And by that I mean what to wear and how to wear it for your size? I'll tell ya - growing up I had zero fashion sense, so it's not a skill I EVER had! And for the last I-don't-know-how-many-years the MAIN fashion dictate has been that it has to fit. Now I'm really struggling. I'm still "fat" (and have problems with loose skin on my arms) so I still need to wear stuff somewhat concealing, but I'm still picking some stuff that is not very flattering. A few weeks ago I got a couple pairs of pants from Sears - my 20's look a little tight and show every bulge, so I got a couple 22's. I was trying to get them hemmed because they were too long, and when I asked my daughter to pin them she said "don't bother- they are cut so baggy they make you look bigger. So I had to donate these two brand new pants - really not worth also investing in getting them hemmed if they don't look good! So that is kind of MY main dilemma - More form fitting stuff makes me look smaller, but it it is too form fitting or a clingy fabric it showcases the fat I still have. I need Stacey and Clinton! And on that note, I very daringly bought a BEAUTIFUL sundress - but it is sleeveless, so I'm trying to decide if I actually dare wear it. I don't think I'm a good judge of my own body, so I don't know if my arms look as awful as I think.

Take somebody along with you that has fashion sense (or find a sales person who does). It is a skill I never had and never will.

I tend to lean toward bland earth tones. On my first low-carb diet, I lost down to my goal weight and needed to buy some new clothes. I picked out a few new boring outfits before a sales person came by to help. Normally I shew them away, but this time I didn't. The guy was pretty outspoken and bluntly told me "no, no, no... you need some color". He then proceeded to put most of my stuff back and grabbed new clothes that I would not have considered. The guy was good. I looked sharp in what he picked out.

As an overweight person, I tended to avoid trendy and stick to bland, comfortable, "invisible" clothes. When I got in shape, it was hard to change that mindset. I ran into the right salesperson at the right time and he kind of snapped me out of my "fat person" mindset.

Yeah, that would help! But would I be sexist (and possibly wrong) if I said that I think clothes shopping is a lot harder for women? There just seems like so many different cuts and styles. Maybe I just don't notice it with men because my husband always wears exactly the same thing, LOL

There's an excellent thread in our "Best Of" section .. 20 fashion tips for ladies losing weight... .. contributed BY plus-size members FOR plus-size members.

Lots 'n lots of ideas and suggestions ... happy reading

okay my pants, I actually asked someone in the store to help me.

I saw all them saying cut below the waste and I am like yeah that will not look good on me.

So, I asked the lady are there any pants that come up to the waste and talked to her about my excess skin problem.

She recommended Lees relax fit. the relax fit (tummy stretch fit) is not baggy on me they are like normal pants.

So when I look for pants I look for pants "at" the waste not below it and stretched tummy.

My lees are normal size at 16M. I would be surprised honestly, if you can't fit into those or a size 18M with your weight and height.

You might be surprised. You are only 1 inch smaller than me.

When I go and buy clothes if I am not sure I literally will find a floor person and ask them their opinion, tell them about my weightloss. And they are always willing, happily, to help me play dress up with my new body.

Which I always appreciate!

I won't argue with that. I have 3 teen daughters. I know that the women's department is on a completely different planet.

Oh, this is AWSOME! thank you very much!

My best fit has been Penningtons "curvy" style (currently I'm in size 20). I definitely have a small waist for my hip size, so the curvy style's are a life saver! anything else if I go big enough for my hips I have a huge gap at my waist. I DID notice you seem to be in a smaller size than me - either I'm built weird, or there may be some differences between American and Canadian sizing...one thing I've finally (finally!) learned is to forget what the number says, and wear what fits. I just had to buy a 3X Columbia jacket. Fortunately the online reviews all said "order 2 sizes bigger, they fit small!". And that was totally true - so even though the number SOUNDS awful (I was so glad to get out of 3X's!) the jacket looks great, and fits even with a sweater underneath. But I digress..

LOL - and I don't seem to speak the language on that planet

I'm sorry you had to give away perfectly good new pants. I wonder if you might have had them altered? Clothes are made for some mythical average person (or manikin). If you can buy pants that fit in one place - your hips, for instance, then have them tailored to fit the other places.

I know it's expensive while you're still losing weight so it may be totally impractical. However you may find that once you reach goal, things STILL don't fit. At that point it is worth investing in alterations so the things you buy look GOOD instead of just OK.

I take my 28 year old daughter sometimes with me for advice.
She'll pick out some different looking items, ones that I would never choose.
I get into the dressing room... viola, most of them look way better than I would think.

It makes me step outside the box when I'm shopping alone and try on a lot of options
Who knows what it'll look when it's on

Just went swimsuit shopping and stuck to this plan
found 3 of the cutest swimsuits.... and bright colors

So try on a bunch of options... you never know, you might be surprised

Oh, also I sometimes take a picture in the dressing room mirror with my phone and look at it to get another look at the items on.

They were really pretty awful - very cheap, I think about $12 each. I bought them as a stop gap measure for a size I don't expect to be in....I figure it is just a nice bonus for some lady at the thrift shop to get totally new pants for a change. definitely not worth having them altered or tailored for me, though! I WILL start investing in nice and well tailored clothes at goal, though :-)

I don't have much fashion sense either and tend to gravitate toward tailored clothes. I've never gone shopping for clothes with anyone - I guess I never wanted to drag anyone into shops that just I had to shop in.

Yes, I do believe US sizing and Canadian sizing still tends to be different - Canadian size 16 is smaller than US size 16. It makes it harder to buy things online.

A friend of mine swears by the clothes in Giant Tiger of all places -- they have a small selection but they are really cheap and they can end being OK for stop-gap purposes.

I haven't been for a year or two but I used to really like Laura Plus for dressier clothes and tailored clothes in larger sizes. The more expensive clothes tend to fit better as well, I find. And they had some pants that fit a smaller waist and larger hip quite well too.

I have had the most compliments on weight loss when I have been wearing something more form-fitting than usual -- wearing baggy things really doesn't do a newer figure justice.

For me, I am not really concerned so much with keeping up with trends -- I've always liked classics better than the latest thing so I've continued to buy to that style.

I do know that wearing newer, smaller clothes is an inspiration to continue working on my weight and that in itself is a good reason to go shopping for something different!

My point wasn't so much size. But more about you might find that going to a normal size relax cut might provide a different fit. (instead of plus size)

For me I was wearing lane bryant plus size curvy because of my waist was big and it was the only thing that would fit.

Once I got down to a certain size, that size was getting too big in the hips/legs/butt...

So I tried a normal size and found the relax fit, better.

Maybe it won't work for you since it seems we aren't the same body type.

I have all my weight in my butt/hips/and stomach. With my lower stomach being bigger then my hips and butt now.

Either way, Don't be afraid to ask other women at the clothing store or the sales people on the floor.

I do it all the time, ask a complete stranger if I am unsure. Mainly if something I feel is too tight...

And sometimes, to put people at ease, I say "hey can you help me? I lost over 100 pounds trying to figure out if this looks okay, or if it is too tight? I don't mind it tight some because I plan on keeping loosing weight. but is it too tight that it looks awful or bad?"

And I get honest answers back.

We have a second hand shop that only takes in named brand items. I'm not a sucker for name brrands, its just the way they work. Turns out, the ladies that run the place are locals so when I walked in there it was like family. I hate shopping due to my vision issues and difficulty reading tags so after explaining and asking for help, they all jumped in. Next thing I know I'm standing in the dressing room with the door wide open while they are passing closes to me and everyone making descisions. I go there now for all my clothing needs LOL because they are so great at helping pick out clothes for those that are inept.