Fash in the attic
Do you keep your old clothes you’ve, ahem, grown out of in the hope they might one day fit again?
My clothes line looked like a carnival. Favoured frocks, colourful tops, cropped white trousers danced in the breeze. Clothes I hadn’t been able to wear for many years and which I’d - very cleverly I thought - refused to throw out just in case I was ever able to get back into them! Well now I could. That much-loved floral summer dress would finally fit again. No need to buy a whole new wardrobe. I had fash in the attic!
Except when I put the floaty frock back on and teamed it with the pink cardigan that went so well with it the result wasn’t elation at all. It felt all wrong. It was an outfit I’d worn a lot at least five years ago. It was like getting out an old diary and leaping into the pages only to realise I was in the wrong place. I wasn’t that person anymore. And I didn’t want to be that person anymore! Not for any specific, shattering, reason. It’s just that I’d moved on.
However some dresses I rescued from the attic I do still love to wear. Classically-cut and timeless I’m delighted I kept them. Sure losing weight is a great excuse to go and buy a whole new wardrobe but I’m not yet at goal weight and I’ve no idea what weight I’ll finally be at the end of this. Nor if I’ll keep the weight off. I’m still very cautious. I don’t want to spend money on new threads that end up like so many others in my attic; testimony to optimism over reality.
I asked on Twitter if it was unusual to keep old clothes in the hope they might one day fit again. I’m not fond of clothes shopping - who with a weight problem is? - so it’s always been very hard for me to throw out clothes that are now too small. In the back of my mind is the hope they’ll one day fit again. But when that day comes, do you actually want to wear old clothes rather than rush to the shops to buy new and ask the sales assistant those words you’ve longed to say, “Do you have this in a smaller size?”
The response on Twitter surprised me. Most people who replied said they kept old clothes that no longer fit. In the hope they one day might. Some are so well organised they have several bags or even wardrobes for fits, might fit, and in your dreams! Fashion always repeats and even though designers make little changes to try to keep us buying, former favourites come back. One woman said her daughter loved her old clothes: “Vintage!” she shrieked with delight.
The clothes we do tend to discard are the ones we bought when biggest - not counting maternity clothes as there’s a lovely reason for that increased size. That pair of trousers, dress, skirt or top you bought because you literally had nothing you could get into. You didn’t care how horrible it was. It fitted. It was almost like a punishment wasn’t it? I’ll buy this foul number that’s just a step up from wearing a big brown sack because I have to wear something! Boy do you ever want to throw that away when you lose weight.
However the biggest clothes are the ones we should definitely keep. At least one item we wore when at our largest. So you can put it on, hold it out and exclaim: “Did I REALLY fill all this out!?” Yes. You did. And what’s more it was tight!
To keep you going to goal weight promise you’ll buy yourself something really lovely, timeless and classic when you get there. It’s a great incentive. Turn the word treat from delicious to eat to delicious to wear.
I’ll continue to keep some of my old clothes, if only as a kind of clothes diary. This is what I wore when... this reminds me of that... but only one or two items which have strong sentimental value. The ones I once loved but which don’t feel right anymore can be someone else’s delight. A clear out as you approach goal weight is very cleansing and therapeutic. And a great excuse to hit the shops and buy a whole new wardrobe for the whole new you!
Every time my belt feels too loose I make another hole in it. Looking at the progression of holes is very motivating!!