just about every day and come home with several items.  i NEVER spend more than $30 (most of the time it is around $5 or so--what I used to spend on lunch) and usually come home with name brand, cute and often, BRAND NEW items at a fraction of the cost.  These clothes have often been washed so are pre-shrunk and if I buy something that I only wear a couple of times, so what?  I probably only paid $2.50 for it anyway.

I have clothes for all seasons including coats (recently bought a $110 Liz Claiborne jacket for $10---still had the tags on it), jeans, dresses, shirts, pajamas, purses (bought a Dooney & Burke for $25 and it looked brand new), skirts, shorts, skorts, work out clothes, sweaters, belts, jewelry, scarves, and on and on......

I make a rule to only buy 1) name brands 2) new or nearly new 3) something different than I already have 4) things I can either wear forever or can resell and 5) items that are on the opposite end of the spectrum from my "fat clothes" (all black, no prints or bright colors, shapeless, grandmother-ish).  I have bright colors, horizontal stripes, patterns (even my pants aren't always solid color), a little bling like metallics and sequins, My 6' x 8' three tier closet is brimming.

After consignment shopping, the stuff in the "regular" stores doesn't appeal to me.  Everytime I look at a price tag (even on sale items), I think "Wow, I bought 3 name brand tops, a pair of jeans and a leather purse for that amount yesterday!"  It's kind of a rush to get the best deal and the most stuff for the least money.

I get compliments all the time now on my new wardrobe.    I don't have the same 7 - 8 outfits that I wear til they fall apart.  I could go 2 -3 weeks without doing laundry and I wouldn't be completely without something to wear. 

The only things I buy new are underwear/bras, swimsuits and shoes.  I have foot problems so I am limited with shoes but I still have more than I ever have before.  The other things--I don't want my naked hoo-ha against material that has been against some stranger's naked hoo-ha.  And since I still wear a size 36 DDD bra, those are hard to find even new.

Amen, sister! It used to be: just buy what fits me cuz that wasn't much! Who cares how it looked because nothing looked very good on me (to me anyway).

But now, holy clothes batman! My closet is bursting! But I love it!

I used to tell my husband that he has more clothes in the closet than me because..well..he did! Guess what...

I'm kicking him out of the closet and taking over!!!