Getting clothes taken in

[LaundryLegoLunch]

I'm after some advice. I've lost just over 3 stones this year which I'm really pleased about as I'd been unhappy with my weight for years.

Anyway, I now have a wardrobe full of size 16 dresses and am now a 10/12. I'm a sahm at the moment and can't afford to buy loads of new stuff especially as I'm still hoping to lose a bit more.

Is it worth getting the size 16's taken in or do they always look a bit rubbish? Most of the dresses are knee-length and fairly simple shapes. But I don't want to spend a load of money on it if it will look like a big-dress-made-smaller.

Any advice? Thanks!

It depends completely on the cut - usually if the shoulders are a good fit then the rest can be adjusted quite well. I'd only do it for clothes that you really really like and which can definitely be adjusted successfully, as it will be quite expensive.

TBH I think you'd be better off buying a couple of pairs of good quality but cheap jeans (Sainsbury's TU range has some great ones at present), a few really nice jumpers/cardigans from Woolovers which will still look great when you've dropped the rest of the weight, and some of Primark's £3 stretchy cotton vest tops.

Congrats on the weight loss!

Are the clothes extraordinarily expensive? Because otherwise it will probably cost more to have them altered than to find cheap / temporary replacements. (And they won't look great afterwards...)

If I were you I would sell / donate the old stuff. After such an extreme weight loss you must feel like a different woman. The old clothes will constantly drag you back to a different time. And anyway, you'll probably want to experiment with shapes and styles that you avoided before.

As Nom says you don't have to spend much at all right now. This is the perfect time to go mad in Primark or wherever - even if you usually prefer other places - and just try out new things. Once you think you're at a more permanent weight then you can start building up a "better" wardrobe.

I dropped two dress sizes last year having finally lost my baby weight. The only items of clothing I got altered were a boden rainy day mac and a jaeger dress because they were dear and I loved them. They turned out fantastically well, you would never know they had been taken in! The jeans/jumpers etc I gave to charity and I gave been slowly building my wardrobe up since. M&s jeggings jeans are stretchy, fairly cheap and wear really well. I'd recommend a couple of pairs to keep you going! Cheapie tops until you are at your happy weight, then spend more if you want to.

I've had a few things taken in, but not by as much as you will need to. They were expensive items and I inherited them from a friend I loved very much, so it was cheaper to get them altered and I didn't mind the outlay.

Getting stuff taken in, properly, can be pretty expensive. Unless you ADORE the clothes and they are too expensive to replace, I wouldn't bother.

Well done on the weight loss!

Agree that it entirely depends on the cut as to how successful alterations can be. It really isn't a cheap option either as there can be a great deal of work involved in alterations - particularly with such a size difference. Sometimes it really isn't possible to alter a garment because of the size difference. The pricing will depend on the nature of the design - eg a shift dress is more straightforward to alter than a draped design.

It will cost you more to take them in than to go to primark and get some new clothes.. They sell jeggings for £7 !

Great thanks. They are not in any way expensive. I'm happy to donate them and I'll just rotate my three dresses that fit for occasions that require it. That was just the kind of clear responses I was hoping for.

And thanks on the weight-loss congratulations. It was bloody hard work but all thanks to a mn thread (and MFP )