Coming soon: Style for big losers.
Dropping 50+ pounds puts you on a style & self-discovery journey. Join me on mine.
Hey, there! I’m announcing this new project I’m calling re:dressing.
It’s for people like me: You’ve been or you’re on a weight journey and your body’s changing a lot. 50 pounds-ish or more.
Enough that your whole closet’s gotta go.
What do you wear while your body’s changing so dramatically? How do you build a new wardrobe for a body that’s new to you?
Re:dressing is going to start as a short-term project, and we’ll see where it goes.
I can tell you now: Bras will be one of the first topics. IYKYK.
What else can you expect?
From there we’ll get into stuff that’s not always easy to talk about with people who haven’t had this experience: Loose skin. Body dysmorphia. Buying jeans when your booty’s not the booty you’ve known before.
Also: Articles and video with expert Q&A. Style tips. Wardrobe strategies for active weight loss and beyond. Product recs. Reader stories. Helpful community chats.
More than anything, I hope re:dressing becomes a safe, fun space where we can share our experiences, tips, and encouragement with each other.
I plan to drop the first newsletter by early February. Re:dressing subscriptions are free for now. I want to build a safe community, so only subscribers will be able to comment.
3 Things I’ve learned about dressing after weight loss
Until launch, here are a few strategies I’ve found helpful:
Get your measurements. Not only is this a great way to track progress (the scale can’t tell you everything), having your current measurements will help you shop for clothes. Update them often; I do it every 3 months. I’ve found that sometimes I can’t trust what I think my size is. It can be hard to wrap my head around the fact that I need a different size. Use a good old-fashioned measuring tape, or find a 3D body scanner near you (here’s directories for Fit3D and Styku).
Let go of the idea of hitting a goal size. At my current size, I’ve got 14s and 8s that all fit. It’s insane that sizes aren’t standardized. Save yourself from that mindf*ck. Find what fits you and enjoy wearing it (and I know it’s hard to let go). If having a size goal is really important to you, use realistic-for-you measurements instead of clothes size. Or, pick just one clothing brand that you really like.
Create a moodboard and shop by it. Your inspo board should reflect what you want your style to be and how you’d express that style for different occasions (work, casual, vacation, night out, summer, winter…). I’m not saying you should shop your mood board, but when you do shop, the mood board can be a check to see if what you’re buying aligns with the style you curated for yourself.
Who’s writing this?
I’ve had a life-long struggle with weight. I was 7 years old when my mom first took me to a dietitian on a military base, and that kicked off a decades-long cycle of dieting and weight gain. At my max, I weighed 304 lbs. I had a mini-gastric bypass in 2022 and started medication shortly after, and I’ve since lost 140+ pounds.
I’ve never felt like fashion was available to me. (Not since I was three, styling my grandmother’s wigs and handbags.) I used to leave shopping malls sobbing. For years, my only criteria for clothes has been, “does it fit?”
I’ve looked forward to treating myself to a wardrobe I love after my weight loss. And now that I’m at that point, I’ve discovered that building my wardrobe is about a lot more than buying clothes. It’s become a vehicle for self-discovery and healing. Redressing things.
I’ve been a journalist most of my career. I’m currently the content manager at Found Health, an online weight clinic (FYI, this project is my own). As a journalist, I’ve specialized in food and health. I was the first diet editor for Health magazine, I’ve edited cookbooks for Weight Watchers and Cooking Light, and my work has won the James Beard Award for Focus on Health and the Luce Award for Best Book of the Year.
I hope you’ll join me here. One more thing: I’d appreciate it if you share with others! Thank you for reading.