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Leaving the era of big clothing behind…

April 14, 2012, 10:20 PM

So today was a day where I did something that felt really good, as I got rid of most of the clothes that I had that were now too large for me. This process started last week when I went through all of my clothes and sorted things out a bit. There were three main groups. The stuff that I was keeping stayed in the closet and the dresser, i.e. right where it was. The stuff that I was getting rid of and could donate to Goodwill went in laundry baskets. And then finally, the stuff that I was getting rid of and was also in such poor condition that I couldn’t donate it went on the floor.

And this is the result of that sorting:

That surprised me. I expected that I would be getting rid of one basket’s worth of clothes. When I started going through my clothes, I put out one laundry basket. I filled that up in no time at all. Good thing that I have four laundry baskets. I used three of them.

Then today, I bagged the non-donate-but-still-going clothes and brought them down to the car. Then I carried the three baskets of clothes down to the car. And I was ready to go:

The departing clothes, all loaded in the car

Fits the Soul rather nicely, don’t you think? First stop was the Shady Grove Transfer Station. This is a trash disposal and recycling center off of Route 355 adjacent to Shady Grove Metro. This is where the clothes in bags went to be attended to. For the clothes that weren’t worth donating, they were going to get recycled. Then it was off to Goodwill to donate the rest:

The remainder after getting rid of the clothes that I was recycling

The folks at Goodwill really have an operation going. I drove around back, got out, and the folks there were ready to go. I showed them the baskets, and they did the rest. They brought the clothes over to their truck and put them in, and then gave me the baskets back. And this is what I was left with:

Empty car and empty baskets!

Empty car and empty baskets! I was delighted. And if it gives you an idea about how much stuff I got rid of, this is what my closet looks like now:

The new look of my closet

Note the large number of empty hangers. I’d dare say I won’t have to buy new hangers again for a while. And a lot of clothes that I used to wear all the time are gone now. The paneled shirts that I wore to work for years are gone (all ten of them). The outfit that I wore to my sister’s wedding is gone, sans the tie. That was particularly amusing, as it is now comically big on me. I still consider that outfit a win, though, because it cost less than renting a tuxedo, and Mom and I had a good time shopping for it (though the Sable didn’t have as good of a time).

Likewise, I have like no dress pants right now. I need to go out and get one or two pairs of nice pants so that I can assemble something resembling a nice outfit. Give me another month or so, and I think I can be in the pants that they sell at Target. I’ve tried their clothes recently, and I can get jeans on, buttoned, and zipped, but not comfortably. I don’t think you’re supposed to have stomach cleavage when you close up a pair of pants. But a year ago I wouldn’t imagine even getting into a pair of jeans from Target, let alone getting them buttoned and zipped. I consider that a win in my book. Next pair of jeans I get is coming from Target, and not Casual Male. Likewise, I’m going to Target to find dress pants. That ought to be interesting.

And now, like I said in a tweet after dropping the old clothes off at Goodwill, a new beginning in my wardrobe awaits…

Web site: "What to Wear While You Lose Weight", on WebMD. One thing they say not to do is to keep wearing the old, baggy clothes...

Song: Theme to Double Dare. I'm thinking that this might make a good new shirt to get...

Quote: And yes, I believe that Casual Male has officially lost me as a customer, but not on account of anything they did or didn't do. I am now just about down to that size where I can get clothes at all sorts of places again, and so I'm going to take advantage of that...

Categories: Clothing, Weight loss