Guest Post: Frugally Reinventing Your Wardrobe to Fit the New You with Holly

Holly is a full-time student and TA studying towards her doctorate in literature and writing. She blogs on behalf of Sears and other brands but also loves making waffles and drawing a smiley face on her burger with ketchup. You can follow her fashion blogging at BeltsandBangles.com and her tweets with @hollyemily7.

My wonderful friend Holly, who writes amazing guest posts for me over at my frugally minded blog, November Sunflower, brought this amazing post to me when I asked her if she could hook me up with some great ideas for those of us (me included, thanks to Isagenix) who have lost weight and now have to do something with our "larger" clothing! I LOVE this post. I know you guys will, too!

Frugally Reinventing Your Wardrobe to Fit the New You

You’ve seen it before, the woman standing with her once too-big jeans held out in front of her only to be dropped to reveal a newly svelte body. She worked hard for it no doubt, and finally achieved the great feeling of saying ‘I did it.’ As women, we are always striving to look just a little better. And with a lot of hard work and patience, we do it. We’re beautiful creatures, with a knack for fashion and making what we have work. But what happens when we finally DO drop those two pant sizes? What becomes of our slightly bigger beautiful wardrobe? As the frugal, fashion-driven women we are, we don’t throw it out. No, we can find far more uses and ways to turn our old wardrobe into something new. Consider the following tips for ways to recycle a now too big wardrobe while keeping the frugality in your hearts alive and well:

Sell to Buy

We’ve all heard of them, seen them and maybe even shopped in them. Consignment shops are a frugal gal’s best friend. Shops offer a plethora of fashion opportunity AND offer you the ability to sell your own clothes for resale. You may not make a ton of money off of the turn around, but more than likely enough to shop for a better fitting pair of pants in the shop itself. Consignment shops win all around for being resourceful to buyers and sellers.

Downsizing

No, downsizing doesn’t always mean tossing things out. You can continue to get use out of all the great fashion pieces you have IF you are willing to do a little work. Consider taking in some of your favorite dresses and/or pants if you have the talent for it. If not, consider visiting an alteration spot. Most shops are locally owned and you can speak directly with the seamstress. That way you know if you feel comfortable working with them, or if they just don’t fit the bill.

Reinvent

Some pieces are clearly going to be beyond salvaging in this mission, but others will give you an opportunity to incorporate them into an even better outfit. Consider taking some of your favorite pieces (sweaters are especially great) that are too big and creating fun scarfs and loop belts. This lets you keep your favorite fabrics alive and well in your outfits. (If you feel less than crafty, enlist some of your craftier friends to help!) It also allows you to dress up simple tees and v-necks that may be great transition pieces with your new wardrobe. Simple staples can seem boring, but when you are able to belt or add to them with old pieces you are coming out as a true fashionista.

Being able to reinvent yourself and your new body without buying an entire new wardrobe is no small feat to take on.   Some may treat themselves to new clothing because of how hard they worked, but others may take it upon themselves to frugally reinvent themselves. And who knows, maybe some will keep the two sizes too big pants to re-enact the ‘great reveal’ we see in every weight loss commercial. Whatever the choice, we should be proud of the accomplishments we’ve made in the battle of health and evil and be thankful for the creative arsenal we now have building in our minds.