Need to always have clothes that actually fit you? Weight loss surgery might not be for you.
I hate clothes shopping.
Always have.
Least favourite thing to do in the world.
I would much rather spend my afternoons scrubbing the bathroom and cleaning up the dogs poop than willingly submit to a clothes shopping trip.
My primary means of buying clothes prior to surgery was either , grudgingly try on some things in stores until I found something that fit and that didn’t completely offend my sensibilities if I was to see myself in it…then buy multiples of it in several colours, or order stuff offline with the vague hope that it would fit. If it didn’t I would sometimes remember to send it back, if not…would sit in my wardrobe until I remembered to donate it. My other alternative was to wander into a store like Kmart, pick up something I assumed I liked, guessed would fit and then just buy it. A very scientific process.
There was a reason I tended to stick to a relatively minimalist capsule wardrobe. One of those was that i just genuinely like the idea of it and I hate excess, and the other was that once i found something that fit me, was comfortable and looked okish, fitting my my “aesthetic” I stuck it it.
Clothes shopping was just the bane of my existence. Handbag shopping though, that I could always get excited for, least of all because no matter how big my butt got, i would always fit a handbag.
So with my lackadaisical approach to clothes shopping I had a lot of clothes hiding away in the back of my closet that did not fit me in the slightest prior to surgery. There were several pairs of jeans, some of which didn’t even make it past my huge jumbo thighs, black dress pants that hugged so tight it left me with the most epic of camel toes, dresses that clung to my body in a way that made me look at least 6 months pregnant (burrito baby obviously) and a couple of fabulous graphic Star Wars tees that when I wore them Chewy’s face look like a Picasso painting with none of his facial features where they should be.
Going into surgery I was well aware of the fact that weight loss happens reasonably quickly so I might need to get a few pieces of clothing here and there, but my thought was “I’ll be fine…I have heaps of old things that don’t fit me yet to tide me over.”
So…point 1 about that. I lost weight a hell of a lot quicker than I was expecting to. My jeans that had been pretty darn snug, were getting loose within a three to four weeks. A lot quicker than I was expecting.
Within a week after that I had moved down into a pair of jeans that had always been uncomfortably tight, to the point of needing to lie down on the bed to try and zip up and if I wore them in the office it was a stand up desk only. After that I had a couple of pairs of old jeans I had never worn but when I pulled them out and actually tried them on they just looked sooooooo dated. No way was I wearing those in public.
Slowly everything I owned was getting too big. Pants and jeans could be pulled down without out even being undone, all of my tops were hanging off me loosely and hiding any shape I was uncovering in my body, and this great jacket I had custom made for me in Singapore now makes me look like a little kid playing dress up in my parents wardrobe.
Four weeks ago I had this pants altered and taken in so they were back to being very tightly fitting. Another pair for the discard pile now.
What I’m quickly finding is that during the first year following surgery, you just will not have clothes that fit you perfectly. They will either be too big, or if you buy new clothes the smart thing to do is to buy them just a little bit too tight because within a week, week and a half tops, they will fit perfectly. A week or so after that and you’ll fit they too will start getting loose.
I’m not normally a fan of the whole idea of “fast fashion”. Like I said occasionally I’ll wander into Kmart and pick up a random item, usually just some tops for the gym, but the whole concept of mass produced, disposable clothing, usually made in less than suitable working conditions doesn’t do it for me. But as much as it pains me, right now I have no choice.
Quite a few items of clothes have just be churned through. My favourite pair of pyjama bottoms I refuse to give up are currently (as I type this) are held up by a hair tie.
I’ve been rocking the Kmart undies as well because that is one of the first things you find start getting way too loose and since no one like droopy undies, make sure to keep yourself stocked.
i’m sure there are people out there that love shopping and fashion so much that they will happily spend the time shopping up a storm to always have clothes that fit well regardless of where they are at post surgery, but it’s just not me.
The one piece of advice I would offer, regardless to whether you are a fashion diva or a fashion no hoper is factor in an additional cost for clothes shopping when you are working out your surgery budget. It will surprise you how quickly you go through clothes, and will need more than you think during your first year. IN my head I had it planned out that I wouldn’t need much at all, but when I got to a year post surgery I would go and do a massive shop and basically just buy a new wardrobe, the reality though is that unless I want to resemble a bag lady, a few key pieces here and there along the way just might be whats needed.
