Intro and request for advice

[dac]

Hi everyone. I usually lurk more on the Home & Garden board, but lately I've been lurking and reading here. .

I would really appreciate your help and advice. In the past few months I finally lost about 20 pounds that have dogged me for several years. Admittedly, when I was at my heaviest I didn't pay that much attention to fashion and didn't feel like I looked good in anything. Now I'm having a lot of fun reading this board and seeing the great outfits you all put together!

Here's the issue-- while it's really fun to be able to buy some new things in smaller sizes, I can't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe and I'm wondering if I can or should wear some of the things that I've hung onto for several years "just in case" I could ever fit in them again. I work in a conservative environment and always bought fairly classic suits for work from places like Talbots or comparable places. Now I feel like I don't know if they look okay or if they look too dated (wish I could post pics, but I don't know how). They have short jackets and reasonable shoulder pads ( not 80's). One has kind of wide leg pants and others are more regular trouser leg.

What is your opinion of that style? It seems that new suits also have little shoulder pads but it can be a fine line between fine and dated. Any advice on how to tell the difference?

Thank you!

[futurepivko]

First, welcome and congrats on the weight loss!

Second, I don't think you should hold onto anything that's too big for you "just in case". I think you should go forward with your new accomplishments.

Try to get some new pieces and mix them in with the old pieces. Add jewelry and scarves as well.

Start slow and work your way up. What kind of outfits have you seen on here that you have liked?

[xokell2]

Yay, congrats on the weight loss. Thats a huge accomplishment! I agrss with future that classic basics can be updated with jewelry, scarves, shirts or shells under those blazers, and shoes.

I'm a horrible offender of keeping my different sized clothes because i always seem to fluctuate 10 lbs or so.

[xokell2]

ps. but it is tough to determine if something is classic vs dated with out pics. Most suits I see tend to be very classic. What cut are the pants? Are the jackets tailored?

[fashionx]

Congrats on the weight loss!

You may want to also look into tailoring some of your suits/jackets to fit your new figure, it will likely be cheaper than buying a new suit, and you'll look and feel great.

To post photos, you can upload to photo bucket or tinypic.com, and just put [.IMG] before and [./IMG] after the url (remove the "." in those for it to work). I know for tinypic.com it'll give you the whole code including the IMG stuff so it's even easier.

[dac]

Thanks! Yes, the jackets are tailored. They are short and go in at the waist. The pants are definitely a lot wider than the pants I see on J Crew, but my legs aren't slender enough for that cut anyway. Wish they were!

[dac]

Oh, and I didn't mean to ignore the question about which outfits I've seen here that I liked. A lot of them are really cute, but too casual for my office, unfortunately, or probably not the most appropriate for my age (mid-40s). If anyone has pictures of outfits where they've jazzed up suits or pant suits, I'd love to see them!

[tarheels]

Aug 13, 2012 21:32:02 GMT -5 xokell2 said:

Yay, congrats on the weight loss. Thats a huge accomplishment! I agrss with future that classic basics can be updated with jewelry, scarves, shirts or shells under those blazers, and shoes.

I'm a horrible offender of keeping my different sized clothes because i always seem to fluctuate 10 lbs or so.

This is me too. For people whose weight goes up and down, it's foolish to throw out classics like pencil skirts just because you're in a skinny period.

My work trousers are always wide leg (straight down from the thigh, my widest point) no matter what the style is because that's what looks good on my figure.

I think you may run into trouble with the jackets. Silhouettes are trending longer, like 90s longer (surprising to me), but mid-hip is always a classic length. If they're closer up to your waist, they're probably outdated. Lapel width, too, can be a give-away, so examine them with a close eye.

I'd say the one thing to watch for is that you can blend in older pieces so long as they're updated in all other areas. For me, the glaring error that makes them not work is outdated shoes and accessories. Make sure you have new shoes! I worked with someone recently who was sporting suits from the early 2000s with early 2000s shoes with early 2000s earrings - she very much had that, "I spent good money on this 12 years ago and I want to get my money's worth!" look going. Check out the jewelry at AT, Talbot's and make sure what you're wearing looks like that.

Oh, and since you mentioned Talbot's... I don't know how long you've been out of the fashion loop, but if you've received their most recent catalog, order with care. They have some fabulous things, and they have some things they've pulled out of the Granny Vault to reissue, particularly in shoes. Talbot's is doing very poorly in business right now, teetering on the edge of going under, and they're trying to walk a fine line of catering to the younger, hipper Ann Taylor crowd and the jumpers and reindeer sweaters crowd they used to sell to. I think, for their business model, and most importantly for trying to stay in business, they've hit the right mark for them (mix of fashion-forward new styles and dated granny items), and I love snapping up their classics on sale, but go in with a critical eye and ask when you last saw that particular style and who was wearing it.

[dac]

Thanks, tarheels. That's good advice and very helpful! I was kind of afraid of that with the jackets. Sigh. Longer ones just don't look good on me, so I guess the mid-hip is what I should keep using. The short ones look better, but I DON'T want to be the twin of that early 2000s woman you describe so well.

[kkloth]

Congrats on the loss!! I was just in the same boat and had to basically replace my entire wardrobe. To make things last I used a lot of belts and slowly purchased things from thrift and consignment stores. I was weary of getting rid of all my 'good' pieces so I've held on to a couple things but since it doesn't matter how good something is made if it doesn't fit, I've purged most of it. I'd check with a tailor to see if alterations can be done and for how much. It might be cheaper to just buy new. My other suggestion is to try and consign/sell your current stuff so you have something to put towards new clothes.

I've kept the weight off for almost a year now and I've finally purged all my 'chubby' clothes. It was definitely hard to see them go but I don't want the temptation in my closet

Have fun dressing a new figure - you've worked hard so now you get to enjoy it!