For years, I used to have the same clothes. I didn’t really have much option. Everything was plain, dull, and boring. Every shirt I owned was a giant sack of plain cloth. I could really only shop at one store for a very long time, and that was Mark’s Work Warehouse. I love that store for providing me with clothing for reasonable prices in general, but it certainly wasn’t stylish. I didn’t expect that from them though. I was just glad to have clothes that I could wear nearby. Otherwise I don’t know what I would have done.

I remember the day that I found 2 new stores to shop at, although they required a drive into the Vancouver area. Mr Big and Tall, and George Richards. These two stores became the main places for me to shop when I weighed 480. I could find cool, much more stylish clothing for my size. The only problem is that it’s very expensive. It was common to spend $50-$100 for a shirt, which to me is absolutely insane.

I had no choice but to pay these prices if I wanted to feel like I had nice, cool clothing that I actually liked. I would plan my shopping trips around sales, but I still could only purchase a few items at a time because I just couldn’t afford it.

Now as I have been losing weight, I am so excited that the cost of clothing has come down drastically as I am able to shop literally anywhere. That being said, the cost of new wardrobes in smaller and smaller sizes has been very expensive in and of itself. I slowly went from 5-7XL clothing down to 4XL, 3XL, 2XL, and XL. Right now my wardrobe is mostly Large, and is beginning to transition to a few more Mediums which is incredible and still makes me confused sometimes.

There’s not a single item in my wardrobe that I owned a year ago, and that has been the case for any point in the past couple years. I have replaced all of my clothes many many times over, and while it was expensive, I truly have enjoyed the entire process.

Last year alone, I went through 4 complete wardrobes. I started buying jeans one at a time every couple months, each one 2-4 inches smaller than the last. During the summer I had to go through many clothes. I would buy a pair of shorts and then a month later, it looked saggy. The same thing happened with many many shirts as well. I have tried to buy clothing as snug as possible during this process, to extend the life of the item in my wardrobe, but nothing has really been able to last that long.

I have been able to explore new stores constantly, which is always exciting for me, and not only that, but I used to rule out thrift stores entirely because I never found anything that fit me. Now, whenever I walk into a thrift store, I am guaranteed to find plenty of things that fit. I love shopping for clothes now much more than I used to. I always found it to be quite a chore, and a stressful one at that. Now it’s so incredibly pleasant. I can find and wear things that make me feel amazing and stylish, for super cheap prices.

I am also able to currently fit all the clothes I own into a carry-on suitcase, which I find incredible. I feel like I have a decent amount of clothing, but it’s all so small now. The fabric doesn’t take up tons of space. Lately, my wife has been talking a lot about capsule wardrobes. It’s quite an interesting concept, and I am happy to say that I already qualify as having one simply because I have been keeping a small wardrobe in general as I have lost all this weight, replacing one item with a smaller one over and over without the amount growing very much.

I’m going shopping a a few thrift stores later today, and I am always excited at what I might find that will make an excellent addition to my new, much smaller wardrobe.

There’s nothing better than feeling like you look amazing when you enter the world. That’s a feeling that I now get to experience every day!