Hi there, Female 21, 5'2-5'3ish. SW: 255 pounds CW: 195 pounds.

Edit: TLDR: Stop making excuses about why you shouldn't get yourself new clothing. Feeling confident in yourself and being happy is more important than any excuse you could make. A new shirt or dress could be the difference between feeling confident enough to go for that new promotion or on that date.

I gained a lot of weight in my teen years and I found myself wearing baggier and baggier clothes. In my mind, if I wore enough clothing it would hide that I'm fat to the people around me like they couldn't tell by the weight in my cheeks. Soon the hand me down no longer fit me as well, I just kept going up and up in clothing sizes. It made me hate myself. So the clothing that I would have to buy would be very cheap, baggy clothing. Why waste my money on clothing if I am just going to outgrow it in a few months? I hid my body and chose clothing that covered me the most. I wanted to be invisible because I was ashamed.

Over the last year or so, I have lost officially 60 lbs. I'm nowhere where I want to be but my goodness how my life has improved. I can move my body better, I feel healthier, my skin looks clearer and well I feel more confident. I know it is stupid but I can finally see my collar bones again and I forgot how much that little difference means.

Up until August, I have not gotten a new wardrobe. Even though I had lost very significant amount of weight and my clothes, especially pants, were loose on me, I did not want to get a new wardrobe. I was still in the mindset that it wouldn't matter because I would have to go up in clothing size regardless and I didn't like looking at myself in the mirror anyways. I was just in this cycle of waiting for myself to go up a clothing size while continuously losing weight.

When I would actually use the logical side of my brain, I would try to justify not buying myself new clothes because I wasn't at my goal weight yet. I didn't want to waste money if I was going to need to go down a size anyways right? Besides, I'm sure we have all have had those moments in changing rooms where just nothing fits and it feels like everybody knows we are just too fat. It's humiliating. My body is still too fat to have the right to be confident...right? Wrong.

It started with me getting a new dress for church, I only had one suitable church dress and it hung very loose on me. I could justify paying for a dress or two if it meant it was for church. So I got my soft tape measure and measured my dimensions. I was still too embarrassed to go to a department store, changing rooms are horrible, so instead I shopped online based on my measurements. This was the best decision I ever made.

The small amount of confidence I have gotten over the last year from losing weight, has skyrocketed by changing my wardrobe. Self-confidence is not only about what your body looks like but how you present yourself. If that means wearing a shirt that is more flattering in color or painting your nails or grooming your beard, all those little things will give you confidence and do make a change in your life.

Find clothing that complements you and your body. Use a quick color analysis site to find out which colors look best on your skin tone. Find out which clothing shapes compliments you and which kind do not. What will work on one person might not work on another and vice verse. I love the look of dresses with a tight skirt but that does not compliment my figure. I love the look of backless dresses but unfortunately it does not compliment my figure. I personally look best in flowy skirts, v-neck lines, the colors red, light blue, green and black.

Just because you aren't at your goal weight yet doesn't mean you don't deserve to not only feel nice but look nice. You deserve to feel confident.

If you are worried about the financial aspect, then only buy one outfit.

If you feel like you might go up a size, then find clothing with a stretch fit.

If you are justifying not getting clothing because of department stores not having your size or maybe the embarrassment of changing rooms, then take a soft tape measure and buy clothing online.

You deserve to be confident and proud of yourself.

Is anyone dealing with this limbo right now? For those that have finally crossed over this threshold, what has worked for you? What do you recommend?