Friday, September 5, 2008

fat clothes

I read an e-mail today from a writer who is researching an article about people who save their fat clothes. It got me thinking about my wardrobe. I still dress like I'm trying to hide something. Now we all know that no matter how baggy the clothes, we're not actually hiding anything. If you normally wear a size 2 and you go up to a 4, then maybe a loose fitting top might fool someone but for those of us who are a bit larger than that, baggy clothes don't fool anyone.
I wear loose fitting tops not so much to try to fool people as to protect myself from the embarrassment of showing off how fat I am. It's not that I think people don't notice that I'm fat but that they just don't have to see the rolls around my middle or my protruding belly so I choose to wear a flowing top to "protect" them. But I surely don't think I'm fooling anyone.
So why do I dress like I'm hiding behind my clothes? Because I am comfortable that way. Belts, tucked in shirts, clingy tops....not for me. At this point in my life, a firm body will not be the end result of weight loss and exercise. So there's nothing to "show" hence the more comfortable loose clothing.
But should I save my fat clothes? The stuff that is too big...too flowing. Does saving that wardrobe imply that I expect to get fat again?
Well, it's happened before. I've been down and I've been up. And I've been way down and I've been way up. I've surpassed my fat clothes a few times but refused to buy bigger sizes. I still own a few pieces of my skinny clothes. I would wear them today...they're timeless in their style...if I could ever fit into them again. Alas, that is not going to happen. My body has changed (it's gone south) so that no amount of weight loss will help me get into those lovely pieces of fashion history.
Bottom line: I save my fat clothes. History has a way of repeating itself. I want to be ready.

1 comment:

SeaShore said...

It's happened before to me, too, and there were a few pieces of clothing that I briefly regreted tossing. Still, I'm ditching them all once again (except for the obligatory pair of look-how-far-I've-come pants).

I figure if I'm doing this, I'm going to have faith in myself that this time I will succeed. Or at least stop gaining at a smaller size, like I did last time. (I started losing weight at size 20 this time, whereas I started at size 26 in 2003.)

Yeah, my faith may prove to be misguided, it's a risk! I totally understand why you would keep your clothes. I really hesitated over the denium capris I lived in this summer.

Either way, good luck to us both!!