It's What You Make Of It

After we talked about the value of a textbook and how it's valuable to others after you've altered it, I felt like it related heavily to my weight loss journey. I've been thinking a lot lately about how much money matters once you've purchased something. Particularly with my clothing. Over the last couple months, I made the choice to start a diet and lose some weight. So far I've lost 32lbs and have pretty consistently been needing to replace my pants each month. So when I went through my closet after losing the first ten pounds, I didn't want to let go of all the clothes I'd taken so much time to find and put so much money into purchasing.
I had an extensive collection of clothing. It was eclectic and full of things no one else owned. After building my collection for years, naturally, I didn't want to get rid of all I'd worked so hard to make.
It wasn't until I was at my 20lb mark that I really started to understand. I loved my collection so much, but I had to let go of it. Some of the things that didn't mean much to me, I gave to consignment. I made a good couple bucks and used it for gas to go to chicago for a few days with my best friend. What I got out of those pieces of clothing, was three days I'll never forget. And three days Sean and I spent bonding and talking about big things that we'd been putting off talking about for a long time.
The rest of my clothing I've been giving to my friends who can't afford clothes. It has been really emotional to see how excited they are to receive such beautiful clothing for free. A lot of the time they ask if I want something in return or if I want any money for the clothes and the answer is no. I just want those clothes to go to a home with someone who will care about them and love them the way I did.
I've gone from 160lbs and a size 13, to 127lbs and a size 6. There's no way any of those clothes I had could still fit me. There are a few pieces, less than ten, that I plan to alter. More over, I'm planning to get a sewing machine and start making my own clothing. After hand making my dress for my Jessica Rabbit cosplay this year, I decided making my own clothing would be the best way of ensuring I had unique clothing that fit. And if I found something cute while I was out that didn't fit, I could always alter it. I've since started hemming my pants myself, which has opened up a lot of opportunities for me with purchasing clothing.
It's no small task to replace an entire wardrobe. It's not a cheap one either. But the money I put into my clothing to begin with is gone now and no longer has any standing on the value of those items. All I can do is cherish the memories and use those to help others. Use them to help me design my own clothing. Use the bargain hunting skills I've gained to build an even better collection from here on out.