Clothes Shopping

For anyone who has been bigger they will testify that clothes shopping is not very fun. I live on a town that is only 75,000 people big which means there are no big and tall stores and the only store to offer Big and tall sizes is JC Penny and trust me there selection is so minimalistic (like one rack maybe two) that if you actually find something that fits and looks nice at the same time you should just dance a jig right there in the store. That means if you want clothes you have to drive to get them or order them from a catalog. The drive is four hours each way (Las Vegas is closer but we almost always went to Salt Lake instead because we have family up there) so getting clothes is a once a year event and very pricey. Pricey for several reasons the first being that they charge twice to three times if not more as much for bigger clothes coupled with the fact that you have to fill your car up three times and leave town for an entire 2-3 days to get them.

So clothes shopping when your 415 pounds is an absolute nightmare and something that happens ohhh so very rarely. If you find something you like and that fits you wear that sucker tell it has as many holes as swiss cheese, screw one hole, holes can be ignored until the shirt is falling apart at the seams. There is so little that fits and looks good too, I had a couple shirts I really like but that barely fit so much I popped the bottom button many times on them as they strained against my stomach but you have so little that fits that you can't just give up on them.

This weekend had to be my best clothing weekend ever though. On Friday I boxed up all my fat people clothes hopefully forever. Oh what a feeling that was to try on clothes that used to barely fit and that I had popped off buttons before straining to stay in them and now to have them as big as circus tents on me. To take that shirt that barely fit and now is three sizes too big and throw it in a box and say begone with you was so very wonderful. I have heard some people say I should throw them away or give them to good will but I just can't do it. All the pain and effort that it took to get those clothes and all the money spent I just can't part with them. Plus there is always that part of your mind that screams what if you gain the weight back you may need these again someday. I doubt I will ever put the weight back on (I gained it 10-20 pounds over ten years so at least it would take awhile right) as I now know what I have to do to keep it off and lose it but still there is that part of me that won't part with them. Just like that part that still buys clothes too big (yes I bought a tshirt in February that is too big because I bought it one size bigger than I should have) because you want clothes that are comfortable and it was so hard to find clothing like that. So for now the box rests at the bottom of closet lurking for a day that I hope never comes again.

Then on Sunday my wife took me out clothes shopping as part of my fathers day gift as I needed a new dress shirt and wanted a new pair of shorts or pants that fit (I bought two pairs of pants in February that are also too big now). And for the first time in I don't even know how long (8 years maybe) we shopped in the normal stores and bought normal sized clothes. That didn't stop me from heading to the big and tall section when we went to JC Penny though until it donned on me that I could actually shop in the rest of the men's section and not in that tiny little portion reserved for the fat. Oh the wonders of shopping in the normal people sections, more options and ohhh so much cheaper too. I managed to get three new shirts and a pair of shorts for $40 which is what a nice shirt would have cost me by itself in the days of 6x shirts.

What a great weekend, clothes shopping is no longer the nightmare it used it be.