Bariatric clothes shopping

Let go of the old is hard

Getting rid of your old clothes and purchasing new ones is one of the things you have been looking forward to for ages. It is something that you had in mind since you started investigating bariatric surgery, you couldn’t wait till you were able to buy something new, smaller, and cute. Clothes shopping will be finally easy. Yet when the time came up, you were indecisive, sad, and nostalgic and you didn’t want the old to go.

Noooo… I would never do that! Oh, just wait. It happened to a lot of people. Getting rid of your old clothes is something like a rite of passage. You are letting go of your old you and you are slowly becoming someone else. Well, the change had started weeks or even months ago, but you can clearly see it in your clothes. They don’t fit anymore, everything is too large and you don’t feel comfortable in them anymore.

First tangible change

See, this is what I am talking about. It is the very first tangible change. It is happening and you will have to let go of things that were with you for years. It is likely that those jeans that are now almost falling from your hips, were in your closet for a few years. Maybe they were your favorite ones. But not anymore. They are way too big. And if you don’t want to risk a socially not-so-acceptable mishap, you will have to buy yourself a new pair.

But it is unexpectedly hard. You don’t want them tossed away. They made you company for years. But the time is up and it is the highest time to bring something new into your life. Let’s go clothes shopping.

Clothes shopping as a punishment

Ok, I can imagine the panic in your eyes. If you are like me, you hate clothes shopping from the bottom of your heart. Why? Because it is hard to find anything that would fit a little, it all looks weird, the sizes are too small, and you are all sweaty just thinking about trying the things on… Wait! I am talking about the past. It was my old me showing up in my head. Not anymore!

I can’t say I would become a fashion enthusiast, I am very far from that, but all of a sudden clothes shopping became relatively easy. I can pick what I like, not what they have in my size. I can buy what I want, not what I have to stuff my butt into. I can wear patterns and colors, not only black. I even bought my first dress. Yes, after maybe 15 years o am a happy owner of a dress. But not only the owner, I actually wear it!

It is not as hard as you thought

It all started slowly, I didn’t even notice the change at first. But when I couldn’t find anything for myself in the plus size section, it was clear to me, that it was the highest time to move to the “general population” part of the store. And trust me, it was not an easy one. I felt as if I didn’t belong there. I never did. Well, my dear, the time is up, now you are like everybody else. Unbelievable, right?

And trust me, it is a very different experience when you are shopping for size 38 than when you beg God to stuff yourself in the largest available size (48 here in Europe). You can have it all. You can choose what you like. Anything is possible. And you fit in everything. This is something you are not used to and it feels as if you don’t deserve it. I know that this way of thinking is really weird to people who haven’t been there, but it is really like that.

What size am I?

Of course, you deserve it! Enjoy the feeling, and experience the shopping spree! It is the first time in your life when you don’t have to feel ashamed and you can have fun clothes shopping. It is fun, right? But it is also very confusing. What size are you now? Ehm… I have no idea. XL? Will that be large enough? Oh, my! It is way too large. So, L?? No, still too large… I can’t be M! You are, sweetie. It is your new size. Cute, eh? 😉

You are in disbelief. You can trust the sizing of the clothes. There must be a mistake. You still don’t believe it happened. It is here and it is real. Your head is exploding and you have no idea how to process this. The feeling is overwhelming. I know I get it. It happened to me.

Keep the old just in case

But what to do with the old clothes? You have a whole wardrobe of them and they don’t fit anymore. And some of them are brand new. You bought it and then you never wore them. So they were waiting, and now it is too late. They are too large. But they still have the store tag on them… the feeling is… how to describe it? Again, overwhelming. You are elated and excited, but angry and melancholic at the same time.

You want to wear all the new things, but you don’t want to let go of the old ones. And then you hear the little voice at the back of your head: keep them, don’t throw them away, what if you gain all the weight back? … you are mortified. You are starting to doubt yourself, you feel like this is all too good to be true. This cannot last forever. It has never lasted. So why now? See, you are doubting yourself and undermining your willpower and progress.

Change of chip in your head

There is only one thing you can do. KILL THE FATTY IN YOUR HEAD!!! Easier said than done, I know. You have been struggling with the weight forever. Now your dream is coming true, you can buy nice smaller clothes, enjoy wearing them, and look good. Yet your brain keeps playing games with you and tries to convince you that you will eventually fail. Don’t listen to it! It does it out of habit! It is not true! You have come this far and you keep going.

Starting from scratch

Very soon you will understand that surgery is one thing, losing all the weight is a very nice consequence, but rebuilding your whole wardrobe is very expensive and fun. You will have to buy everything. In my case, even socks became weird and not fitting. And shoes… yes, my shoes are now one size smaller. This is something between hilarious and creepy 😀

Have a budget

I have read somewhere that it is a good idea to have a budget. Not only for your supplements (if you have to pay for them), for plastic surgery (should you need it because of the excess skin), for protein shakes (life-bound most likely), but also for a whole new closet. You will be buying things every week. Well, not from the first week, but after a few months you will understand what I am talking about.

You will need everything. From your office clothes, through sports things, something comfy to wear at home, a new jacket, new winter things, then summer things, a swimsuit… all the time there will be something that is missing or so heavily not fitting that you look like wearing an elephant skin. This can be a little frustrating. But great at the same time.

Where to go shopping

People shop a lot in thrift stores – I wish they were more common in Spain, buy things from a supermarket – don’t worry, they also have some reasonable things, or there is always our friend Shein. I know, I don’t say that buying from there is the best idea, I know about the conditions and the quality, but if you need something for a few months just to survive before it is large again, it is a very doable solution. And you can always pass it on to your friends or relatives. It will be practically new.

Letting go…

I remember myself standing in front of my wardrobe with a big plastic bag in front of me and throwing things away. It was exciting and sad at the same time. I had clothes that I had bought in other parts of the world where I had lived before, so it was like saying goodbye to my memories as well. I felt a horrible pang of nostalgia. I didn’t want to let them all go. But it was the highest time.

My new me was emerging and I needed to keep up. It was harder than I thought. And taking the bag with it and pushing it out of the door, was a tough one. But the time was right and I needed to do that. I am glad I allowed myself to do that. It felt like closing one chapter of my life and starting a completely new book.

Souvenir from my past

I still have one old jeans I used to wear all the time, and also one bra. I knew I was big and had big boobs. But seeing it from today’s perspective, it is somewhat confusing and embarrassing. Like… THIS big??? I kept these two things as a reminder. To know where I am coming from and where I never want to return. I have it folded deep in my closet and I see it only when I am doing my deep cleaning. It works like a great source of motivation to keep eating right. The very last thing I want is to have to take that out and start to wear it again…

How was your clothes shopping and changing of clothes? Where did you buy your new stuff? Was it easy to let it all go? I was so emotional while doing that all 🙂