My doctor advised me to lose weight in September 2017. I joined Weight Watchers in October 2017. I lost more than 20 pounds by March 2018 and have only experienced very minor fluctuations (+ or - 2 pound) in weight since March (i.e., maintenance).

All is good, but when I began my weight loss journey I had completely failed to anticipate the effect it would have on my carefully curated wardrobe. Through much of the weight loss journey, I continued wear my oversized clothing using belts and other tricks. Continuing to wear the oversized clothing resulted in feelings of sloppiness and depressed self esteem. It was a major mistake for me and one I would counsel others against.

It was in March that I finally came to grips with the fact that the majority of my beloved wardrobe was unwearable. It was devastating. I reached out to YLF and the Forum responded with kindness, solace, and advice.

https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....le-whining

I resumed rebuilding my wardrobe at a snail's pace as I was uncertain if the weight loss would be maintained or not. And dressing this different body was confusing to me. I no longer had confidence in what size I should be buying. I no longer had confidence in what I liked and/or didn't like style wise.

I felt the slower I rebuilt my wardrobe, the fewer mistakes I would make and the greater likelihood it was that I would rebuild my confidence.

I was lucky. My confidence is starting to return. My wardrobe is a shell of what it was in 2017, but every single item in my wardrobe is in rotation. That last statement shocks me, yet fills me with pride.

But that is not the purpose of this thread. I want to explore budgets. Rebuilding a wardrobe is expensive. I had defined needs for specific purposes and all categories in my wardrobe were affected to varying degrees.

To date, I have spent exactly 70 percent of my annual clothing budget. This is not a problem since I have always budgeted annually, not monthly. But it does suggest that this year's wardrobe budget will be exceeded.

To try to control the budget, I started out with a list of priorities (what did I need to just show up for life?). In my case that was bottoms (slacks). I focused on slacks that could be worn to work and other social gatherings. I wore oversized pajama bottoms at home when I knew I would not be going out or seeing people (see earlier reference to depressed self esteem).

Thirty-two percent of my budget was devoted to buying bottoms. Although my natural inclination was to duplicate the most successful bottoms, I resisted. I resisted even when those bottoms went on sale a mere two months later and I could rationalize buying another one or two in different colors. It took some self talk on my part and a radical change in buying behavior, but I held steady. I looked. I walked away.

I bought few tops and no toppers because I felt I could continue to wear the oversized tops IF the bottoms fit properly. I don't wear toppers in the summer months.

The next two categories I spent on were shoes and accessories. I felt confident that weight fluctuations would not affect the fit of these two categories and I bought with excitement and relative abandon. Thirty-nine percent of my budget went to shoes and accessories. I started reading, really reading, all the Forum posts about shoes. Previously, I had not been a shoe person. I started to wonder if maybe I had found the Holy Grail of Fashion. In March and April, I became obsessed with shoes.

The vast amount of this spending was done in March, with lesser amounts spent in April, and still lesser in May.

In summary.

1. I do have an annual clothing budget. I am currently within that budget.
2. Spending is continuing, but the rate of spending is slowing down and starting to align itself with previous years. Purchases are carefully considered in light of the entire closet. Nothing is being purchased unless it fits seamlessly into the existing wardrobe and can pull its equal weight. This might be boring to some, but right now, it is a necessary component of rebuilding my wardrobe and I don't mind boring.
3. Every single thing in my wardrobe is in seasonal rotation.
4. I have stopped duplicating clothing items, which in the past was problematic for me.
5. I have stopped ALL sales shopping. I walk right by the sales racks. I only see dreck.
6. I am slowly rebuilding my style confidence.
7. Yes. I still wear pajama bottoms in the evening hours, but I have accepted that as a thing in 2018. At least they are nice bottoms with tie waists.