What to do with clothes

[nieuwevis 294]

I'd probably either list them on Craigslist or go to Goodwill. I always wish I could find my size in goodwill, so after my friends get their picks of my clothes as I shrink out of them, the rest will go to one of those places. Free of course. I know it sounds weird, but giving my clothes away for free is like therapy to me.

i like donating to those places, too, cause i think about how much harder it is to find my size there. except this time it's not the clothes i've outgrown!

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

My candid advice? Keep them. I know that sounds like a deadweight loss and a lost opportunity to be charitable, but I honestly think that getting rid of them is a jinx. I never gave anything away, but when I lost weight without surgery a few years ago, I stored them away in a place I would really never go to for any reason (my gross attic). Alas, I needed most of them back within about a year and needed to wear them until surgery. My solution this time? Keep them around, and have them there to think of how much you never want to wear them again. Weight gain after surgery is real and happens for many people, but I think it is far more within our control than maintaining non-surgical weight loss.

[Sajijoma 1,324]

My candid advice? Keep them. I know that sounds like a deadweight loss and a lost opportunity to be charitable, but I honestly think that getting rid of them is a jinx. I never gave anything away, but when I lost weight without surgery a few years ago, I stored them away in a place I would really never go to for any reason (my gross attic). Alas, I needed most of them back within about a year and needed to wear them until surgery. My solution this time? Keep them around, and have them there to think of how much you never want to wear them again. Weight gain after surgery is real and happens for many people, but I think it is far more within our control than maintaining non-surgical weight loss.

I understand your thinking, and after my huge non surgical weightloss last time I did the same thing, but my therapist actually said that keeping them around is at least on some level saying to yourself that you plan to fail. You've failed before and you are planning to fail again. By getting rid of them, you are telling yourself and the world that you really have made the change for life. So, I'm definitely getting rid of mine. There's no way I'm going to go back to this. I just can't.

[jess9395 5,449]

My candid advice? Keep them. I know that sounds like a deadweight loss and a lost opportunity to be charitable, but I honestly think that getting rid of them is a jinx. I never gave anything away, but when I lost weight without surgery a few years ago, I stored them away in a place I would really never go to for any reason (my gross attic). Alas, I needed most of them back within about a year and needed to wear them until surgery. My solution this time? Keep them around, and have them there to think of how much you never want to wear them again. Weight gain after surgery is real and happens for many people, but I think it is far more within our control than maintaining non-surgical weight loss.

I understand your thinking, and after my huge non surgical weightloss last time I did the same thing, but my therapist actually said that keeping them around is at least on some level saying to yourself that you plan to fail. You've failed before and you are planning to fail again. By getting rid of them, you are telling yourself and the world that you really have made the change for life. So, I'm definitely getting rid of mine. There's no way I'm going to go back to this. I just can't.

I agree! Plus I don't have an attic or that much extra room! Why not let someone else enjoy them while they are in style!

[Daveo 485]

@@jess9395 That's another reason to get rid of them, I have no space for extra clothes.

[Tssiemer1 549]

Isn't there a clothing exchange on here?

[Daveo 485]

@@Tssiemer1 there is! I just seen it. I think I will find the rest of my big clothes then take some pics. If I can help someone else out on here then great, if no takers then goodwill it will be.

[Stevehud 1,790]

i gave a lot to a nephew, and some of my more expensive dress shirts, ralph lauren, tommy bahama etc i sold on ebay and turned that money into new clothes for me. Other stuff i donated and im giving all my suits and sport coats and dress pants to a local veterans group. evidently they said they can definitely use them.

[drmeow 323]

If there is a men's shelter in your area, they may be especially happy to have nice business clothing for impoverished men who are job-hunting. I know there are special charities like that for women, must be similar for me.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Thank you all for your suggestions, I think I'm gonna take them to goodwill. I know when I would go there I wish I could have found clothes in my size so maybe there is someone out there who is thinking the same.

When I volunteered at a local St. Vincent DePaul thrift store with my church group I was always approached about donating my clothes because they really needed large-sized clothes.

[SPettijo 40]

1 Sell the good stuff on Ebay. I've gotten $80($150 original price) for a dress I wore on New Years. I've gotten more for old bridesmaid/prom dresses. Big clothes are hard to find. I never find anything at goodwill so I never look anymore. Once I get down to a size 24 then maybe.

2. Donate to goodwill/salvation army/shelter

3. (your city) Swap and Shop groups on Facebook. No shipping, and you can get a few bucks for new clothes.

4. Save one or two items of your largest clothing for dramatic before and after pictures. Why not? It will be so much fun to go swimming in my old clothes I just don't want a closet full of stuff that will give me permission to gain weight back.

That's what I do. Right now I have a pile of stuff that needs to be listed. I will probably see if anyone on the exchange forums wants any of the trickier to find items before I put it on ebay/swap and shop.

[Chrystee 838]

I threw them in one of those clothing donation boxes.

[NikkiDoc 312]

My work had a clothing drive for a women's shelter. They wanted business casual and dress clothes for women to interview in and to go to work in an office setting.

When I outshrunk my next batch I tried to find a consignment store with no luck, tried to sell on Craigslist some big totes of clothes with no luck, I could not get ThredUp's link to get shipping bag to work.

Finally I posted them on here. I gave away 4 big totes to another BariatricPal member. I think she is going to share with another BariatricPal member that is close to her. I just gave the clothes to her. She was really nice and sent me a text wearing one of the skirts. I was just happy to have them go to good use.

[Eric@@ash 47]

I plan to donate most everything....but my biggest pair of pants are going in the fire pit - where I am going to dance my skinny booty around them while they burn!!! :)

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,444]

I've been organizing a free bariatric surgery clothing exchange for men and women in the NYC area for five and a half years. It's an in-person* event held at a non-profit that serves underprivileged women who are preparing to enter the workforce. All of the clothes that the exchange participants bring that are not adopted within our group are donated to the non-profit for their clients. One of the best things is that we have the use of dressing rooms! Just as good is knowing that we help solve our host's perpetual shortage of larger sizes.

The next clothing exchange is set for Thursday evening, October 22. The link below will take you to the detailed flier I send to individuals and bariatric practices in the area. I'll be glad to answer any questions. If you'd like to receive notices of future exchanges by email, shoot me a note at bandsterswap.com so that I can add you to my list. I never make contact information available. Please mention your bariatric hospital and BariatricPal (I like to have an idea of where potential participants had surgery and learned of the event).

Hope to see some of you!

Laurie

* No packing/shipping/size-guessing/expense. Be there or be square.

Clothing Exch Master PATIENTS.docx

Edited October 16, 2015 by WLSResources/ClothingExch