New clothes

I put off getting new clothes for a long time after losing the majority of my weight. Every time I've dropped a size, I've gotten a new pair of jeans and that's it. I didn't want to waste money on clothes when it was probable that they'd be obsolete in a couple of months.

Thankfully, I was one of those people who never threw away her "skinny clothes" after getting fat. Not that my skinny clothes were all that skinny- I think the smallest was a size 14- but this is still way smaller than a size 26, which is what I wore before. So, up until now, I've been digging out old clothing that used to fit. Most of it was wearable, but still very out of style.

I recently started getting comments like "You need some new clothes!" so I figured it was about time to brave the mall.

I'm a jeans-and-a-t-shirt kind of girl who works in a business casual environment. I don't like to put a lot of thought into my outfits, nor do I care about being trendy. When it came time for me to brave the clothing stores, I was actually nervous. What if they didn't have anything that fit me? Yes, this is a thought that still goes through my head after losing 97 pounds.

As I wandered through all the "normal people" stores, it occurred to me that I had no idea what my style is. Let's face it- if you're a fat girl, you probably shop at Lane Bryant or Catherine's or Dress Barn. All of these places seem to think fat women LOVE bedazzled shirts. They think we're all cat people. They think we're all Dorothy Zbornak from The Golden Girls. Not so! However, when presented with such a limited number of clothing choices available in one's size, you're pretty much stuck with what you get. It's sad but true.

Now that I can walk into most stores and find something that fits me, I still don't know what looks good. I brought Angie with me to get a second opinion. The other night, we went into a store called Anthropologie. This is a store I used to frequent in my fatter days, but I stuck to the side of the store dedicated to cute household items and dishes. This time, I went to the clothing side. I saw a pair of Bermuda-style shorts that looked fun:

Let it be known I haven't worn shorts in public since I was about 13 years old, so just the act of trying these things on was a miracle. I picked a size 12 off the rack, convinced they wouldn't fit. I went back to a fitting room and they slipped on like a glove. Not only that, but they looked cute. I would be proud to wear these in public, after applying a little self-tanning lotion, that is. I was ready to make them my first non-jeans clothing purchase when- d'oh!- I saw the price tag. $78! No way. Not for shorts. I'm not made of money, people.

Even though I didn't buy them, the experience made me less apprehensive about shopping for new clothes. We went to the Gap next, where I bought two pairs of pants for work. One pair was khaki and the other is sort of a chocolate color. Then we hit the sales rack at Dillard's. There I bought two sweaters, a cute button-up shirt, and a pair of capri pants.

For the first time in years, I came home feeling elated about my purchases, rather than defeated. Shopping for clothes is- gulp- fun. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. I had a good time. Also, it helped me come to the realization that I'm comfortable wearing shorts again, and I can't stress how big of a deal that is. Woot woot!